WASHINGTON – The House committee investigating the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, will vote Monday on recommending the Justice Department charge former President Donald Trump for his role, according to Politico, ABC News, CNN and the New York Times.
The reports carried some different numbers of charges.
The charges to be voted on allege insurrection, obstruction of Congress and conspiracy to defraud the United States, according to Politico, ABC News and the New York Times, which reported the committee is considering “at least” those three referrals.
CNN reported there would be at least two charges — obstruction of Congress and conspiracy to defraud the United States, matching claims the panel made against Trump and one of his attorneys, John Eastman, in a previous court proceeding.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat who sits on the committee, had no comment when reached by USA TODAY Friday.
But she told CNN Friday that the panel has “been very careful in crafting these recommendations and tethering them to the facts that we’ve uncovered.”
“We spent a huge amount of time not just on what the code sections are and the bottom line recommendation, but the facts,” Lofgren said. “And I think it’s really important when we discuss whatever it is we are going to do and we’ll have a vote on it, that people understand the facts behind the conclusions we reach.”
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Tim Mulvey, a committee spokesman, declined to comment to USA TODAY on the reports.
“I don’t leak information and I don’t do course corrections when something that’s leaked is inaccurate,” Mulvey said. “Sorry but I won’t have anything to say about it.”
A sprawling conspiracy?
The panel’s recommendations expected Monday – and the ultimate release of the panel’s final report – will culminate the congressional investigation into the worst attack on the Capitol in 200 years. About 140 police officers were injured in the riot and five later died.
Through a series of nine hearings this year, the committee found the riot was part of a sprawling conspiracy rather than a spontaneous event. Witnesses testified that Trump knew he lost the 2020 election and continued to pressure state officials, the Justice Department and Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the results. And Trump directed the armed mob from his rally near the White House to the Capitol building.
U.S. District Judge David Carter has already ruled in a civil lawsuit that Trump and one of his personal lawyers, John Eastman, “more likely than not” acted unlawfully by corruptly attempting to obstruct Congress from counting Electoral College votes. “The illegality of the plan was obvious,” Carter wrote.
Trump, who is running for president again in 2024, has said he did nothing wrong Jan. 6, 2021. He has criticized the committee as a partisan hoax.
The panel’s criminal recommendations are non-binding and the Justice Department already has a special counsel, Jack Smith, investigating potential charges against Trump and others. But legal experts said the recommendations would lay out a roadmap for where the evidence leads to potential criminal charges.
Contributing: Ledge King, Ella Lee
