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.


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Committee expected to recommend criminal charges

Monday is the last public meeting of the Jan. 6 committee, with ABC News learning members are expected to recommend criminal charges be pursued against former President Donald Trump in connection with the Capitol attack nearly two years ago.

Sources familiar with the committee’s deliberations say the recommended charges will include conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of an official proceeding. The committee also is considering recommending Trump be charged with insurrection.

Members have been working against the clock to try to finish their work before Republicans take control of the House in the new year.

Any decision about whether to bring any charges against the former president would be left to the Department of Justice. DOJ has been conducting its own parallel investigation into the events of Jan. 6 and isn't obligated to act on congressional referrals.

-ABC News' Katherine Faulders


Members take turns describing evidence to support expected criminal referrals

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"It was only after the threat of mass resignations that President Trump rescinded his offer" to one loyalist, Jeffrey Clark, to replace Barr as attorney general.