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Yesterday, the Jan. 6 Committee held its final public meeting to preview their forthcoming final report, concluding their investigation into the attack on our country on Jan. 6 by making criminal referrals for Donald Trump, John Eastman, and others to the Department of Justice. Finally, the Committee has laid out all the evidence showing how Donald Trump and his MAGA allies planned and promoted efforts to overturn an election they knew they lost. No one is above the law – the American people demand accountability for the chaos and violence that ensued that day and to ensure nothing like this happens ever again in our country.
New York Times (Opinion): The Jan. 6 Committee Just Made History. Here’s What That Means for Prosecutors. “The House committee articulated a powerful legal case encompassing the many schemes of Mr. Trump, John Eastman, and others, including the audacious promotion of false electoral slates. The committee also recommended prosecution of Mr. Trump on charges of inciting insurrection and giving aid or comfort to insurrectionists — a charge unseen since the Civil War. The referrals make clear to prosecutors and to Americans just how dangerous the attempted coup was, and how vulnerable our system was (and is) to such assaults… The committee exposed how, as other ploys failed, the scheme to send false electors to Congress intensified. One of the most striking moments of the nine committee hearings was the video testimony of Ronna Romney McDaniel, the Republican National Committee chairwoman, describing how Mr. Trump called her and then “turned the call over” to Mr. Eastman, who asked for her help in gathering the false electors in key states. No less startling was the testimony by Mr. Clark’s superiors at the Justice Department about his proposed letter to Georgia election officials to try to get them to open the door to the false electors effort.” [The New York Times, 12/19/22]
New York Times: Jan. 6 Panel Backs Four Criminal Referrals Against Trump. “The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol accused former President Donald J. Trump on Monday of inciting insurrection, conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstruction of an act of Congress and one more federal crime as it referred him to the Justice Department for potential prosecution. The action, the first time in American history that Congress has referred a former president for criminal prosecution, is the coda to the committee’s intense 18-month investigation into Mr. Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election that culminated in a violent mob of the former president’s supporters laying siege to the Capitol. The criminal referrals were a major escalation for a congressional investigation that is the most significant in a generation. The panel referred five other Trump allies — Mark Meadows, his final chief of staff, and the lawyers Rudolph W. Giuliani, John Eastman, Jeffrey Clark and Kenneth Chesebro — for potential prosecution for actions the committee said warranted Justice Department investigation. The charges would carry lengthy prison sentences if federal prosecutors chose to pursue them.” [The New York Times, 12/19/22]
Politico: Jan. 6 Committee Delivers Its Judgment On Donald Trump. “The Jan. 6 select committee on Monday began unveiling its most comprehensive case yet that Donald Trump attempted to subvert the transfer of presidential power to Joe Biden — first by pressuring allies at every level of government and then with the aid of a violent mob. The panel introduced the first components of its final report following an 18-month probe that featured explosive testimony from members of Trump’s West Wing, battles that reached the Supreme Court and access to some of the most sensitive papers held by Trump’s White House. The panel has long contended Trump broke the law in service of his bid to seize a second term despite losing the 2020 election. But the new report is expected to add vivid new details of that effort, particularly about the cast of enablers that facilitated Trump’s gambit — from Republican members of Congress to a team of lawyers pushing fringe legal theories to shadowy operatives awash in conspiracies. The panel also plans to formally adopt a conclusion that Trump violated the criminal insurrection statute by providing “aid and comfort” to the mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. ‘Faith in our system is the foundation of American democracy. If the faith is broken, so is our democracy,’ said select panel chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.). ‘Donald Trump broke that faith. He lost the 2020 election and knew it, but he chose to try to stay in office through a multi-part scheme.’ ‘This can never happen again,’ Thompson added. [Politico, 12/19/22]
