CNN) The House January 6 committee's aggressive approach to seeking accountability from ex-President Donald Trump, on full display this week, may be setting up a choice for Attorney General Merrick Garland that would trigger a legal and political storm.
In a torrent of legal filings, subpoenas, contempt referrals and hundreds of interviews, the panel has constructed a probe that is sweeping in scope and seems certain to bust open the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that led to the worst attack on US democracy in generations.

Next steps
A more formal move against Trump by the committee -- possibly including a criminal referral to the Justice Department at the end of the investigation -- could be a way of getting around the obstacles in its path. That is why the court filing this week -- in which the panel accused Trump and right-wing lawyer John Eastman, who allegedly masterminded the ex-President's attempt to steal the election in Congress, of a "criminal conspiracy" -- is so interesting.

Mounting pressure on Garland
A House referral would deposit a boiling political hot potato in Garland's lap. The attorney general, at the direction of Biden, has sought to restore the wall between the Justice Department and partisan politics that was torn down by Trump as he sought to use the agency much like a personal law firm. The claims in the new court filing only step up the heat on him.

Extending the committee's legacy
While it's one thing for the committee to make a conspiracy argument in a case relating to attorney-client privilege, it's another thing to produce compelling evidence that would stand up in a straight prosecution. And given the stakes, prestige and identify of the potential accused -- a ex-President of the United States -- the burden of proof would seem to be even more elevated.