WASHINGTON — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol will issue criminal recommendations to the Justice Department upon completion of its investigation, and is scheduled to report by the end of the year. the chairman of the panel reported on Tuesday.
Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson told reporters that the commission has decided to recommend criminal action against a number of people, but declined to say who they are or whether former President Donald Trump will be among them.
“At this point, there will be a document from me to the department,” Thompson told reporters on Capitol Hill.
He added that the commission will meet in the next few hours to discuss the details.
“The Commission has resolved that recommendations to outside entities should be considered as a final part of its work,” a commission spokesperson told The Associated Press. “The commission will make decisions on specific issues in the coming days.”
This decision is not unexpected. Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, the commission’s vice chair, has hinted for months that criminal recommendations will be made to the Justice Department based on the vast amount of evidence gathered by the nine-member panel since its creation in July 2021.
Congress can send criminal referrals to the Justice Department, but it’s up to federal prosecutors to decide whether to file charges. During this year, the commission has remanded several members of Trump’s inner circle for refusing to comply with subpoenas from the legislature. So far only one complaint of contempt of Congress has led to an indictment, in the case of Steven Bannon.
The panel of seven Democrats and two Republicans has sought to produce a comprehensive report on what lawmakers are calling Trump’s “stunning betrayal” of his oath of office and his supporters’ unprecedented attempt to block Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory.
The commission held a series of public hearings beginning in June with live and video testimony from Trump relatives, his White House aides and other allies. At the end of the last hearing, the commission voted unanimously to subpoena Trump to testify under oath and present documents. Trump responded by filing a lawsuit against the commission.
The commission will be disbanded at the end of the year and its members do not appear to be making an effort to obtain testimony from Trump. But criminal remission, as Cheney and others have suggested, could be a much more powerful closing argument.
Trump faces other legal troubles outside of Capitol Hill, including the investigation into his possession of confidential documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence.