[ad_1]
No former president has been the focus of a criminal referral from Congress.
Donald Trump may make history this week and probably not in the way he expected. On Monday, the select committee will consider on January 6 whether to take at least three criminal referrals against the former president, which would be the first.
As part of the committee’s final public hearing, members are expected to vote in favor of recommending that the Justice Department pursue criminal charges against Trump for insurrection, obstructing an official proceeding of Congress, and conspiracy to defraud the United States .
It comes as the committee wraps up its nearly two-year investigation and prepares to release its much-anticipated final report. As many eagerly await the findings, some lawmakers involved in the investigation say they have a strong case against the former president. “Looking at this as a former prosecutor, I think there’s enough evidence to charge the president,” said Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, who sits on the committee, on CNNs State of the Union on Sunday.
Still, questions remain over the massive report, what it means for Trump’s criminal referrals, and other Republicans who may have been involved that fateful day. Here’s a breakdown of what we know so far.
What will the report look like?
Politicos has dubbed it a massive report that is expected to be divided into a lengthy executive summary summarizing Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, followed by eight chapters detailing findings from various testimonies. from those who experienced it that day.
In terms of timing, Chairman Bennie Thompson estimated that the roughly 1,000-page report could be released as soon as Monday, and then the footnotes that include more than 1,000 witness interviews will be released on Wednesday. However, this is not the first investigation of its kind: The Justice Department is conducting a separate investigation into the events of January 6 with a special counsel.
Can Trump really face criminal charges?
Following a vote, committee members are expected to recommend Trump’s criminal referrals in a letter to the Justice Department. And if the committee does send them, historians say it will mark uncharted territory. While other presidents have certainly faced legal jeopardy, no president has ever been the subject of a congressional criminal referral. For example, former President Nixon faced three articles of impeachment but resigned before they could be carried out, and was later pardoned by his predecessor, President Gerald Ford.
Although this is unprecedented, these referrals do not carry any legal weight because Congress alone cannot compel the Justice Department to act (specifically, special counsel Jack Smith will make that decision). However, experts say the symbolic step is not all for nothing: It will help prevent and combat misinformation and disinformation in the society in which we thrive, said Debra Perlin, the director of policy for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, in TIME.
It’s still unclear what these referrals mean for Trump’s re-election aspirations, though he’s made it clear he’s not worried yet. His spokesman Steven Cheung has already dismissed the panel as a Kangaroo court that is nothing more than a Hollywood executives vanity documentary project, but only time will tell.
What does this mean for other GOP lawmakers?
Besides Trump, the committee could also issue several criminal referrals to those inside the Trumps who promoted the denial of the election and helped instigate the attack on the Capitol. These include former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, attorney John Eastman, former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, and Trumps former attorney Rudy Giuliani, who is already facing the possibility of losing his license in law following a separate investigation.
Meanwhile, a dozen other Republicans, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, could face civil referrals for refusing to cooperate with congressional subpoenas. Think about what the appropriate remedy is for members of Congress who ignore a congressional subpoena, as well as the evidence that is so important to our investigation and why we want to bring them in, Schiff told CNN on Sunday.
What do the experts say?
Some former law enforcement officials hope the final report will make federal law enforcement take a step forward and take more responsibility for the failure to better protect the Capitol. In addition to downplaying the threats leading up to the attack, the Secret Service has faced scrutiny for leaving thousands of key text messages from members of the former president’s security detail in its report that showed to lawmakers in June. In its own defense, the agency maintained that it did not obstruct the investigation, pledging its full cooperation with the committee.
What I really want to see is accountability. I think that’s the bottom line, whether it’s the Secret Service or the FBI or local police, for not taking some of these threats seriously, former FBI agent Tracy Walder told NPR. And they need to have new training in place, in terms of how to understand some of these threats, or we need to look at creating a federal domestic terrorism statute.
Want better content?
By joining, you accept KCM’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
|
Sources 2/ https://katiecouric.com/news/politics-and-policy/donald-trump-criminal-referral-jan-6-committee/ The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article |
[ad_2]