The House Select Jan. 6 Committee is reportedly set to recommend former President Donald Trump for obstruction of an official process of Congress and conspiracy to deceive the United States.
The panel's Monday decision on the referrals will likely be its last public meeting before its expiration at the end of the month, according to a person familiar with the committee's deliberations but not allowed to comment publicly that spoke with NPR.
The Jan.6 Committee will write a letter to the Department of Justice outlining its reasoning for pursuing criminal charges. The Justice Department is not obligated to act on referrals, and they have no legal weight.
These proposals come from a subcommittee of attorneys on the committee, headed by Democratic Maryland Representative Jamie Raskin. Representatives Adam Schiff and Zoe Lofgren, both Democrats from California, and Representative Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming, round out the group. In October, a special committee was established to handle suggestions involving criminal referrals.
Final Report To Be Released This Coming Week
Monday's session is the end of a nearly two-year investigation into what led to the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, by a group of pro-Trump supporters who wanted to stop Congress from acknowledging the results of the 2020 presidential election, which Joe Biden triumphed.
Jan.6 Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson previously told NPR that the final report might be about a thousand pages long, and its publication is expected as soon as Monday. Appendices to the study and transcripts of more than 1,000 witness interviews are anticipated to be made public on Wednesday.
In a CNN report, Thompson noted that the panel is considering five to six referral categories beyond criminals, but has not determined the number of persons.
Thompson said the committee may submit ethics, bar disciplinary, and campaign finance cases to the House Ethics Committee in addition to criminal referrals to the Department of Justice.
All of Trump's closest associates, from White House counsel Pat Cipollone to attorney Rudy Giuliani to daughters Ivanka and Donald Jr., were questioned by the committee as part of its investigation. Their investigation included interviews with Trump's Secret Service agents, campaign officials, lawyers, and White House employees.
Panel Alleged Donald Trump Orchestrated Capitol Attack
For months, the Jan.6 Committee has argued that Trump deliberately lied about the voting results to disrupt Joe Biden's ascension to the presidency. They alleged Trump pressed state and local authorities, the Justice Department, and his vice president to assist him to win a second term after the 2020 election. When the plan didn't work, he allegedly tried to stop Congress from certifying the election by using a crowd he knew to be armed, according to Politico.
The panel also asserts that Donald Trump incited the audience at a rally on January 6 by ordering them to march on the Capitol and "fight like hell." Moreover, the investigation also indicated that the ex-POTUS fraudulently signed court paperwork attesting to proof of election fraud.
The Jan.6 Committee that during the mob assault on the Capitol, Trump stirred up further mayhem by tweeting criticism of then-Vice President Mike Pence, who was running away from the crowd at the time. Despite pleas from his friends for him to act, Trump did not order the unruly crowd to disperse as the violence persisted.
Donald Trump instead stayed glued to the news coverage of the assault and kept in touch with his comrades to plot their next move.
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