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Former President Donald Trump's inner circle may be more easily persuaded to flip on him now that the House committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot has made four criminal referrals against Trump.
On Monday, the House panel released its final report and announced that it obtained sufficient evidence to urge the Justice Department to pursue four charges against Trump for inciting an insurrection, obstructing of an official proceeding, conspiring to make false statements and conspiring to defraud the U.S. government.
The referrals from lawmakers remain a symbolic move as the DOJ is not required to consider them, but it is likely that the committee's decision will force the agency to either pursue prosecution or address why it would refrain from charging Trump.
The latest announcement also gives Jack Smith, who has been appointed the special counsel to oversee the department's probe into Trump's role in the attack on the Capitol, more leverage over witnesses who may not have had any involvement on January 6, 2021.
On Monday, the committee said it was able to identify individuals who lied to the panel and, thus, have exposed themselves to criminal liability.
"If Special Counsel Smith wants to prosecute Trump, the best way to do so is to 'flip' others to cooperate against the former president," former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Newsweek.
In Monday's executive summary, the committee mentions one instance where a witness was advised by their lawyer that "saying 'I don't recall' is an entirely acceptable response" because the House panel didn't know the witness could recall such things.
"Certain witnesses and lawyers were unnecessarily combative, answered hundreds of questions with variants of 'I do not recall' in circumstances where that answer seemed unbelievable," the summary said.
Using the new risk of potential criminal liability, Smith could persuade Trump's inner circle to cooperate with his investigations, not only the one related to January 6 but the probe into the documents found at Mar-a-Lago as well.
Rahmani said some of the key players that Smith could use this leverage with include attorney John Eastman, who was also referred for criminal prosecution by the House committee, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
The loyalty of Trump's inner circle was already been tested by federal investigations earlier this year.
Shortly after his home at Mar-a-Lago was raided, it was reported that the FBI search was largely based on a confidential human source. This led many to question who within Trump's orbit would have revealed that he was in possession of confidential records.
Some speculated that it was son-in-law Jared Kushner while others floated Representative Matt Gaetz's name. At this time, it remains unclear who the informant was.
About the writer
Katherine Fung is a Newsweek senior reporter based in New York City. She has covered U.S. politics and culture extensively. ... Read more