WATCH: Jan. 6 probe is most important in DOJ history, Garland says

Attorney General Merrick Garland said Wednesday that the Justice Department's investigation into the events surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection is "the most wide-ranging investigation and the most important investigation" the department has ever undertaken.

"We have to hold accountable every person who is criminally responsible for trying to overturn a legitimate election," the attorney said in response to reporter's question.

While Garland acknowledged that the Justice Department does not do its investigations "in public," he also said the department got involved because "this effort to upend a legitimate election, transferring power from one administration to another, cuts at the fundamentals of American democracy."

Garland's comments come as the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection continues to share its findings during public hearings.

During his comments Wednesday, Garland also reiterated that "no person is above the law in this country," including former presidents. "There is nothing in the principles of prosecution and any other factors which prevent us from investigating anyone — anyone — who's criminally responsible for an attempt to undo a democratic election."

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