January 6 committee to ask Trump charged with three crimes including insurrection

The January 6th committee will urge the Justice Department to pursue at least three criminal charges against Donald Trump, including insurrection, according to a new report on Friday.

The panel holds its final meeting of the year on Monday. Its report on its findings will be released on Wednesday of next week as it wraps up its work before its disbanded.

At its Monday meeting, the panel members will vote on recommending charges against the former president, including insurrection; obstruction of an official proceeding; and conspiracy to defraud the United States government, Politico reported.

In a series of high-profile hearings this year on the aftermath of the 2020 election, which Trump falsely claims he won, the committee made its case that Trump was pressuring his then-Vice President Mike Pence to throw the election results back to the states in an attempt to overturn the election results.

The January 6th committee will urge the Justice Department to pursue at least three criminal charges against Donald Trump

Pence did not testify but a number of other top Trump officials did – including Pence’s chief of staff Marc Short, Ivanka Trump, and Jared Kushner.

It’s unclear if more charges are on the table for Trump or whether it will urge other criminal charges for other players in that day’s drama.

The panel will offer as justification for its recommendation U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta’s February ruling saying Trump’s language plausibly incited violence on Jan. 6, 2021.

Trump addressed his supporters on the national Ellipse – the area right outside the White House – on the morning of January 6th. Later that day a mob of his supporters marched to the Capitol and broke into the building to stop the certification of Biden’s win in the electoral college. 

The panel will also cites the Senate’s 57 votes in last year’s second impeachment trial of Trump, where the House voted to indict him ‘incitement of insurrection’ charge. He was acquitted by the Senate as a guilty verdict takes 60 votes. 

Such a recommendation against Trump would likely create a political firestorm. Trump has already announced he is seeking another term in the White House in the 2024 election and has long complained he is facing political retribution from rivals. 

Even some Republicans say he should not be a target while a candidate for office. 

Trump has slammed the committee’s work and called its members ‘political thugs.’

The Justice Department is already investigating Trump on the matter of documents discovered at his Mar-a-Lago home, many of which were reported to be classified. He brought them with him from the White House, which is a violation of the Presidential Records Act.

An October report said prosecutors at the DoJ believe ‘there is sufficient evidence’ to charge Trump in that area but the group ‘has not made a formal recommendation’ to Attorney General Merrick Garland, who has ultimate approval. 

Garland would have to approve an additional investigation or charges. 

The committee’s recommendations have no legal weight and Garland is not required to consider them when making any decisions. 

Earlier this year the panel voted to subpoena Trump but he has declined to appear before the committee. 

Outgoing Rep. Liz Cheney was one of two Republicans to serve on the January 6th committee

The January 6th committee was created by Democrats to study the origins of the riot that interrupted the certification of the 2020 presidential election

The January 6th committee, created by Democrats to study the origins of the riot that interrupted the certification of the 2020 presidential election, is wrapping up its work before Congress adjourns.

Officials, in its 17 months of investigation, collected more than 140,000 documents, and condcuted more than 1,000 interviews with Trump aides, rioters and officials who they claim were directly or indirectly involved in the riot. 

The hearings featured dramatic teistmony – both from live witnesses and recorded interviews with Trump advisers – that revealed the former president’s movements on January 6. 

Cheney called Trump a ‘key player’ in the day’s events.

In the hearings:

• The committee showed testimony from Ivanka Trump saying rejecting her father’s claims the 2020 election was stolen 
• That Trump led a ‘sprawling, multi-step conspiracy aimed at overturning the presidential election’ 
• How rioters said they went to the Capital at the direction on the then-president
• The danger facing Mike Pence and his team as rioters called for hanging Pence
• Outlined how Trump attempted to pressure the Justice Department to pursue his baseless election fraud theories. Former Trump DOJ officials testified about an explosive stand-off between the ex-president and ‘hundreds’ of administration officials who were ready to resign if 2020 election denier Jeffrey Clark was appointed Attorney General
• Trump’s state of mind on January 6th

Republicans take control of the House on January 3rd and are expected to dismantle the panel that was dominated by Democratic lawmakers. 

The only two Republicans on it – Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinziniger – are longtime Trump critics. Cheney lost her primary after Trump endorsed her opponent and Kinzinger opted not to seek another term in Congress.