The House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack is recommending former President Donald Trump be criminally charged with four charges while laying an ethics complaint against four GOP lawmakers for refusing to comply with the panel.
On Monday (December 19), the Committee recommended the Department of Justice investigate Trump on four charges, including inciting an insurrection, conspiracy to make false statements, obstructing an official procedure, and conspiracy to defraud the U.S.
The ethics complaint and Trump referral are the culmination of an investigation that spanned 18 months into the former President and his allies in the January 6 attack.
During the public meeting on Monday, the Committee’s chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), relayed that “faith in the system is the foundation of American Democracy.”
Thompson explained that the former President had broken that faith when he wouldn’t accept he lost the 2020 Presidential election.
The report, of which the Committee released a summary on Monday, highlights vividly how those around the former President cemented Trump’s belief he hadn’t lost the 2020 elections.
Although the Committee has made several recommendations, whether or not the DOJ will pursue any of these figures or the charges brought against them is entirely up to the DOJ.
On a lesser scale, the panel made an ethics complaint against House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA.), Rep. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio), and Rep. Scott Perry (PA.), claiming the four violated Congressional ethics by refusing to comply with panel’s subpoenas.
It’s also unclear if the House Ethics Committee will act on the panel’s complaint.
