Trump ‘Potentially Violated Five Federal Laws’ Based on Jan 6 Hearings – Report
Former President Donald Trump may have violated five federal laws, based on evidence laid out by the congressional subcommittee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot, Business Insider reports.
Camila DeChalus, a senior reporter for the outlet, dove into the report on MSNBC on Friday while discussing separate news that the committee is considering subpoenas for both Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence.
In DeChalus’ report, multiple legal experts said Trump could potentially be guilty of conspiracy to defraud the government, obstructing an official proceeding, wire fraud, witness tampering, and inciting a rebellion.
“The January 6th committee has laid out a lot of evidence over the course of its public hearings and Insider has examined all of this evidence and we found that Trump could have potentially violated five federal laws, everything from wire fraud to witness tampering,” DeChalus told MSNBC’s Jonathan Lemire.
The reporter did note that Trump could have a strong legal defense should the Department of Justice choose to move forward with criminal charges.
“It can go anywhere from him blaming others in his inner circle, saying that is following the advice of his legal advisers to him, his legal defense attorneys are trying to say that he genuinely believed that the election was rigged and that’s why he pursued all of these measures to try to overturn the 2020 presidential election,” she said.
Trump has been accused by members of the January 6 committee of trying to influence witnesses and instigating the Capitol riot. Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti suggested to Insider that Trump could push blame on legal advisors regarding any actions he took to overturn the election results.
“Mariotti told Insider that Trump could claim he is not guilty of attempting to obstruct or impede a US official proceeding and was just following the advice of his legal adviser John Eastman, who repeatedly pushed Pence to reject electors from some states Trump had lost to throw the election,” DeChalus reported.
“It’s hard to convince a jury that somebody who was following the lawyer’s advice was acting corruptly,” Mariotti said.
Watch above, via MSNBC
