PANEL EYES REFERRING CRIMINAL CHARGES FOR TRUMP
Jan. 6 committee set to vote Monday on accusations
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol plans Monday to vote on issuing criminal referrals against former President Donald Trump for insurrection and at least two other charges, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss it.
It had been widely expected the panel would recommend charges against Trump for obstructing an official proceeding of Congress and conspiracy to defraud the United States. The panel’s members had already argued in federal court that they believed it was likely that he committed those two felonies. But the addition of an accusation of insurrection was a new development.
The House impeached Trump last year for incitement of insurrection, and the members of the panel have long argued Trump was the central figure who fomented an insurrection against the United States as he sought to cling to power. Politico earlier reported that a charge of insurrection would be considered.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, DMd., a member of the Jan. 6 committee tasked with studying possible criminal referrals, was the lead impeachment manager against Trump on the count of incitement of insurrection.
Referrals against Trump, which the committee is scheduled to approve as part of its report, would not carry any legal weight or compel the Justice Department to take any action, but they would send a powerful signal that a congressional committee believes the former president committed certain crimes.
In a statement, Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump, dismissed the panel as a “kangaroo court” that held “show trials by Never Trump partisans who are a stain on this country’s history.”
The committee also was set to consider whether to issue criminal and civil referrals for some of Trump’s top allies during a meeting scheduled for Monday as it prepares to release a voluminous report laying out its findings about the attempt to overturn the 2020 election.
Members also were expected to discuss the forthcoming report and recommendations for legislative changes.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chair of the committee, has said the panel was considering referrals to “five or six” different entities, including the Justice Department, the House Ethics Committee, the Federal Election Commission and bar associations.
In the case of Trump, an official finding that a former president should be prosecuted for violating the law would be a rare step for the legislative branch to take.
In addition to the former president, the panel is likely to consider referring charges against John Eastman,
a conservative lawyer who was an architect of Trump’s efforts to invalidate his electoral defeat. The committee has argued in court that Eastman most likely violated two federal laws for his role in the scheme, including obstructing an official act of Congress and defrauding the American public.
The charge of obstructing Congress stems from the bid by Trump, conceived of by Eastman and others, to disrupt Congress’ official count of electoral votes to certify the results of the presidential election. The count was brought to an abrupt halt when supporters of Trump violently stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, sending lawmakers and the vice president fleeing for their lives.
The fraud charge pertains to the former president’s spreading of the lie that he was the true winner of the 2020 election, even after he was told repeatedly that he had lost and, by some accounts, acknowledged privately that he knew it.
The panel also plans to release a portion of its eightchapter final report into the effort to block the peaceful transfer of power from Trump to Joe Biden. The committee’s full report is scheduled for release Wednesday. Additional attachments and transcripts are expected to be released before the end of the year, according to a committee aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the plans in advance.