Jan. 6 committee urges DOJ to seek criminal charges against Trump

On Monday, the Jan. 6 House select committee recommended that the Justice Department seek criminal charges against former President Trump and others in connection to the violent Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and extensive efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., laid out four crimes potentially violated by Trump and associates, including conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Video Transcript

JAMIE RASKIN: The first criminal statute we invoke for referral, therefore, is Title 18, Section 1512(c), which makes it unlawful for anyone to corruptly obstruct, influence, or impede any official proceeding of the United States government. We believe that the evidence described by my colleagues today and assembled throughout our hearings warrants a criminal referral of former President Donald J. Trump, John Eastman, and others for violations of this statute. The whole purpose and obvious effect of Trump's scheme were to obstruct, influence, and impede this official proceeding, the central moment for the lawful transfer of power in the United States.

Second, we believe that there is more than sufficient evidence to refer former President Donald J. Trump, John Eastman, and others for violating Title 18, Section 371. This statute makes it a crime to conspire to defraud the United States, in other words, to make an agreement to impair, obstruct, or defeat the lawful functions of the United States government by deceitful or dishonest means.

Former President Trump did not engage in a plan to defraud the United States acting alone. He entered into agreements, formal and informal, with several other individuals who assisted him with his criminal objectives. Our report describes in detail the actions of numerous co-conspirators who agreed with and participated in Trump's plan to impair, obstruct, and defeat the certification of President Biden's electoral victory.

That said, the subcommittee does not attempt to determine all of the potential participants in this conspiracy, as our understanding of the role of many individuals may be incomplete, even today, because they refuse to answer our questions. We trust that the Department of Justice will be able to form a far more complete picture through its own investigation.

Third, we make a referral based on Title 18, Section 1001, which makes it unlawful to knowingly and willfully make materially false statements to the federal government. The evidence clearly suggests that President Trump conspired with others to submit slates of fake electors to Congress and the National Archives. We believe that this evidence we set forth in our report is more than sufficient for a criminal referral of former President Donald J. Trump and others in connection with this offense.

As before, we don't try to determine all of the participants in this conspiracy, many of whom refuse to answer our questions while under oath. We trust that the Department of Justice will be able to form a more complete picture through its own investigation.

The fourth and final statute we invoke for referral is Title 18, Section 2383. The statute applies to anyone who incites, assists, or engages in insurrection against the United States of America and anyone who gives aid or comfort to an insurrection. An insurrection is a rebellion against the authority of the United States.

It is a grave federal offense anchored in the Constitution itself, which repeatedly opposes insurrections and domestic violence and, indeed, uses participation in insurrection by officeholders as automatic grounds for disqualification from ever holding public office again at the federal or state level. Anyone who incites others to engage in rebelling, assists them in doing so, or gives aid and comfort to those engaged in insurrection is guilty of a federal crime.

The committee believes that more than sufficient evidence exists for a criminal referral of former President Trump for assisting or aiding and comforting those at the Capitol who engaged in a violent attack on the United States. The committee has developed significant evidence that President Trump intended to disrupt the peaceful transfer-- transition of power under our Constitution.

The president has an affirmative and primary constitutional duty to act to take care that the laws be faithfully executed. Nothing could be a greater betrayal of this duty than to assist in insurrection against the constitutional order. The complete factual basis for this referral is set forth in detail throughout our report.