Staff Reports
The House Committee on January 6 voted to recommend that the Justice Department file a criminal complaint against Donald Trump for his role in the January 2021 riot at the US Capitol.
The panel, which was composed of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members, voted to recommend that President Donald Trump be charged with various crimes. These include obstruction of justice, conspiracy to defraud the US, and inciting an uprising.
In his opening statement, the committee chairman, Bennie Thompson, said that Trump knew that he lost the 2020 presidential election, but he decided to try and stay in office to prevent the transfer of power. He also called for a massive crowd to gather in Washington, and he told them to "fight like hell."
The recommendations of the committee are not legally binding, and the Justice Department is not obligated to follow them.
Besides recommending the Justice Department to file a criminal complaint, the committee also recommended that four members of Congress be removed from their positions on the House Ethics Committee.
The committee's Monday session marked the end of its work, which began in July 2021. During the summer, it conducted over a thousand interviews and held several hearings to build its case that Trump was responsible for the January 6 riot.
The investigation was carried out by members of both parties. However, the committee's work was hindered by the refusal of House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy to cooperate with the panel. Two Republican congressmen, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and Liz Cheney of Wyoming, agreed to join the committee with the Democrats.
Trump has been critical of the committee's work. He referred to it as a witch hunt, and it started after the FBI carried out counterintelligence investigations in 2016 regarding allegations that his campaign coordinated with Russia.
Trump's press secretary, Steven Cheung, referred to the committee as a "kangaroo court" prior to the vote. He also called its hearings, which were held during the summer, "show trials" for the Never Trumpers.
In an October memo, Trump criticized the committee for issuing a subpoena for his former president to testify.
In the memo, Trump criticized the spending of the committee, which he said had been "over $200 million dollars." He also referred to the investigation as a witch hunt.
Trump is facing various investigations from both the federal and state authorities. One of these is the investigation led by Jack Smith. He was appointed to the special counsel's office last month by Attorney General Jeff Garland. He has been tasked with overseeing the investigation into Trump's activities on January 6, 2021.
The preceding is a summary of an article that originally appeared on Daily Wire.
