Expect 'five or six' categories of referrals: Chairman
The most important business at hand when the select committee meets this afternoon is the committee's highly anticipated decision on criminal referrals.
Sources familiar told ABC News the committee is preparing to urge the Department of Justice to prosecute Donald Trump for obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy to defraud the United States. Another criminal charge under discussion is insurrection, the sources said.
![PHOTO: U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chairman of the House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, talks to reporters as he leaves the Capitol after the last House votes of the week on Nov. 17, 2022 in Washington, D.C.](https://s.abcnews.com/images/Politics/bennie-thompson_hpMain_20221206-112028.jpg)
Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., tasked a subcommittee to make recommendations on criminal referrals and to also explore enforcement options for the five Republican lawmakers who ignored subpoenas to testify: Reps. Kevin McCarthy, Andy Biggs, Jim Jordan, Scott Perry and Mo Brooks.
Thompson has said to expect "five or six" categories of referrals, which means there could be referrals to several different entities such as the Justice Department or the House Committee on Ethics.
The extent of the criminal referrals, and who will be targeted, will be made clear in a matter of hours when the committee releases a separate, shorter report on the matter. Any referrals would be a largely symbolic move, though, as it's ultimately up to federal prosecutors whether to pursue charges.
-ABC News' Katherine Faulders