Should the Jan. 6 committee ask the Justice Department to pursue a criminal case against Donald Trump? It’s a question with political heft but no practical effect — and some panel members are increasingly skeptical.
After all, as multiple lawmakers on the select committee noted in recent interviews, the Justice Department is aware of the volume of evidence pointing to violations of the law by Trump. That evidence got underscored emphatically last week, when a federal judge ruled the former president “more likely than not” committed felonies to try to overturn the 2020 election.
“A referral doesn’t mean anything,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren , a member of the select committee. “It has no legal weight whatsoever, and I’m pretty sure the Department of Justice has read [last week’s] opinion, so they don’t need us to tell them that it exists.” “Our job is … to look at the facts and circumstances around what occurred. The judge’s ruling certainly indicates that, in his opinion, the president had something to do with what occurred,” Thompson said in a brief interview. “So we’ll make a decision at some point as a committee.”on Monday, when he declared Trump’s effort to overturn the election a “coup in search of a legal theory.”
“Whether we make a referral or not, I think that as the judge pointed out, there is credible evidence that the former President is engaged in criminal conduct,” said Rep. Adam Schiff , another member of the panel. “And I don’t think that can be ignored by the Justice Department.”
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