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Jan. 6 committee refers Trump to DOJ for criminal charges

PHOTO: An image of former President Donald Trump is displayed as members of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol hold its last public hearing on Capitol Hill, Dec. 19, 2022 in Washington, DC.
1:39
Jim Lo Scalzo/Getty Images
Jan. 6 committee releases summary of final report
By Alexandra Hutzler, Libby Cathey
Last Updated: December 19, 2022, 11:36 PM

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.

Here's how the story developed:

  • Trump responds to the Jan. 6 committee's criminal referrals
  • Committee releases 160-page executive summary of final report
  • Who is John Eastman?
  • Panel refers four Republican lawmakers to the House Committee on Ethics
  • Committee votes to approve referrals, final report
  • Committee approves four criminal referrals for Trump
Here's how the news is developing.

Dec 19, 2022 11:36 PM

Trump responds to the Jan. 6 committee's criminal referrals

Trump, in response to the criminal referrals, continued his criticism that the Jan. 6 committee is partisan and politically-motived.

"These folks don't get it that when they come after me, the people who love freedom rally around me," Trump wrote in a Truth Social statement on Monday. "It strengthens me. What doesn't kill me makes me stronger."

Trump also repeated his familiar claim that he had "pushed for 20,000 troops to prevent violence on Jan 6" -- an assertion the committee contradicted in the executive summary of its final report.

"The select committee found no evidence of this," the panel said in the summary. "In fact, President Trump's own acting secretary of defense Christopher Miller directly refuted this when he testified under oath."

Trump's campaign also released a statement, calling the committee's action "a mockery of our democracy."

“The January 6th Unselect Committee held show trials by Never Trump partisans who are a stain on this country’s history," the campaign's statement read.


Dec 19, 2022 7:51 PM

Committee releases 160-page executive summary of final report

The House Jan. 6 committee, after its final public meeting on Monday, released a sweeping executive summary to explain its findings. In it, members point to Trump as the main instigator behind the Capitol attack.

"That evidence has led to an overriding and straight-forward conclusion: the central cause of January 6th was one man, former President Donald Trump, who many others followed. None of the events of January 6th would have happened without him," the summary said.

Highlights from the executive summary can be read here.

The committee is expected to release a broader, more comprehensive final report later this week.

PHOTO: Members of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the US Capitol hold its last public hearing in the Canon House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on December 19, 2022.
Jim Lo Scalzo/AFP via Getty Images
Members of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the US Capitol hold its last public hearing in the Canon House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on December 19, 2022.
Jim Lo Scalzo/AFP via Getty Images

Dec 19, 2022 7:41 PM

Who is John Eastman?

Attorney John Eastman was named with Trump as among those the committee is recommending for criminal charges to the Justice Department. Members described how Trump turned to Eastman as other allies asked for him to accept the election loss.

Eastman, the committee said, drafted a six-step plan for then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject legitimate electors during the certification of the election on Jan. 6, even though Eastman admitted in advance that Pence could not lawfully do so.

PHOTO: President Donald Trump speaks at a rally, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. D.C.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP, FILE
President Donald Trump speaks at a rally, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. D.C.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP, FILE

Former Trump White House attorney Eric Herschmann, in a taped deposition with committee members, said he told Eastman his plan was "completely crazy," would "cause riots in the streets" and that he was "out of [his] effin' mind."

But even after the Capitol attack, Eastman pursued the plot, the committee said. Herschmann said he told Eastman: "'Now I'm going to give you the best free legal advice you're getting in your life: Get a great effing criminal defense lawyer. You're going to need it.'"

Soon after, Eastman emailed Rudy Giuliani to say, "I've decided that I should be on the pardon list, if that is still in the works," according to evidence obtained by the committee.



Dec 19, 2022 7:39 PM

Panel refers four Republican lawmakers to the House Committee on Ethics

The Jan. 6 committee is also making referrals for four Republican lawmakers to the House Committee on Ethics for their failure to comply with subpoenas.

The members being referred, according to the executive summary of the committee's report, are House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and GOP Reps. Jim Jordan, Scott Perry and Andy Biggs.

"We asked multiple members of Congress to speak with us about issues critical to our understanding of this attack on the 2020 election, and our system of constitutional democracy. None agreed to provide that essential information," Rep. Jamie Raskin said. "As a result, we took the significant step of issuing them subpoenas based on the volume of information particular members possessed about one or more parts of President Trump's plans to overturn the election. None of the subpoenaed members complied."


Dec 19, 2022 7:29 PM

Committee votes to approve referrals, final report

After Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., outlined the criminal referrals it was making for Trump, John Eastman and others, the committee voted unanimously to transmit their referrals to the Justice Department.

"We understand the gravity of each and every referral we are making today, just as we understand the magnitude of the crime against democracy that we describe in our report -- but we have gone where the facts in the law lead us, and inescapably, they lead us here," Raskin said.

PHOTO: House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol holds its last public hearing, Dec. 19, 2022, in Washington, D.C.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images, FILE
House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol holds its last public hearing, Dec. 19, 2022, in Washington, D.C.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images, FILE

It is now up to the Justice Department to pursue the charges or even acknowledge them, but it's not obligated to do.

"We have every confidence that the work of this committee will help provide a roadmap to justice and that the agencies and institutions responsible for ensuring justice under law will use the information we provided to aid in their work," Thompson said at the start of the meeting.


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