The select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol storming is expected to vote on urging three criminal charges, including insurrection, be brought against former President Donald Trump, POLITICO reported.
According to two anonymous sources, the committee is expected to vote Monday afternoon on whether to recommend the charges be pursued by the Department of Justice.
The charges are insurrection, obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, according to POLITICO.
It isn’t clear whether the DOJ would follow the recommendation, but the department is already conducting its own criminal investigation of Trump’s actions on Jan. 6, according to POLITICO.
The committee of House representatives has been investigating the events of Jan. 6, when a mob of pro-Trump protesters broke into the Capitol building to stop the certification of President Joe Biden’s election. In a series of televised hearings over the summer, the committee built a case that Trump instigated the rioters and voted unanimously to subpoena the former president in October.
While Trump initially teased that he may testify, the committee announced last month that he did not show up for a deposition, defying the subpoena.
The three criminal charges were recommended by a subcommittee that considered possible criminal referrals, POLITICO reported. The outlet’s sources said the subcommittee’s report includes justifications for each charge.
The justifications rely in part on a February court ruling that Trump could be liable for speech that seemed to encourage the violence. Another justification is the 57 Senate votes to convict Trump of “incitement of insurrection” during his second impeachment last year, POLITICO reported.
Trump has long sought to discredit the committee’s investigation, once calling it “a hoax, a sham, a partisan witch hunt” intended only “to get publicity.”
The possibility of criminal charges comes as Trump makes a third run for the presidency in a field currently devoid of Republican challengers.
This was a breaking news story. The details were periodically updated as more information became available.