The Guardian: A Very American Coup Attempt: Jan 6 Panel Lays Bare Trump’s Bid For Power. “…as the detailed executive summary of the report released by the congressional committee investigating the insurrection lays bare, Trump’s bid to usurp power began while the votes from the November 2020 presidential election were still being counted. That kicked off what amounted to a rolling coup attempt as an increasingly desperate president sought to compromise and corrupt officials from the US justice department to state election boards in a bid to find a way, any way, to have his defeat declared null and void. The seeds were sown by an increasingly desperate Trump as he watched the results roll in on election night. The president’s own campaign manager, Bill Stepien, had told him that the way the count was conducted in several states meant that early results were likely to give Trump the lead but that would be eroded as absentee and other postal votes were tallied.” [The Guardian, 12/19/22]
ABC: Jan. 6 Committee Condemns Trump As ‘Central Cause’ Of Insurrection In Sweeping Report. “After investigating for more than a year, the House committee probing the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol on Monday culminated its sweeping investigation by announcing it would make multiple criminal referrals to the Department of Justice against former President Donald Trump on multiple charges related to his actions surrounding riot at the Capitol. Meeting for its final meeting on Monday to present a summation of the evidence it has gathered over the past year, committee member Rep. Jamie Raskin said the panel believes that ‘the evidence described … today and assembled throughout our hearings warrants’ criminal referrals on at least four charges. The charges include obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to make a false statement, and insurrection.” [ABC, 12/19/22]
Bloomberg: Trump’s Role in Insurrection Could Bar Him From Seeking Office. “A special House committee’s vote to refer former President Donald Trump for potential criminal charges in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol brings fresh attention to a Constitutional ban on insurrectionists holding office. Section 3 of the 14th Amendment states that no one can ‘hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State’ if they took an oath to support the Constitution and then ‘engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same.’ […] The House Jan. 6 committee urged the Justice Department on Monday to consider charging Trump with inciting or aiding an insurrection. Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin, who announced the insurrection referral, described it as “a grave federal offense anchored in the Constitution itself” and noted that it was “automatic grounds” for disqualifying someone from holding state or federal office. The committee’s referral of that felony offense, which carries as much as 10 years in prison, doesn’t stop Trump from pressing ahead with his 2024 presidential run, however. A federal indictment or even a conviction also wouldn’t instantly halt Trump’s campaign under the Constitution. Some other entity has to take action — for instance, a secretary of state stopping him from appearing on a ballot, a judge concluding he’s ineligible, or Congress refusing to certify election results.” [Bloomberg, 12/19/22]
MSNBC: Key Things To Watch Out For In The Jan. 6 Report Beyond Trump. “Be on the lookout for the release of the testimony of high-profile witnesses — and the names of those who refused to cooperate, presumably including former Vice President Mike Pence and members of Congress. Transcripts of the interviews of Virginia Thomas (the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas), former White House counsel Pat Cipollone, former Attorney General William Barr, Ivanka Trump, as well as Secret Service agents and even low-level White House employees will be minutely dissected. After all, anyone in the White House could have overheard critical conversations. For prosecutors who have subpoenaed key witnesses to testify to a federal grand jury, this would create a unique advantage. They can evaluate whether any witness testified inconsistently to committee investigators and the grand jury. However, unless a thousand transcripts are released in a searchable database, important testimony may not surface for days or weeks. But as the Republicans’ control of the House looms, time is not on the committee’s side. And a critical issue that is still at hand is whether the committee will release the voluminous documentary evidence — text messages, call records and emails — it collected. Candid exchanges, which the senders never believed would see the light of day, could be the most damning evidence of all.” [MSNBC News, 12/19/22]
