Harris lamented the wall-to-wall cable news coverage of the trial, in which Zimmerman was ultimately found not guilty of second-degree murder or manslaughter in the death of teenager Trayvon Martin.
"We missed the forest for the trees to a large extent, with all the huge issues going on in the world, with unrest in the Middle East, we're hung up on this one case where this one fellow was in fact found not guilty by a jury," Harris said. "That's the way the American law system works, get over it."
Were the Justice Department to get involved in the case, it would be "purely political," Harris added. While Attorney General Eric Holder has pledged to continue a federal investigation of the matter, officials at the DOJ say it would be hard — maybe impossible — to bring a civil rights suit against Zimmerman.
Harris appeared on WMAL's "Mornings on the Mall." Harris, the only Republican member of Maryland's congressional delegation, defeated Democrat Frank Kavotil in 2010.