Dana Bash Presses Jan. 6 Committee Chairman On Whether Trump Will Be Criminally Charged

CNN host Dana Bash pressed Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), the chairman of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, on whether former President Donald Trump should be referred to the Department of Justice for criminal charges.

During State of the Union on Sunday, Bash asked Thompson whether the former president’s “lack of action on Jan. 6 may actually warrant a criminal referral.”

“The only thing I can say is highly unusual for any in charge of anything to watch what’s going on and do nothing,” replied Thompson.

“Is it criminal,” asked Bash.

“We don’t know,” said Thompson. “We in the process of trying to get all the information.

“But I can say if there’s anything that we come up on as a committee that we think would warrant a referral to the Department of Justice, we’ll do that. That’s our oath as members of Congress. So it’s not just that. It’s any of the other things we’re looking at, if there’s any confidence on the part of our committee that something criminal we believe has occurred, we’ll make the referral.”

Bash then asked whether the committee has “learned from witness testimony more about what [Trump] was or wasn’t doing?”

Thompson replied:

Yes, we have. We have significant testimony that leads us to believe that the White House had been told to do something.

We want to verify all of it so that when we produce our report and when we have the hearings, the public will have an opportunity to see for themselves.

But Dana, to be honest with you, what occurred Jan. 6 played out in full view of the American public and the world and we want to make sure that that never ever happens again, so we need get it right, get all the facts and circumstances and that’s what the committee’s body of work is about, doing it at this point.

“Did or has the former president obstructed an official proceeding of Congress,” asked Bash.

Thompson responded:

Well, what he’s doing is the typical Donald Trump modus operandi. He sues. He goes to court. He tries to delay. If he continues to be successful at delaying, obviously it inhibits the committee’s work. We’re doing a lot, but we have to have access to the records.

President Biden has said executive privilege does not apply. So we think that we will have a lot of access to the records necessary for us to have complete access to the work. If we have access to the records, then former President Trump’s wishes on delaying will have no bearing our work.

Watch above, via CNN.