Special Committee to Investigate the Capitol Attack: Final Hearing

The House committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by Donald Trump supporters concludes its work this week and may recommend up to three criminal charges against the former president.

The special committee has spent 18 months examining an unprecedented attempt to prevent a peaceful transfer of power by thousands of supporters of the former president amid false claims by Trump that his defeat in the 2020 election was the result of widespread fraud.

According to media reports, recommendations to prosecute could be referred to the Justice Department, on charges of obstruction of official congressional procedure, conspiracy to defraud the state, and sedition.

The Guardian and Politico were the first to report the possible charges, citing unnamed sources.

The committee is meeting Monday to discuss recommendations and vote on the final report, which is scheduled to be published in full Wednesday.

“Our focus is on the key players, particularly those against whom there is sufficient or abundant evidence to prove that they committed a crime,” committee member Jamie Raskin told reporters last week.

The implications of the recommendations are unclear, however, because it will be up to the Justice Department to decide whether to file charges.

Recall that the special committee’s investigation is not the only investigation into the Jan. 6 events.

A jury has already found members of the Oath Keepers group guilty of sedition for their role in the attack, and special prosecutor Jack Smith is investigating Trump’s attempts to overturn his defeat and his seizure of classified documents from the White House.

In July, a jury found former Trump adviser Steve Bannon guilty of contempt of Congress for refusing to testify, and former White House adviser Peter Navarro is due in court next month on the same charge.

With Republicans set to take control of the House of Representatives next month, the committee is expected to be dissolved.

Recall that Trump is seeking the Republican Party nomination to run for the White House again in 2024.

The committee held a series of hearings and meetings from July 2021 to October 2022.

Those hearings included testimony from members of the Trump administration, his close associates, and his eldest daughter Ivanka, who said she did not believe her father’s claims about the stolen election. In the nearly two years since leaving office, Trump has not stopped making false claims of election fraud, though dozens of courts, government experts and members of his own administration, including former Attorney General Bill Burr, have dismissed his claims as unfounded.

According to multiple media reports, the individuals being considered to recommend the case also include former Republican House member and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, attorney John Eastman, former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, and former New York mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani.

Recall that five people, including one police officer, were killed during the riots or shortly thereafter; more than 140 police officers were injured. Millions of dollars worth of damage was done to the Capitol.