Donald Trump Could Face Multiple Criminal Charges for Capitol Insurrection Based on January 6 Committee's Referral to DOJ

Donald Trump's already bad legal troubles could get worse, as the House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol is eyeing to refer criminal charges against the former president to the Justice Department.

The January 6 committee is considering recommending to prosecutors to pursue a criminal charge of insurrection, as well as charges for obstructing an official proceeding and conspiracy to defraud the United States.

A person familiar with the matter but could not publicly discuss it told this to the Associated Press. A second person also familiar with the committee's deliberations told the outlet that the panel's lawyers argued that those three criminal statutes were the strongest cases to make against the former president.

The committee was continuing its deliberations late Friday, and a decision has yet to be formalized on which specific charges would be referred to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Why Congress Has to Refer the Criminal Charges to the Department of Justice?

While the January 6 committee spent two years investigating the events of and leading to the Capitol insurrection, they do not have any legal power to charge Donald Trump. However, they can refer their findings to the DOJ, which would be the one to file charges against the former president for his crimes.

Sky News reported that while the panel can refer the case, it is not guaranteed that the Justice Department will decide to file charges. The DOJ is also conducting its own investigation of the Capitol riot.

The committee held public hearings about the January 6 Capitol insurrection. It has done plenty of depositions and interviews with former White House aides, staff, and Republican officials to shed light on the former president's act of provoking his supporters to storm the Capitol and stop Joe Biden from becoming the next president.

The panel held its final public hearing in October with a subpoena for Donald Trump. However, Trump avoided testifying by suing to prevent providing any requested documentation. He also declined to show up for his deposition.

January 6 Panel Could Also Recommend Other Referrals in Addition to the Criminal Charge Referrals

According to CNN, the panel, made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans, will announce its final recommendations on Monday afternoon.

A source told CNN that the final recommendations of the panel could include additional charges proposed for Donald Trump. The outlet said the final report will provide justification from the committee's probe for recommending the charges.

Committee's Chairman Bennie Thompson told reporters that they could issue around five to six other categories of referrals in addition to the criminal charges they will be handing to the DOJ. These could include ethics referrals to the House Ethics Committee, as well as bar discipline referrals, and campaign finance referrals.

When asked why they still have not decided on what criminal charges they will be referring to the DOJ, committee member Rep. Zoe Lofgren told CNN that they were being "very careful in crafting these recommendations and tethering them to the facts" they have uncovered.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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