The January 6 House Committee made four criminal referrals against former President Donald Trump to the Justice Department on Monday in its final hearing culminating its 18-month-long investigation into Trump’s efforts to invalidate the results of the 2020 presidential election and the Capitol riots the committee alleges he incited.
Members of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the US Capitol depart … [+]
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Key Facts
The committee said it has collected sufficient evidence to warrant charges against Trump, and others, for obstruction of an official proceeding of the United States government, conspiring to defraud the U.S., making false statements to the federal government and inciting or engaging in an insurrection.
The committee referred five of Trump’s confidants—former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and lawyers Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Jeffrey Clark and Kenneth Chesebro to the DOJ for criminal investigations.
The committee also referred Republican Reps. Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Jim Jordan (Ohio) and Scott Perry (Penn.) to the House Ethics Committee for refusing to comply with subpoenas issued as part of the committee’s investigation.
The referrals hold no legal weight, and it will be up to the Justice Department and House Ethics Committee whether to take on committee’s recommendations.
The committee on Monday authorized the release of a 154-page summary on its findings that detail its reasoning for the referrals and lay out findings that show Trump “purposely disseminated false allegations of fraud” that led his supporters to storm the Capitol, despite testimony from many in his inner circle who said they openly disagreed with Trump’s claims.
