Trump Makes History Again. Can he make Bail?
Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2022 3:37 am
Committee refers Trump to DOJ
The committee referred Trump to DOJ on at least four criminal charges, while saying in its executive summary it had evidence of possible charges of conspiring to injure or impede an officer and seditious conspiracy.
In practice, the referral is effectively a symbolic measure. It does not require the Justice Department to act, and regardless, Attorney General Merrick Garland has already appointed a special counsel, Jack Smith, to take on two probes related to Trump, including the January 6 investigation.
But the formal criminal referrals and the unveiling of its report this week underscore how much the January 6 committee dug up and revealed Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election in the lead-up to January 6. Now the ball is in the Justice Department’s court.
Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, said that he has “every confidence that the work of this committee will help provide a road map to justice, and that the agencies and institutions responsible for ensuring justice under the law will use the information we’ve provided to aid in their work.”