January 6 Committee Recommends Criminal Charges Against Donald Trump

UPDATE: The Jan. 6 commission recommended that the Justice Department file four criminal charges against former President Donald Trump, along with others he believes helped orchestrate efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

The charges include obstruction of official process, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to commit perjury, and inciting, inciting, or providing assistance or comfort to a riot.

It is up to the Justice Department to decide whether to file charges, but this is the first time a former president has faced such an allegation.

Representative,. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), who outlined the recommendations, also cited John Eastman, the college professor who tried to use “fake” voters before the joint session of Congress to confirm the election results.

Raskin said others were also involved, but the committee could not see their full role because they refused to testify. “We trust the Department of Justice can provide a more complete picture,” Raskin said.

The commission also recommended that four members of Congress face sanctions if they do not comply with a subpoena. They include House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) and Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ).

As the committee adjourned its final hearing, the audience in the hall applauded. The members then left as the room fell silent except for the clicking of the cameras.

The committee summary is here. The final report is expected this week.

Raskin told reporters after the hearing that he was “glad that we have a very good idea of ​​what happened. There are a few small things I want to know. [During the attack on the Capitol] President Trump ordered hamburgers in his dining room. And I just wonder if he actually ate hamburgers while he watched the insurgent violence against our country unfold.”

“It was a small detail, but in light of the big questions about the future, related to what we will do as a society in the 21st century to ensure that America is a strong bulwark of democracy for ourselves happy. and for people around the world.”

A big unanswered question is who planted pipe bombs in the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee that day.

He said that while the commission has not referred allegations of witness tampering or obstruction of justice to the DOJ, it still believes prosecution is necessary.

“We wanted to move forward where we felt the evidence was overwhelming or abundant or certainly sufficient to move forward,” he said. “Don’t throw away tens of loads. We are very focused on what we actually know.”

BEFORE: As the January 6 commission presented some of its key findings, members also presented newly gathered evidence.

It includes excerpts from testimony from Hope Hicks, Donald Trump’s longtime adviser, who said as the then-president continued his allegations of voter fraud, she was “increasingly concerned that we are damaging his legacy.”

His response, Hicks said, was “something like, if I lose, nobody’s going to care about my legacy.”

The committee also presented a text exchange Hicks had with Hogan Gidley, who worked for the Trump campaign, when the attack occurred on January 6.

“Hi. I know you see this. But he really needs to tweet something about non-violence,” Gidley said.

“I’m not here,” Hicks wrote. “I suggested it several times on Monday and Tuesday, and he declined.” She directed the proposal not to Trump personally, but to White House counsel Eric Herschmann. But he also made the same request, and Trump refused.

The committee also presented allegations that Trump and his team tried to hire witnesses to influence their testimony. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) said Trump raised extensive funds for his false claims of voter fraud and that some of the money was then used to provide or offer jobs or hire lawyers to influence them. However, Lofgren’s claim was a bit vague.

“We learned that a client was being offered a potential job that would make her ‘very comfortable’ financially as the date of her testimony neared organizations that appear to be associated with Donald Trump and his associates,” Lofgren said. .

BEFORE: The Jan. 6 committee met Monday for its final official public hearing, which is expected to include a vote on a criminal referral to the Justice Department on charges against former President Donald Trump.

Such a move would be a dramatic finale to the committee’s work, which has exceeded expectations in its ability to use a steady stream of bombshells to draw attention to the extent to which Trump has tried to rig the results of the 2020 overturn presidential election.

The committee also planned to make recommendations to ensure that such an attack on the Capitol never happens again. Bennie Thompson, president of the commission, said that “we are in strange and uncharted waters” and that “almost two years later it is still a time for reflection and reckoning”.

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), the commission’s vice chair, said one of the “most embarrassing” findings was that Trump refused, and even refused to act for hours while the Capitol was under attack, instead in the Stayed oval. Office sitting. dining room and watched events unfold. She called it a clear dereliction of duty.” She called Trump, who is now running for president again, “unfit for office.”

“No one who acted like that then could ever hold a position of authority in our country again,” said Cheney.

Major broadcast and cable networks carried out the commission’s work.

The committee is likely to be disbanded when Republicans take control of the House of Representatives next month. Two of its members, Cheney and Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA) lost their bid for re-election. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) did not run for re-election.

The commission’s legacy is likely to be reflected in its recommendations to the Justice Department and its final report, which is expected to be released Wednesday. Thompson said most of the material collected in 18 months of research will be published by the end of the year. The report is likely to note that the attack on the Capitol did not come spontaneously, but was the result of weeks of premeditated efforts led by Trump to overturn the election results.

NBC News reported earlier Monday that the committee plans to ask the Justice Department to file at least three criminal charges against Trump, including obstruction of official process, conspiracy to defraud the government, and abetting or aiding and abetting ‘ a riot In the weeks following the attack on the Capitol, Trump was impeached a second time by the House of Representatives, but was eventually acquitted after a Senate hearing.

The Department of Justice conducted a concurrent investigation into the events of January 6, with Jack Smith now leading the case as special prosecutor.

CBS News’ Robert Costa also received an audio recording of former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s testimony. A congressional investigator asked Flynn whether he pressured military and intelligence officials to assist him in trying to overturn the election results. Flynn was fifth.

The committee met in the same stately hall as it has since the hearings began in June. There was one difference: The Cannon Caucus Room was renamed the Nancy Pelosi Caucus Room for the outgoing speaker, who was a driving force behind the proceedings, making it much more viewer-friendly than normal convention proceedings.