January 6 committee WILL recommend criminal prosecutions against some of those involved
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The January 6 committee will recommend criminal prosecutions against some of those involved, but will not say who, confirms the Democratic president
- The committee has “made decisions on criminal referrals”
- Rep. Bennie Thompson says members are still deciding who would be referred
- DOJ will make its own collection decisions
- The panel prepares to issue a lengthy final report
- House Republicans plan to abolish the committee in early January.
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The chairman of the House Jan. 6 Committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, indicated Tuesday that the panel is preparing criminal referrals for the Justice Department, but later scaled back his comments in another sign of internal divisions.
Thompson, 74, the Mississippi Democrat who is chairing the panel in its final days before Republicans seize control of the House with plans to abolish it, made the comment to reporters as the committee prepares to release a final report. which will have hundreds of pages.
“We’ve made decisions on criminal referrals,” Thompson said.
But it was also covered by another comment. “What we have decided is that we will probably do referrals,” she said before the panel met Tuesday.
“We’ve made decisions on criminal referrals,” the chairman of the House Jan. 6 Committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, told reporters Tuesday.
His comments come after reports that some committee staffers are frustrated by panel vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney’s focus on former President Donald Trump, whose effort to nullify the election and the words and actions until on January 6 were key features of the public hearings.
Thompson says whether or not the witnesses perjured themselves was “part of the discussion.”
Trump did not appear before the committee, which has subpoenaed him only in recent weeks.
A criminal reference has no legal weight. Justice Department prosecutors would decide on their own whether they have enough evidence to bring charges against people.
It was unclear whether the panel would make a criminal referral related to former President Donald Trump, who is already under investigation by the Justice Department.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chair of the Jan. 6 Committee, and members Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., attend a ceremony to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the United States Capitol. Police, the Washington DC Metropolitan Police and the heroes of January 6, in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol on Tuesday. There are reports of divisions in the committee on the next steps.
Thompson’s comment came a day as the top four congressional leaders gathered in the Capitol rotunda to award congressional gold medals to officers of the US Capitol Police and DC Metropolitan Police. who fought against Capitol Hill protesters on January 6.
The committee continues to work on its final report, which is due to be released before House Republicans take office on Jan. 3.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he intends to dissolve the committee when Republicans take office and focus any investigation on security lapses on Capitol Hill.
‘The Committee has determined that references to external entities should be considered as a final part of their work. The committee will make decisions on details in the coming days,” a spokesperson for the panel said. CNN.