Jan. 6 committee refers Trump to DOJ for criminal charges
Criminal referrals on multiple charges were approved unanimously.
The House select committee examining the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol has held its final public meeting.
The panel voted to approve criminal referrals for former President Donald Trump regarding his failed attempt to overturn the 2020 election.
Here's how the story developed:
- Trump responds to the Jan. 6 committee's criminal referrals
- Committee releases 160-page executive summary of final report
- Who is John Eastman?
- Panel refers four Republican lawmakers to the House Committee on Ethics
- Committee votes to approve referrals, final report
- Committee approves four criminal referrals for Trump
What it means for the committee to make criminal referrals
The Justice Department is not obligated to act on referrals, but public hearings outlining Trump's "seven-point plan" to overturn the 2020 presidential election have amped up pressure on Garland to bring criminal charges against Trump -- which would be the first in history against a former president.
The Justice Department for months has been conducting its own separate investigation into Jan. 6, which has included multiple former senior Trump White House staffers along with his close allies appearing before grand juries.
"The committee's public hearings have raised the stakes enormously for the country, in the sense that the criminal activity shown to have gone on is so brazen, that if the Justice Department does not enforce the law in this case, it really does further erode the rule of law and democracy," Ryan Goodman, a New York University School of Law professor, told ABC News.
Click here for more on the pros, cons and limits of a congressional criminal referral.
What’s happened since the last Jan. 6 committee hearing
The committee last met in public on Oct. 13 when members voted unanimously to subpoena Donald Trump.
Since then, Trump has sued to block the subpoena from being enforced. Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said the panel was looking at paths forward after Trump's lawsuit but it has yet to take any action in court.
The committee has also interviewed more witnesses since its last hearing, including former White House deputy chief of staff for operations and top Secret Service official Tony Ornato -- the figure at the center of bombshell testimony involving an alleged physical confrontation between Trump and his security detail in the president's vehicle on Jan. 6.
Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and former Trump White House adviser Kellyanne Conway also have met with the committee since its last public meeting.
Slight majority of Americans say Trump should be charged: Polling
Public attitudes on Donald Trump's culpability surrounding the Jan. 6 Capitol attack have been essentially steady over the past year, with a slight majority of Americans saying he should be charged with a crime, according to ABC News/Washington Post and ABC News/Ipsos polling.
A survey in April found 52% responding that Trump should be charged with a crime for his role in the Capitol attack, while 42% said he should not. Polling in September showed those favoring a charge remained at 52%, while those opposed to charges fell slightly to 39%.
In January 2021, about a week after the Capitol attack, 54% of respondents said Trump should be charged with inciting a riot.
-ABC News' Gary Langer
Criminal referrals the committee might make
Over a series of nine hearings this summer and fall, the committee outlined an alleged "sophisticated seven-point plan" it says Trump and his allies engaged in with the goal of stopping the peaceful transfer of power, including "corruptly" planning to replace federal and state officials with those who would support his fake election claims and pressuring Pence to violate his oath to uphold the Constitution.
Acting on a plan with the intent to stop the counting of electoral votes would likely violate 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c), obstruction of an official proceeding, which makes it a felony to attempt to "corruptly obstruct, influence, or impede any official proceeding," such as the certification of a presidential election, and comes with up to 20 years in prison.
Another statute raised by Rep. Liz Cheney over several hearings, 18 U.S.C. § 371, conspiracy to defraud the United States, criminalizes the agreement between two or more persons to "impair, obstruct or defeat the lawful government functions" and is punishable by up to five years in prison.
Click here for more on the potential charges.
Final committee meeting begins
The final business meeting of the Jan. 6 committee is underway, bringing members’ 18-month-long investigation to a dramatic and televised close.
After ten public hearings and hundreds of hours of closed-door depositions on what led to the Capitol attack, the committee is meeting publicly one last time to present referrals and vote to approve its final report.
Members are expected to release an executive summary of their report following the meeting including details on expected criminal referrals as well as more information about witnesses who have appeared before the committee, according to a committee aide. Sources tell ABC News members are expected to recommend criminal charges against Trump.
Monday’s executive summary comes ahead of a fuller release of the committee’s final report on Wednesday. The select committee is set to expire on Dec. 31, 2022, just days before Republicans take back control of the House.