The U.S. House committee investigating the violent insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 voted unanimously on Monday to recommend the Justice Department pursue a batch of criminal charges against former President Donald Trump for his role in an effort to overturn the 2020 election. Trump was the first president in American history to be impeached twice, and is now also the first president ever to be formally referred by Congress for potential criminal prosecution.
The committee’s final meeting marked the end of a 17-month congressional investigation that included more than 100 subpoenas, interviews with more than 1,200 witnesses and the collection of hundreds of thousands of documents. The select committee also took aim at Trump’s top allies who worked with the former president to block certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory and illegitimately keep Trump in power.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who led the Jan. 6 subcommittee that examined referrals, said: “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. But we have gone where the facts and the law lead us, and inescapably they lead us here.” Raskin said there may be others worthy of prosecution and there may be other statutes that Trump violated, noting the Justice Department will be able to form “a far more complete picture” through its own ongoing investigation.
This marks the first time in history that a congressional committee has recommended that DOJ launch a criminal investigation into a former American president. The Jan. 6 committee is urging DOJ to consider a number of charges against Trump, including conspiracy to defraud the federal government; obstruction of an official proceeding, in this case Congress’ certification of electoral votes; conspiracy to make a false statement; and inciting or assisting those in an insurrection. The criminal referrals do not carry any legal weight but represent a symbolic rebuke of Trump, who remains the most influential Republican in the country and has launched another bid for president in 2024.
The committee also voted to formally adopt its full report on its Jan. 6 investigation; it is expected to be hundreds of pages long and will be released to the public on Wednesday. Interview transcripts and other written and video evidence will also be shared with the public, committee members said. Outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. said: “With painstaking detail, this executive summary documents the sinister plot to subvert the Congress, shred the Constitution and halt the peaceful transfer of power. The Committee has reached important conclusions about the evidence it has developed, and I respect those findings.”
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