The House committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol made a recommendation to the Justice Department on Monday.
Lawmakers recommended charges against Trump for obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to make a false statement, and efforts to aid or comfort an insurrection.
The bipartisan committee, made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans, investigated the attack on the Capitol by thousands of Trump supporters pushing baseless claims that his election defeat to Joe Biden was the result of election fraud.
Four lawyers from the larger panel presented their findings to the full panel.
Ahead of the hearing, Yahoo News spoke to David Sklansky, a law professor and former federal prosecutor, to explain what a criminal referral is, what charges might be involved, and if they have any impact on the Justice Department's investigation into Jan. Responses have been edited for clarity.
What do congressional criminal referrals do?
Criminal referrals by the committee are not regulated by any legal rules or procedures. The Department of Justice and the country as a whole will pay more attention to what the committee says than to what it says.
There isn't a rule that requires the Department of Justice to give any special attention to a recommendation from Congress.
What kind of charges would be recommended?
There are very serious charges that the Department of Justice has brought, ranging from the low end to obstruction of justice, in connection with the events of January 6.
There is a difference between a criminal referral and an indictment.
A legal step is an indictment. Under the rules of the federal criminal process, as well as the rules of many states, a grand jury has to approve an indictment. It is a formal legal document that starts a criminal case if the indictment comes from a grand jury in a state that doesn't require it.
A criminal referral by a congressional committee is the same as saying to the Department of Justice that you should file a criminal case. "Hey, just thought you should know this is our view," the committee wrote in an email. We think you should file a criminal case if you don't want to.
The members of the House select committee need to submit a criminal referral to the DOJ.
They do not. It's because it's not a formal legal step and there are no special rules governing it. Just like you or I wouldn't have to prove anything before we wrote a letter to the Department of Justice, Congress doesn't have to prove anything before it expresses its opinion.
Kinzinger told ABC's "This Week" that issuing criminal referrals will be a symbolic thing to do. What do you think it would represent?
It would be an expression of the views of a committee that has spent a lot of time looking into the events of January 6.
It's worth remembering that it's a bipartisan committee. The committee has two Republican members despite the fact that the Republican leadership decided to boycott it. I think the committee has done a great job working through a lot of factual uncertainties and disputes in connection with January 6 and has obtained lots of important and enlightening testimony, much of which it has shared with the public. The views of a congressional committee that I think will carry a lot of weight with the public, and also with the Department of Justice, are the views of a remarkable congressional committee that I think will carry a lot of weight with the public.
How will the DOJ's investigation be affected by criminal referrals from Congress?
It will affect that investigation just as a recommendation, but it will be a recommendation that people in the Department of Justice will give a lot of attention to, precisely because of how hard the committee has worked.
The DOJ doesn't have a direct impact on the House select committee's criminal referrals.
I think that their work has been very important, aside from criminal referrals. The hearings that the committee held painted a much more detailed picture of what happened than we had before. The work they did did a lot to change the way people in the country think about the events of January 6th.
Could Donald Trump be sentenced to jail for his role in the Capitol attack?
It's absolutely true. He can be charged with crimes, tried for them, and sentenced if he is found guilty. Many of the charges related to the assault on the Capitol have resulted in serious sentences.
The U.S. Constitution does not explicitly forbid someone with a criminal conviction from running for president. A public official who engages in insurrection or rebellion against the government can't hold office again.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
