Jan. 6 committee to vote Monday on criminal recommendations to DOJ from Capitol attack
Jan. 6 committee to vote Monday on criminal recommendations to DOJ from Capitol attack
December 14, 2022
Hawaii
the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, will meet Monday at 1 p.m. to vote on potential recommendations to the Justice Department to prosecute suspects
Vote Monday, release report Dec. 21: The chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., told reporters the meeting would include votes on recommendations and the final report, which would be released Dec. 21, according to reports on CNN and ABC News. Besides criminal referrals, the panel could also make recommendations to state bar associations about lawyers, to the Federal Election Commission about campaign violations and to the House Ethics Committee about lawmakers, Thompson said.
What Thompson said: “We will do all of the business of the committee on the 19th,” Thompson said Tuesday, according to CNN and ABC News.
Committee members suggested Trump could face charges: The House has already impeached former President Donald Trump on charges he incited the insurrection, but he was acquitted in a Senate trial. Several members of the committee have suggested he could face criminal charges for inciting the violence.
More:Jan. 6 report details emerge as panel enters final phase. What we know about next steps.
More:The convictions, lawsuits and investigations a 2024 Trump candidacy faces, explained
Trump aides, including Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows, are targets of the committee
The committee has also focused its investigation on a handful of White House and personal aides. According to committee hearings, the targeted aides include:
coordinated Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
John Eastman: A private lawyer for Trump who developed the scheme to recruit alternate slates of electors in states President Joe Biden won. A federal judge in California ruled Eastman and Trump “more likely than not” acted unlawfully.
Jeffrey Clark: A former assistant attorney general for the environment at the Justice Department drafted an unsent letter to legislative leaders in six states to alter their election results in favor of Trump. Trump considered replacing his attorney general with Clark to execute the plan, but balked when top department officials threatened to resign.
Rudy Giuliani: One of Trump’s personal lawyers who worked on the fake electors scheme and testified at a Georgia state hearing about baseless claims of election fraud.
DOJ gets final say on whether to charge Trump or others
The committee’s recommendations are non-binding. The Justice Department is already investigating the Jan. 6 attack with a special counsel, Jack Smith.
But legal experts said formal recommendations from the panel could spur the investigations.
