WASHINGTON — The House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol is expected to vote Monday to urge the Justice Department to take the unprecedented step of pursuing several potential criminal charges against former President Donald Trump, including insurrection.
The referral of a former president to the Justice Department for criminal charges would be a first in American history. In addition to recommending Trump’s prosecution for insurrection, the committee is expected to vote on at least two other charges against the former president: obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
The committee’s 18-month investigation and nine public hearings placed Trump at the center of the effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election and to assemble a mob he directed to Capitol Hill to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power.
