Jan. 6 panel sees evidence of Trump ‘criminal conspiracy’
By Farnoush Amiri, Eric Tucker And Mary Clare Jalonick, AP
The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol said Wednesday for the first time that its evidence suggests crimes may have been committed by former President Donald Trump and his associates in the failed effort to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
Trump and his associates engaged in a “criminal conspiracy” to prevent Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the Electoral College, the House committee said in a court filing. Trump and those working with him spread false information about the outcome of the presidential election and pressured state officials to overturn the results, potentially violating multiple federal laws, the panel said.
“The Select Committee also has a good-faith basis for concluding that the President and members of his Campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States,” the committee wrote in a filing submitted in U.S. District Court in the Central District of California.
The 221-page filing marks the committee’s most formal effort to link the former president to a federal crime, though the actual import of the filing is not clear. Lawmakers do not have the power to bring criminal charges on their own and can only make a referral to the Justice Department. The department has been investigating last year’s riot, but it has not given any indication that it is considering seeking charges against Trump.
Recent Posts
Will COP28 Address Militarism’s Effect On The Climate?
Take Action Now As the earth approaches climate tipping points, world leaders must consider the world’s largest institutional emitter of fossil…
Call It Genocide, Pay The Price
Take Action Now Private colleges and employers can, and do, ignore the right to speak freely. By Bill Lueders, The Progressive A common…
U.S. Says If CIA-Backed Embassy Security Opened Phones Of Assange Visitors, It Was Constitutional
Take Action Now “There are several cases,” U.S. Attorney Jean-David Barnea argued, “that say that by giving your phone to someone else, you have…
Mehdi Hasan Is Fired From MSNBC After Reports Critical Of Israel
Take Action Now “Mehdi Hasan’s program has felt like an oasis on air and more needed than ever,” said one Palestinian American…