WASHINGTON — The House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol unanimously voted 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 is a first in American history. In addition to recommending Trump’s prosecution for insurrection, the committee voted on three other charges against him: obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress, knowingly and willfully making materially false statements to the federal government and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
“This committee will lay out a number of recommendations in this final report,” Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said. “But beyond any specific details and recommendations we present, there’s one factor I believe is most important in preventing another Jan. 6 — accountability ... accountability that can only be found in the criminal justice system.”
The committee’s 18-month investigation and nine public hearings this year 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.
“Ours is not a system of justice where foot soldiers go to jail and the masterminds and ringleaders get a free pass,” committee member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said. “The evidence clearly suggests that President Trump conspired with others to submit slates of fake electors to Congress and the National Archives.”
The committee also made referrals for other people involved with the scheme to the Justice Department and other entities with the authority to punish them, including state bars and the Federal Election Commission.
The committee also referred California attorney John Eastman for criminal charges. The panel has argued in court that Eastman, the architect of the legal theory that the vice president could reject certain states’ electors, which Trump attempted to use, most likely violated two federal laws: obstructing an official act of Congress and defrauding the American public. U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, who is based in Santa Ana, California, concluded that Trump and Eastman likely conspired to overturn the election, an act which the judge described as “a coup in search of a legal theory.”
Republican lawmakers who didn’t comply with committee subpoenas may also be referred to the House Ethics Committee. It is unlikely that panel would take up the referrals with just weeks left before Republicans take control of the House.
“Censure was something that we have considered,” Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said. “Ethics referrals is something we have considered.”
Though the committee referrals do not carry legal weight or compel any action by special counsel Jack Smith, who is conducting his own wide-ranging investigation, they signal that the congressional committee believes it has evidence that crimes were committed.
Four committee members who are also attorneys — Schiff and Reps. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and Raskin — were tasked with determining who to refer for potential prosecution by the Justice Department or punishment by other entities.
Monday’s hearing also included a preview of the committee’s final report, which is expected to be released in full Wednesday.
Thompson said the committee will make public the bulk of the non-sensitive material it has compiled before the end of the year, though it is not clear exactly what the scope of that material will be.
