Jan. 6 committee refers Trump to DOJ for criminal charges

In a dramatic climax, Rep. Jamie Raskin announced that the evidence obtained by the committee "warrants a criminal referral, of former president Donald J. Trump, John Eastman and others."

"We propose to the committee advancing referrals where the gravity of the specific offense, the severely of its actual harm and the centrality of the offender to the overall design of the unlawful scheme to the overall election compel to us speak," Raskin said. "Ours is not a skim of justice where foot soldiers go to jail and the masterminds and ringleaders get a free pass."

Raskin said "the starting point" of their analysis is how a federal judge already found Trump's and John Eastman's pressure on then-Vice President Mike Pence to obstruct the congressional count of electoral votes "more likely than not" violated two federal criminal statutes: obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy to defraud the United States.

The announcement of the referrals is ongoing.

Rep. Pete Aguilar, in his opening remarks, focused on how Trump attempted to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to unilaterally overturn his 2020 election loss.

Aguilar said Trump "embraced an illegal scheme" proposed by attorney John Eastman that claimed the vice president has the power to reject electoral votes during the joint session of Congress to certify the votes.

The scheme, Aguilar said, culminated in a "dangerous threat to Mr. Pence's life on Jan. 6."

"Rioters at the Capitol were heard chanting, 'Hang Mike Pence' through the afternoon," Aguilar said. "As a result of this unrest, Vice President Pence was forced to flee to a secure location."

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., outlined Trump's pressure campaign on state officials to stop Biden's certification, as members took turns linking the actions of Trump and his allies to potential criminal charges.

Schiff displayed images of fake elector certificates alongside real ones, telling how the "intentionally false" certificates were "transmitted to multiple officers of the federal government" and "were intended to interfere with the proper conduct of the joint session."

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., emphasized how Trump was repeatedly told there was no evidence of widespread fraud in the presidential election, including three times from Attorney General Bill Barr, who called the claims "bull***."

But that didn't stop Trump from going to extreme lengths to stay in power, Kinzinger said.

"It was only after the threat of mass resignations that President Trump rescinded his offer" to one loyalist, Jeffrey Clark, to replace Barr as attorney general.

Committee member Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., said the panel found evidence that Trump raised hundreds of millions of dollars on false elections claims, some of which was used to hire lawyers to "provide and offer employment to witnesses."

Lofgren said that a female witness was offered a job from entities "linked" to Trump, and the offer was withdrawn once reports of her testimony circulated.

"We are concerned these efforts may have been a strategy to prevent the committee from finding the truth," she said.

Lofgren also played a new clip of a recent interview with former Trump adviser Hope Hicks, who said she expressed concern Trump was damaging his legacy with false fraud claims.

Hicks recalled Trump saying, "'Nobody will care about my legacy if I lose, so that won't matter. The only thing that matters is winning.'"

"Donald Trump knowingly and corruptly repeated election fraud lies, which incited his supporters to violence on January 6," Lofgren said. "He continues to repeat his meritless claim that the election was stolen even today."