Jan. 6 committee refers Trump to DOJ for criminal charges

Attorney John Eastman was named with Trump as among those the committee is recommending for criminal charges to the Justice Department. Members described how Trump turned to Eastman as other allies asked for him to accept the election loss.

Eastman, the committee said, drafted a six-step plan for then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject legitimate electors during the certification of the election on Jan. 6, even though Eastman admitted in advance that Pence could not lawfully do so.

Former Trump White House attorney Eric Herschmann, in a taped deposition with committee members, said he told Eastman his plan was "completely crazy," would "cause riots in the streets" and that he was "out of [his] effin' mind."

But even after the Capitol attack, Eastman pursued the plot, the committee said. Herschmann said he told Eastman: "'Now I'm going to give you the best free legal advice you're getting in your life: Get a great effing criminal defense lawyer. You're going to need it.'"

Soon after, Eastman emailed Rudy Giuliani to say, "I've decided that I should be on the pardon list, if that is still in the works," according to evidence obtained by the committee.

The Jan. 6 committee is also making referrals for four Republican lawmakers to the House Committee on Ethics for their failure to comply with subpoenas.

The members being referred, according to the executive summary of the committee's report, are House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and GOP Reps. Jim Jordan, Scott Perry and Andy Biggs.

"We asked multiple members of Congress to speak with us about issues critical to our understanding of this attack on the 2020 election, and our system of constitutional democracy. None agreed to provide that essential information," Rep. Jamie Raskin said. "As a result, we took the significant step of issuing them subpoenas based on the volume of information particular members possessed about one or more parts of President Trump's plans to overturn the election. None of the subpoenaed members complied."

After Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., outlined the criminal referrals it was making for Trump, John Eastman and others, the committee voted unanimously to transmit their referrals to the Justice Department.

"We understand the gravity of each and every referral we are making today, just as we understand the magnitude of the crime against democracy that we describe in our report -- but we have gone where the facts in the law lead us, and inescapably, they lead us here," Raskin said.

It is now up to the Justice Department to pursue the charges or even acknowledge them, but it's not obligated to do.

"We have every confidence that the work of this committee will help provide a roadmap to justice and that the agencies and institutions responsible for ensuring justice under law will use the information we provided to aid in their work," Thompson said at the start of the meeting.

Rep. Jamie Raskin announced four criminal referrals for Trump to the Department of Justice. Those referrals are: Obstruction of an Official Proceeding; Conspiracy to Defraud the United States; Conspiracy to Make a False Statement and “Incite,” “Assist” or “Aid and Comfort” an Insurrection.