After investigating for more than a year, the House committee probing the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol on Monday culminated its sweeping investigation by announcing it would make multiple criminal referrals to the Department of Justice against former President Donald Trump on multiple charges related to his actions surrounding riot at the Capitol.
Meeting for its final meeting on Monday to present a summation of the evidence it has gathered over the past year, committee member Rep. Jamie Raskin said the panel believes that “the evidence described … today and assembled throughout our hearings warrants” criminal referrals on at least four charges.
The charges include obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to make a false statement, and insurrection.
In a sweeping 160-page summary released by the committee to explain its findings, the committee labeled Trump as the “central cause” of the attack.
The committee has been debating the referrals for months, according to sources, though they have been viewed as largely symbolic. The Department of Justice is not obligated to act on these referrals, and it has been conducting its own investigation into the events of Jan. 6.
The committee also said at least four sitting Republican members of Congress would also be referred to the House Ethics Committee for “appropriate sanction.” They include House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Rep Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, Rep Scott Perry, R-PA, and Rep Andy Biggs, R-Ariz.
Trump has dismissed the work of the committee, mocking it as the “Unselect Committee” and calling it a “political Witch Hunt.”