CBS: Jan. 6 Committee Approves Criminal Referrals Targeting Trump, Urging DOJ To Prosecute. “During its final public meeting Monday, the panel’s seven Democrats and two Republicans voted unanimously to adopt its final report and urge the Justice Department to prosecute Trump for obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to make a false statement and incitement, rebellion or insurrection. Trump’s actions could also constitute violations of two other conspiracy statutes depending on potential evidence developed by the Justice Department, the panel said in a summary of the report. […] The panel’s nine members also voted to issue referrals for several of Trump’s allies, including John Eastman, a conservative lawyer and architect of the legal strategy for then-Vice President Mike Pence to unilaterally throw out state Electoral College votes on Jan. 6, and Jeffrey Clark, a Justice Department official who drafted a letter urging state officials to appoint new slates of electors. [CBS News, 12/19/22]
Axios: Jan. 6 Panel Refers Trump On Criminal Charges. “In an unprecedented move, the congressional committee voted unanimously that the former president committed crimes for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Driving the news: The panel referred Trump on charges of obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to make a false statement and insurrection. ‘The committee has developed significant evidence that President Trump intended to disrupt the peaceful transition of power under our constitution,’ Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said. The panel also announced Monday the referral of criminal charges against former Trump lawyer John Eastman for his efforts to disrupt the 2020 election. Eastman, with Trump, pushed a theory that Vice President Mike Pence could unilaterally reject electors. ‘We believe that the evidence described by my colleagues today and assembled throughout our hearings warrants a criminal referral of former president Donald J. Trump, John Eastman and others,’ Raskin said. The referrals are non-binding and do not require the DOJ to take any additional action. The big picture: Monday’s public meeting is likely the last public session for the committee, as it will dissolve at the end of the current Congressional session. The panel over the last 18 months has reviewed droves of evidence and conducted hundreds of interviews to glean insight into what happened that deadly day. The panel also voted Monday to approve its sprawling final report, which will include legislative recommendations and focus on additional evidence on Trump’s role on Jan. 6. [Axios, 12/19/22]
Washington Post (Opinion): The Jan. 6 Report Will Draw Blood Even If Trump Faces No Charges. “This move would communicate to the public that the committee — which has examined the insurrection more deeply than anyone — believes the Justice Department should investigate whether Trump committed specific crimes. When people deride hearings as “political theater,” that’s automatically understood as a “showboating waste of time.” But successful hearings, even theatrical ones, are also acts of communication with the people. And in this case, that’s especially important. […] a recommendation of the insurrection charge would do one other thing. It would place the committee on record behind the proposition that Trump’s conduct might have been so criminally heinous that it disqualifies him from ever holding office again. The vast majority of Republican lawmakers might not want to make this declaration. But the committee’s Democrats — and its two Republicans — probably do.” [The Washington Post (Opinion), 12/19/22]
Reuters: U.S. Capitol Riot Panel Meets, To Ask Prosecutors To Charge Trump. “The House of Representatives committee probing the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol by Donald Trump supporters began a public meeting on Monday to decide whether to ask prosecutors to criminally charge the former president. The Democratic-led panel has spent 18 months probing the unprecedented attempt to prevent the peaceful transfer of power by thousands of Trump backers, inspired by the Republican’s false claims that his 2020 election loss to Democratic President Joe Biden was the result of widespread fraud. Slamming Trump for summoning the mob to the Capitol nearly two years ago, Thompson also criticized the former president for undermining faith in the democratic system. ‘If the faith is broken, so is our democracy. Donald Trump broke that faith,’ Thompson said.” [Reuters, 12/19/22]
The Hill: Capitol Police Officer Says It ‘physically Hurts’ To Talk About Jan. 6. “U.S. Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards said in a new op-ed that it ‘physically hurts’ to talk about the Capitol riot, adding that the House Jan. 6 select committee issuing its report this week represents ‘nothing final.’ […] Multiple police officers died in the days following the attack. One who was attacked with chemical spray died the next day. Others died by suicide later that month. ‘The trauma kicked off by the Capitol riot is still with us,’ Edwards added. ‘Only by talking to one another and seeking out help and support from our fellow officers will we find peace — and that could take years. But I sincerely hope that any law enforcement officer knows that in a crisis, my phone is always on. You are never alone as long as you know me.’” [The Hill, 12/19/22]
