Does a Criminal Referral Mean Someone's Been Charged With a Crime?

Representative Bennie Thompson said Tuesday that the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot will be making decisions on criminal referrals to the Department of Justice (DOJ) as a result of its probe.

Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill, Thompson, the panel's chair, said that there is "a general agreement we will do some referrals, but we've got to get there."

"We're not there yet," he added.

Thompson did not say exactly for whom the panel may be weighing criminal referrals, as well as how many referrals it could make, but Representative Liz Cheney, the panel's vice chair, said in July that "multiple" referrals were possible.

Additionally, fellow committee member Representative Jamie Raskin told CNN's Manu Raju on Tuesday that they were "making great progress" in their work on criminal referrals, and that the panel was focusing "on the people who were at the center of the events and who masterminded the attack on Congress and the vice president on that day."

Some experts believe the committee has been building a case against Donald Trump for his alleged role in the riot. Thompson told reporters that criminal referrals would be "part of the discussion" during a committee meeting on Tuesday and that members are expected to make a final decision by the end of the week, according to Axios.

But a criminal referral by a House committee does not equate to actual criminal charges, a fact that former White House press secretary Jen Psaki highlighted on Twitter Tuesday afternoon.

"Just for expectation setting—as compelling as the Jan 6 Committee work has been—criminal referrals from the Committee are not binding," Psaki wrote. "The course of action DOJ will take is not based on whether or not there are referrals."

In fact, if the committee does make criminal referrals, it would largely act as a symbolic move. The Justice Department, which has been conducting its own investigation into the riot, will ultimately decide whether to bring criminal charges against any of the people allegedly involved in the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

The DOJ may even decide to charge people who the House committee did not make criminal referrals for, Forbes reported.

The committee, established in late June 2021, must wrap up its investigation by the end of the year since it will be dissolved when the current congressional term ends on December 31. This means that any potential criminal referrals will be announced prior to that deadline.

The House committee is also expected to release a final report on its findings.

Newsweek reached out to the committee for comment.