Trump Releases Deranged Rant as Jan. 6 Panel Plans to Recommend Criminal Charges

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Donald Trump took to his beleaguered social media app late Saturday to protest against the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection following reports the panel planned to use its final meeting on Monday to recommend criminal charges against the former president and 2024 White House hopeful.

“They say that the Unselect Committee of Democrats, Misfits, and Thugs, without any representation from Republicans in good standing, is preparing to recommend Criminal Charges to the highly partisan, political, and Corrupt ‘Justice’ Department for in the ‘PEACEFULLY & PATRIOTICLY.’ speech I made on January 6th,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This speech and my actions are gentle and loving, especially compared to the Democrats spewing HATE. Why don’t they investigate this massive Election Fraud or send in the Troops? SCAM!”

The ex-president’s outburst came after several outlets reported on Saturday that the House January 6 panel, which has spent more than a year investigating the 2021 insurrection and is outlining its findings in public hearings, intends to vote on Monday to refer Trump and some of his top aides to the Justice Department.

Politico reported that the panel proposed several criminal charges for Trump, including “18 USC 2383, insurrection; 18 USC 1512(c), obstruction of an official proceeding; and 18 USC 371, conspiracy to defraud the United States government.”

“The DOJ, already conducting a criminal investigation of Trump’s Jan. 6-related actions, is not required to consider the referrals from Congress, which carry no legal weight,” Politico said. “However, the select committee plans to act in hopes that lawmakers’ input will influence prosecutorial decision-making. Panel chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) also raised the possibility of referrals to outside entities such as bar associations for the constellation of lawyers involved in the election subversion effort.”

Noah Bookbinder, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), said Saturday that the recommended charges seem reasonable.

“Obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy to defraud the US are cases where the evidence against Donald Trump is related to efforts to subvert the 2020 election. [is] very strong,” Bookbinder wrote on Twitter. “Insurrection is a more difficult case to prove criminal and not strictly necessary. But this is what happened, and the committee did a wonderful job showing the connection between Trump’s actions and mob violence. I think it’s the right call to include it in a referral.”

According to The Guardian, the House panel is “likely to proceed with criminal referrals against top former White House advisers, including former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and make civil referrals to the House Ethics Committee for GOP members of Congress and recommend disbarment for Trump’s lawyers.”

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