US Capitol riot committee to make criminal referrals, chairman says

The US congressional committee investigating last year’s Capitol riot will make criminal referrals to the justice department, its chairman says.

Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, told reporters the committee had agreed to take the step but was still discussing who to refer.

It is expected to meet later on Tuesday to discuss the next steps.

The Democrat-led panel in the House of Representatives has been looking into the 6 January 2021 attack on Congress.

Hundreds of supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol building on that day in a bid to thwart the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory.

Some 900 people have been arrested in relation to the riot, leading to hundreds of criminal charges. A total of 173 people have been sentenced for crimes including assault, entering a restricted area and destruction of government property.

The House committee has previously signalled it could make criminal referrals to the justice department relating to the efforts of Mr Trump and his allies to challenge the results of the 2020 election.

And while the panel does not have the power to prosecute, the justice department could – in theory – begin criminal proceedings.

Speaking to reporters outside the Capitol, Mr Thompson said the panel had “made decisions on criminal referrals”.

“I wish I could tell you one, two, three, four but that’s all still being discussed,” he said. Asked whether the committee was considering a referral for Mr Trump, he replied: “Good try.”

Maryland Democrat Jamie Raskin said a subcommittee was “bringing forward different recommendations to the full committee for consideration”.

With the Republican takeover of the House of Representatives just a few weeks away following the midterm elections, the Capitol riot committee is taking care of unfinished business.

From the very start, its hearings have been structured more like a criminal prosecution of Donald Trump and his associates than an open-ended public hearing.

Chair Bennie Thompson, Vice-Chair Liz Cheney and the rest of the committee have presented what they view as the former president’s means, motive and opportunity for the crime of trying to subvert a presidential transition of power.

While that strategy up until now has been conducted for the court of public opinion rather than an actual jury, Mr Thompson has now confirmed that the committee’s work will also include a recommendation for actual criminal charges.

But against whom and for exactly what remains to be seen.

The announcement will put renewed pressure on the justice department to pursue further criminal proceedings related to the attack – and if the target of the referral includes Mr Trump, that case could end up in the lap of newly named Special Counsel Jack Smith.

Over the course of nine public hearings, the committee’s seven Democrats and two Republicans have investigated the riot and the events that led up to it.

Its members have alleged Mr Trump’s public rejection of the 2020 election result prompted his supporters to storm the halls of Congress in an effort to prevent Mr Biden from being certified as the winner.

Mr Trump, meanwhile, has repeatedly criticised the committee and its members, characterising the inquiry as a ruse designed to distract US voters from the “disaster” of Democratic governance.

The impending Republican takeover of the House of Representatives means the panel’s work will come to an end on 3 January.

In a 30 November letter to Mr Thompson, Republican Kevin McCarthy – who hopes to be the next Speaker of the House – asked that records be preserved and warned members of his party would seek to investigate the panel.