Jan. 6 committee to vote Monday on riot criminal referrals
WASHINGTON — The House committee investigating the Capitol riot will hold its final meeting Monday, wrapping up its year-and-a-half-long inquiry by asking the Justice Department to investigate potential crimes.
The committee of seven Democrats and two Republicans has interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses, held nearly a dozen hearings and collected millions of documents as it worked to create the most comprehensive record of the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.
The chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., has said the committee will make criminal referrals to the Justice Department recommending prosecution, but has not disclosed who the targets would be or whether former President Donald Trump would be among them. The committee has focused squarely on Trump and efforts by the-then president in the weeks before the attack to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
It would fall to federal prosecutors to decide whether to pursue any referrals for prosecution. Lawmakers have suggested charges against Trump could include conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress.
