‘Donald Trump Committed Criminal Offenses’: Jan. 6 Committee’s Adam Schiff Pushes His Chips to the Middle in CNN Interview With Tapper
Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) said the January 6 Committee has enough evidence to charge former President Donald Trump — ahead of their criminal referrals to the Justice Department.
The House Intelligence Committee chairman, who also serves on the January 6 Committee, spoke to CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday about their criminal referrals pertaining to Trump’s allies who were involved in his effort to overturn the 2020 election. Tapper started by asking Schiff if there was evidence to refer Trump to the DOJ and prosecute him on charges of insurrection, obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy to defraud the federal government.
“I think there’s sufficient evidence to charge the president,” said Schiff. “The evidence seems pretty plain to me, but I would want to see the full body of evidence if I were in the prosecutor’s shoes to make a decision. But you know, this is someone who, in multiple ways, tried to pressure state officials to find votes that didn’t exist. This is someone who tried to interfere with a joint session, even inciting a mob to attack the Capitol. If that’s not criminal, then I don’t know what is.”
Tapper then asked Schiff if he would vote “yes” to referring Trump on all three charges.
“I can’t comment on what referrals we’re going to make,” Schiff answered. “But I can tell you our process has been to look meticulously at the evidence and compare it to various statutes: is there sufficient evidence as to each element of a particular crime? We’re not referring or won’t be voting to refer everyone we think there may be evidence because we want to focus on those for which we believe there’s the strongest evidence.”
Schiff concluded the line of questioning by telling Tapper “I don’t want to telegraph too much what we’re considering, but I will say that I think the president has violated multiple criminal laws, and I think you have to be treated like any other American who breaks the law, and that is you have to be prosecuted.”
Watch above via CNN.
