JUST IN: Jan. 6 Committee Weighing DOJ Criminal Conspiracy and Obstruction Referrals for Trump

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack is considering multiple criminal referrals for former President Donald Trump.

CNN reported the committee is considering whether to refer Trump to the Justice Department for prosecution on charges of conspiracy to defraud the federal government and construction of an official proceeding.

According to the network’s reporting, if the DOJ takes up the cases and a court finds Trump guilty, he could face a five-year maximum sentence for each charge. A referral for either or both charges does not mean the DOJ would have to pursue charges.

CNN host Wolf Blitzer broke the news on The Situation Room and asked network chief political analyst Gloria Borger, “How meaningful is this House committee asking the U.S. Department of Justice to pursue criminal charges against the former president of the United States?”

She responded:

Wolf, it is incredibly meaningful. Because what you’re saying is that a committee that is worked for months and months and months has done voluminous research and has concluded in the end that a former President of the United States should be criminally referred to the department of justice for effectively a coup. For trying to overturn a free and fair election.

However, we all know that this is symbolic. That this is not anything that is immediately actionable by the Department of Justice. Which is conducting its own investigation into January 6 and other issues like Mar-a-Lago. But it does send a message to the American public that this is what our conclusions have been after all of the work we have done.

Watch above, via CNN.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!