Jan 6 panel updates: Lawmakers recommend charges against Trump

Democratic US Senator Alex Padilla has called for Trump to be “held accountable”, accusing the former president of inciting a “deadly insurrection”.

The @January6thCmte’s findings are clear—Donald Trump abused his power and influence to incite a deadly insurrection.

And he should be held accountable.

— Senator Alex Padilla (@SenAlexPadilla) December 19, 2022

The Southern Poverty Law Center, an organisation that tracks hate groups in the US, has lauded the January 6 committee’s push for prosecutors to file criminal charges against Trump.

“Today marks an essential step toward transparency and accountability,” the group said in a statement. “Our leaders and the courts must hold accountable all the planners, perpetrators, funders and those who incited the insurrection.”

Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, who was a frequent target of xenophobic attacks by Trump when he was president, has called for him to be “brought to justice”.

The @January6thCmte just referred criminal charges against Donald Trump to the Justice Department for his role in inciting the violent insurrection to overthrow our democracy. He must be brought to justice and we must ensure that this never happens again. pic.twitter.com/UsgD3B8xhD

— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) December 19, 2022

Far-right Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene slammed the January 6 panel after it recommended criminal charges against Trump, comparing the move to cracking down on political rivals in “communist countries”.

“They conduct fake trials and create fake charges,” she wrote in a social media post.

“Then they imprison their political opponents in order to defeat them and scare and silence the country filled with people who support them.”

It will be up to the justice department whether to indict Trump, but the congressional investigation – and its findings – may help the case against the former president.

“We now turn to the criminal justice system to ensure justice under the law. The American people can ensure [Trump is] never elected again,” Congressman Adam Kinzinger wrote on Twitter.

Our work on the @January6thCmte has led us to criminally refer Donald Trump to DOJ. We now turn to the criminal justice system to ensure Justice under the law. The American people can ensure he’s never elected again.

— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) December 19, 2022

Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, has said that Trump’s actions around the 2020 elections are “crimes against the American people”.

1. Obstruction of an official proceeding.
2. Conspiracy to defraud the United States.
3. Conspiracy to make a false statement.
4. "Incite," "assist" or "aid or comfort" an insurrection.

Trump's actions are crimes against the American people and against our very democracy.

— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) December 19, 2022

The committee has unanimously approved recommending criminal charges against Trump, including inciting insurrection.

Congressman Jamie Raskin has outlined the criminal charges that the committee will recommend against Trump for his effort to overturn the 2020 election and his subsequent role in the January 6 riot.

The charges are:

• Obstruction of an official proceeding
• Conspiracy to defraud the United States
• Conspiracy to make a false statement to the federal government
• Inciting, assisting or aiding insurrection

Democratic Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy has highlighted Trump’s role in inciting the riot by pushing to bring his supporters – who ended up attacking the Capitol – to Washington, DC, last year.

“He turned to his supporters, those who believed his lies about a stolen election. He summoned a crowd to the nation’s Capitol on January 6, hoping that they would pressure Congress to do what he could not do on his own,” said Murphy, referring to overturning the elections.

Members of the committee are presenting a summation of findings revealed in previous sessions.

Kinzinger, one of the two Republicans on the panel, highlighted Trump’s push to pressure the justice department to help overturn the election and validate his false fraud claims and the resistance he met from top prosecutors.

Numerous state and federal courts evaluated and rejected the Trump campaign’s claims of voter fraud, including judges appointed by Trump himself.

Many of these courts issued scathing opinions criticizing the lack of evidence that President Trump and his allies advanced. pic.twitter.com/WhCl16Vh83

— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) December 19, 2022

Adam Schiff has said that Trump’s voter fraud claims sparked death threats and harassment campaigns against local election officials, especially those mentioned by name by the former president and his supporters.

The congressman said the campaign against election officials “was callous, inhuman, inexcusable and dangerous”.

“Those responsible should be held accountable,” he added.

Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, a Democratic member of the committee, has laid out the panel’s “specific findings”:

• Trump disseminated false claims of fraud.
• Before the election, the former president planned to declare victory regardless of the results.
• Trump raised hundreds of millions of dollars through “false representation”.
• Trump made claims of election fraud even after being told by aides that they were false.
• The ex-president “knowingly and corruptly repeated election fraud lies, which incited his supporters to violence on January 6”.

The committee’s final session comes as a number of participants in the Capitol riot face criminal proceedings and sentencing for their roles in the events of January 6.

Last week, a US district court judge sentenced an Iowa construction worker and believer in the QAnon conspiracy theory to five years in prison for taking part in the attacks.

Members of the far-right Oath Keepers are also on trial, following the conviction of Stewart Rhodes, the group’s leader, on the rare charge of seditious conspiracy late last month. Read more about that case here.

The panel has played a video featuring testimonies from previous hearings that highlighted Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 vote, including pressuring state officials to change the results of the election.

The committee has tried to make the case that Trump’s post-election push led to the deadly riot.

We have every confidence that the work of this Committee will help provide a roadmap to justice.

Today, the Select Committee will present the evidence we’ve gathered to help ensure accountability under the law.https://t.co/qI55tq4meA

— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) December 19, 2022

Cheney has said that Trump’s failure to call on his supporters to end the January 6 riot was not only “unlawful” but also an “utter moral failure and a clear dereliction of duty”.

“No man who would behave that way at that moment in time can ever serve in any position of authority in our nation again; he is unfit for any office,” Cheney said.

Thompson has said the US remains “in strange and uncharted waters” due to the events of January 6, 2021.

“We have never had a president of the United States stir up a violent attempt to block the transfer of power. I believe nearly two years later this is still a time of reflection and reckoning,” the panel chair said.

“If we are to survive as a nation of laws and democracy, this can never happen again.”

Thompson, the chair of the committee, has confirmed that the panel will adopt its final report at the meeting and release it later this week.

The congressman also said that the panel will release its “non-sensitive records” before the end of the year.

“These transcripts and documents will allow the American people to see for themselves the amount of evidence we’ve gathered and continue to explore … that has led us to our conclusions,” he said.

Committee Chair Bennie Thompson has gavelled in the panel’s 10th public meeting of the year.

The session is under way.

Trump is not the only one who could face criminal referrals from the committee, as the panel also has accused some of the former president’s top aides of playing a role in the effort to overturn the 2020 elections.

“We’re focused on key players. And we’re focused on key players where there is sufficient evidence or abundant evidence that they committed crimes,” Representative Jamie Raskin, a Democratic member of the January 6 committee, has said.

Republican Congressman Andy Biggs has slammed the January 6 committee, saying that it will be “irrelevant” in a matter of days, after the GOP takes control of the incoming House of Representatives early next year.

“This Hollywood-backed committee continues to waste resources and taxpayer money to produce the most biased congressional ‘investigation’ in this nation’s history,” Biggs, a staunch Trump supporter, wrote on Twitter.

This Hollywood-backed committee continues to waste resources and taxpayer money to produce the most biased congressional "investigation" in this nation's history.

In a matter of days, they will be irrelevant (if they weren't already). pic.twitter.com/U4D1Tqxs4P

— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) December 19, 2022