On Monday, the United States (US) Special House Committee for the January 6 Capitol Hill riots unanimously decided to refer former President Donald Trump to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for criminal prosecution.
After an 18-month-long investigation consisting of over 1,000 witness testimonies and compilation of thousands of documents, the Democrat-led committee charged Trump with four potential crimes: Obstruction of an Official Proceeding; Conspiracy to Defraud the United States; Conspiracy to Make a False Statement; and Inciting, Assisting, or Aiding and Comforting an Insurrection.
Our work on the @January6thCmte has led us to criminally refer Donald Trump to DOJ. We now turn to the criminal justice system to ensure Justice under the law. The American people can ensure he’s never elected again.
— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) December 19, 2022
“That evidence has led to an overriding and straight-forward conclusion: the central cause of January 6th was one man, former President Donald Trump, who many others followed. None of the events of January 6th would have happened without him,” the committee’s 154-page report summary asserted. It also found that Trump had engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the 2020 election, claiming election fraud after he lost to President Joe Biden.
The full report will be released on Wednesday.
“We understand the gravity of each and every referral we are making today, just as we understand the magnitude of the crime against democracy that we describe in our report,” Representative Jamie Raskin (D/Md) said while announcing the charges, adding, “The committee has developed significant evidence that President Trump intended to disrupt the peaceful transition of power under our constitution.”
The @January6thCmte finds evidence that Trump, Eastman and others obstructed a crucial official proceeding—Congress’ certification of electoral votes.
— Rep. Jamie Raskin (@RepRaskin) December 19, 2022
We make this referral and three others because this obstruction is not only an affront to our democracy. It’s a crime. pic.twitter.com/FCW40CJf0k
Though it is a symbolic gesture, it is the first time that Congress has referred a president to the DOJ on criminal charges. The DOJ is not legally bound to take action and press criminal charges. However, it puts Attorney General Merrick Garland and special Counsel Jack Smith, who are already involved in two other cases related to Trump—the classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home and his attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election results—under tremendous pressure.
In a statement, Smith affirmed, “I will exercise independent judgement,” adding that the investigations would move forward quickly to “whatever outcome the facts and the law dictate.”
Panel members asserted that full accountability can only be found in the criminal justice system. “No one should get a pass,” said Representative and committee member Adam Schiff (D-CA).
Not surprisingly, report does not refer seditious conspiracy. Committee gains credibility by not over-reaching. While some links tie militia groups to Trump campaign, committee did not establish direct link to attack plans. DOJ may be able to establish link, but not apparent yet.
— Barb McQuade (@BarbMcQuade) December 19, 2022
Among the other charges considered but not approved by the panel was seditious conspiracy, which Committee Chairman and Representative Bennie Thompson (D-MS) said was “something that the committee didn’t come to agreement on.” Thompson also condemned Trump for beckoning the violent mob to the Capitol last year, saying, “If the faith is broken, so is our democracy. Donald Trump broke that faith.”
“I believe nearly two years later, this is still a time of reflection and reckoning,” he opined, adding, “If we are to survive as a nation of laws and democracy, this can never happen again.”
Along the same lines, Republican Representative and Vice Chair of the committee Liz Cheney (R-WY) remarked at the meeting that Trump is “unfit for any office.” Furthermore, Representative Elaine Luria (D-VA) called Trump’s inaction for 187 minutes during the insurrection as an “extreme dereliction of duty,” with other lawmakers finding it one of the most “shameful” discoveries of the report.
Donald Trump lit the flame, poured gasoline on the fire, and sat in the White House dining room for hours watching the fire burn as rioters attacked the U.S. Capitol. Today, he continues to fan those flames.
— Rep. Elaine Luria (@RepElaineLuria) December 19, 2022
This was his dereliction of duty. pic.twitter.com/2bj4zZfmC8
“Even if it were true that President Trump genuinely believed the election was stolen, this is no defense,” the summary noted, adding, “No president can ignore the courts and purposely violate the law no matter what supposed ‘justification’ he or she presents.”
During the final public hearing, the committee also aired some new evidence, including an interview with former Trump aide Hope Hicks, who told the committee that Trump had said to her: “Nobody will care about my legacy if I lose, so that won’t matter. The only thing that matters is winning.”
The panel also showed a montage of the key moments during the public hearings, including testimonies by former Attorney General Bill Barr, former White House counsel Pat Cipollone, and former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson.
In the days after January 6th, Trump spoke to several different advisors, and in those conversations, he minimized the seriousness of the attack.
— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) December 19, 2022
Here is new testimony from another one of the President’s senior advisors, Kellyanne Conway. pic.twitter.com/l4u7NRWVpW
The panel also revealed that it has referred four Republican House members—House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy, Scott Perry (R-PA), Jim Jordan (R-OH), and Andy Biggs (R-AZ)—to the ethics committee for not complying with subpoenas during their investigation. However, Republicans, who take control of the House on 3 January, are not likely to take action against their own party members. In fact, spokespeople for Jordan, Perry, and Biggs dismissed the action as political stunts.
According to the panel’s report summary, the committee found that there were also grounds to recommend criminal charges against Attorney John Eastman, former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark, former White House Chief of Staff and House member Mark Meadows (R-NC), and two lawyers— Kenneth Chesebro and Rudy Giuliani—for their participation in Trump’s alleged conspiracies.
Kinzinger specifically calls out congressman Scott Perry, who could be in hot water not simply for noncooperation like the other 4 but for substantive role in fraud scheme involving DOJ. it's Perry who make the match b/t Clark and Trump, among other things.
— Harry Litman (@harrylitman) December 19, 2022
A lawyer for Eastman, who the panel said could be charged with conspiracy to defraud the US and obstructing an official proceeding, denounced the panel’s findings as “absurdly partisan,” and an attempt “to create political advantage for the Democratic Party and stigmatise disfavoured political groups.”
In response to the Committee’s decision, Trump declared on Truth Social: “These folks don’t get it that when they come after me, people who love freedom rally around me. It strengthens me. What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger,” adding, “The Fake charges made by the highly partisan Unselect Committee of January 6th have already been submitted, prosecuted, and tried in the form of Impeachment Hoax # 2. I WON convincingly. Double Jeopardy anyone!”
Here is the real reason the J6 communist committee is making criminal referrals to the DOJ on Trump.
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) December 19, 2022
They can’t beat President Trump and they know it.
January is coming. pic.twitter.com/80SUYvEA8h
He also reiterated his claim of having “pushed for 20,000 troops to prevent violence on Jan 6,” of which the panel said they “found no evidence.” “In fact, President Trump’s own Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller directly refuted this when he testified under oath,” the committee report noted.
Trump’s running mate and former Vice President Mike Pence emphasised that pressing criminal charges against Trump would be “terribly divisive” at a time when “the American people want to see us heal.”
The January 6th Committee is expected to ask the DOJ to pursue criminal charges against President Trump.
— Congressman Troy Nehls (@RepTroyNehls) December 19, 2022
It’s always been a partisan witch hunt, and the American people are sick of it.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre didn’t specifically comment on the latest development, but noted: “The president has been very clear. Our democracy continues and remains under threat, and we all have a part to protect it.” She reiterated that the committee “has been doing important bipartisan work to get to the truth of what happened.”
During the Capitol Hill insurrection on 6 January last year, five people were killed and 140 law enforcement officials were injured. To date, about 840 people have been charged with federal crimes, of which 330 have pled guilty while 100 have been sentenced to imprisonment.