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Members of the House Jan. 6 Committee have announced that the panel will make several criminal referrals to the Department of Justice (DOJ) before its dissolution in January.
Over the past several months, the panel has attempted to present a criminal case against President Donald Trump, contending that the Jan. 6 Capitol breach was the culmination of a months-long effort to overthrow the United States government.
The panel capped off its tentative final hearing with its biggest announcement to date: a vote to subpoena Trump.
Trump has begun a legal fight to counter the subpoena, an almost unprecedented effort.
Now, as the 117th Congress comes to a close, the panel has announced fresh criminal referrals.
“We have made decisions on criminal referrals,” panel Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) told reporters.
“We will” pursue criminal referrals, he added.
Some reports indicate that even though the committee will pursue criminal referrals, they have not decided who to recommend charges against, or which charges to recommend.
According to Politico’s Kyle Cheney, “Chairman Thompson tells us that the select committee has *not* [sic] made any specific decisions about whether any particular person will be criminally referred to DOJ. The committee has generally agreed that it’s a tactic they will use, but no vote yet on who or for what.”
When asked whether witnesses had perjured themselves, potentially grounds for some criminal referrals, Thompson said that that was “part of the discussion.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), another member of the panel, echoed Thompson.
“We’re in the process of bringing forward different recommendations to the full committee for consideration,” Raskin told reporters.
