Jan. 6 Committee Says Trump Should Be Criminally Charged

The Jan. 6 committee announced on Monday that it will refer former President Donald Trump for criminal charges for his role in the attack on the Capitol as Congress was certifying the 2020 election.

The referral, which was expected, came during the committee’s final meeting before releasing the final report on its investigation into the events of Jan. 6, 2021 and the larger effort to keep Trump in office despite losing handily to Joe Biden. The committee has said it will release the report on Wednesday.

Congress asking the Justice Department to criminally charge a former president is a historic move that speaks to the magnitude of the evidence the committee has gathered against Trump, who they have placed at the center of the scheme to overturn the election. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) laid out the details of the referrals, noting that the committee is seeking charges be brought against Trump for obstructing an official proceeding, a charge they will also recommend be brought against former Trump lawyer John Eastman and others; conspiracy to defraud the United States government, which will also be recommended for Eastman and others; knowingly and willingly making a false statement to the federal government, which will also be recommended for others; and inciting, assisting, or engaging in insurrection.

The committee subpoenaed Trump in October, but the former president has yet to comply. The committee previously referred former Trump adviser Steve Bannon for criminal charges for refusing to comply with a subpoena. Bannon was charged with contempt of Congress last November, and convicted this July before being sentenced to four months in prison. Leveling charges against a former president is a far more serious proposition, however, especially considering the charges in question are more complex than contempt of Congress.

It will now be up to the Justice Department, which has been conducting its own investigation into the events of Jan. 6 and the effort to overturn the election, to weigh the evidence and decide whether to do so. The Jan. 6 committee certainly believes they should. “There’s evidence Donald Trump committed criminal offenses in his effort to overturn the 2020 election,” committee member Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) wrote on Sunday. “He tried to interfere with a joint session. Pressed officials to find votes that didn’t exist. And set a bloodthirsty mob on the Capitol. If that’s not criminal, nothing is.”