Washington — The House Jan. Committee 6 is holding what is expected to be its last meeting on Monday, during which members will vote on whether to formally adopt the committee’s final report and possible criminal referrals to the Department of Justice.
The proceedings mark the culmination of a nearly 18-month investigation by the panel into the attack on the United States Capitol, which included testimony from dozens of witnesses and a series of high-profile hearings that examined the assault and former President Donald Trump’s role in inciting his supporters to storm the building. CBS News will air the proceedings as a special report at 1 p.m. ET on CBS television channels and its streaming network.
The committee is expected to make criminal referrals, although members did not confirm who they will refer to the Justice Department for possible prosecution. In November, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Jack Smith as Special Counsel to oversee the Justice Department’s own investigation into alleged attempts to interfere with the transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election.
Representative Adam Schiff of California, one of the committee members, said Sunday CNN’s “State of the Union” that he believes, as a former prosecutor, that the department has gathered “sufficient” evidence to indict Trump.
Another committee member, Rep. Jamie Raskin saidCBS Sunday morningEarlier this month, “people are hungry for justice, accountability and consequences here.”
“I know people think we need to make sure impeachment goes all the way to the top. Just because you’re elected president, or you’ve been president, doesn’t mean you have the right to commit crimes freely. “said Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland.
the Jan. 6 committee was formed In July 2021, after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s attempts to create an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate the attack, similar to the commission that investigated the September 19 bombing. 11, 2001 terrorist attack, were opposed by Senate Republicans. The committee includes seven Democrats and two Republicans – Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger — who broke with the GOP leadership to join.
The committee began its investigative work with a hearing held in July 2021 that was attended by several law enforcement officers. Over the next 11 months, the committee conducted more than 100 interviews, including with some members of Trump’s inner circle and even his family, and subpoenaed more than 1,000 documents.
The committee then held a series of successful public hearings early June to present some of the evidence that had been collected. During the hearings, the committee focused on different parts of what members alleged was a multi-pronged effort by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election results, including pressure campaigns on Mike Pence, then Vice President, and his team and key members of the Ministry of Justice as well as local and state election officials.
The committee also shed light on an alleged plan by Trump and his allies to replace voters in seven battleground states won by President Biden, with a list of Trump voters. Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi, said in July lawmakers were speak with the Department of Justice about the alleged scheme.
The hearings sought to tie Trump to the mobilization of his supporters on Capitol Hill on Jan. 1. 6, 2021. The committee showed recorded testimony from witnesses, unreleased video Since the day of the riot, in-person testimony from an injured Capitol police officer and interviews with members of Trump’s White House, his campaign, Pence’s office, a retired federal judge, officials from the state and local elections, a former spokesman for the Oath Keepers and an Ohio man who pleaded guilty for his role in the Jan. 6 riot.
At the final hearing in October, the committee voted to subpoena Trump for documents and testimonies. They issued the summons in mid-November, and Trump filed a lawsuit in an attempt to overturn it.
Trump has maintained that he did nothing wrong on January 1. 6, and that the investigation by what it calls the “Political Hacks Screening Committee” is a “witch hunt”.
The committee made several criminal referrals to the Justice Department for Trump associates who refused to comply with subpoenas before the committee, including former adviser Steve Bannon, who went on trial and convicted of two counts of contempt of Congress.
Thompson said last week that the committee had made more criminal referrals, though he did not specify who was targeted. Schiff said “Facing the Nation” the dec. 11 that he believes the Department of Justice “made use” of the evidence presented during the committee hearings, and will do the same for the information included in its report.
The committee ends before the next Congress takes over in January. Four of its members do not return to Congress: Cheney lost the Republican primary in Wyoming in August to a Trump-backed challenger; Rep. democrat. Elaine Luria lost in legislative elections in November; and Kinzinger and Democratic Representative. Stephanie Murphy chose not to run for office.
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