The Chairman of the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol said Tuesday it has decided to make criminal referrals to the Department of Justice.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) told reporters the Committee had not yet narrowed down the group of individuals who would be referred to the DOJ. He planned to meet later Tuesday with the other Committee members for further discussion.
The Committee has been preparing a final report based on more than 1,000 interviews, extensive videos of the January 6, 2021 deadly assault meant to force the overturn of the 2020 Presidential election, and millions of documents. It will be a final summation of the Committee’s year-and-a-half investigation.
Former President Trump, whom Vice Chair Liz Cheney (R-WY) repeatedly said during televised hearings in the fall, “summoned the mob, assembled the mob” and egged on the attackers, could potentially be among those the Committee criminally refers to the DOJ.
On November 18, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed veteran career prosecutor Jack Smith as special counsel to determine whether criminal charges should be filed against Trump for his role in January 6, as well as his transporting of documents from the White House to his Florida country club residence, Mar-a-Lago.
