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Donald Trump could be heading into Christmas, facing further pressure over his actions around the January 6 riot as the House Select Committee is expected to release its criminal referrals just days beforehand.
The panel investigating the events that led up to the Capitol riots in 2021 will release its final report on December 21 following several high-profile live televised presentations and evidence obtained via subpoenas and witness testimonies.
It is widely expected the report will also contain recommendations that the Department of Justice (DoJ) charge a number of people over the January 6 attack and the attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.
As well as Trump, who is alleged to have incited the riot and then took no action to stop the violence, the panel is reported to be weighing up whether to recommend that former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, Trump lawyers John Eastman and Rudy Giuliani, as well as former DoJ official Jeffrey Clark, also face prosecution, reported CNN.
Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson has said the House Select Committee will discuss whether to make criminal referrals to the DoJ.
Speaking to CNN, panel member California Rep. Adam Schiff said that any decisions about criminal charge recommendations will not be made public until the final report is released on December 21.
While ultimately a symbolic gesture, any criminal referral from the congressional committee will add further weight to the calls for the DoJ to make Trump the first current or former U.S. president to be charged with a crime, due to his actions around January 6, 2021 and his attempts to prevent Joe Biden becoming president after the Democrat's election win.
The potentially historic decision will not come lightly either way. So far, the DoJ and Attorney General Merrick Garland have given no real indication on whether they will prosecute Trump over January 6, but said any decision will be based on facts rather than political influence.
Trump denies any wrongdoing in relation to the insurrection, and has frequently attacked the House Select Committee for carrying out a "witch hunt" against him while continually pushing the false claim the 2020 election was rigged due to widespread voter fraud.
"HOW CAN THE JANUARY 6TH UNSELECT COMMITTEE MAKE CRIMINAL REFERRALS WHEN THEY HAVEN'T SPOKEN ABOUT, OR STUDIED, THOSE THAT RIGGED THE 2020 ELECTION, THE TROOPS NOT BEING BROUGHT IN BY PELOSI, OR NOW, THE ELECTION FRAUD DETERMINATIVELY REVEALED BY TWITTER? THESE ARE THE REAL CRIMINALS!!!" Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday.
Speaking to CBS' Face the Nation on Sunday, Schiff added that he believes the DoJ will seriously review all evidence and any criminal referrals the panel will deliver to them, despite the fact the agency is already conducting its own criminal inquiry into January 6.
"I think they have made use of the evidence that we have presented in open hearings. I think they'll make use of the evidence that we prefer to present in our report to further their investigations," Schiff said.
"And I think it makes an important statement, not a political one, but a statement about the evidence of an attack on the institutions of our democracy and the peaceful transfer of power, that Congress examining an attack on itself is willing to report criminality."
Newsweek has contacted Trump for comment.
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About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, and Florida ... Read more