January 6 Panel to Vote on Criminal Charges Against Trump on Monday

By Staff, Agencies

The US House committee tasked with investigating the January 6 Capitol riot will vote on whether to pursue criminal charges against former President Donald Trump, US media reported on Friday.

Various outlets reported criminal charges recommended to the US Justice Department on Monday may include insurrection, conspiracy to defraud the US government and obstruction of an official proceeding.

Documents viewed by Politico reportedly includes an extensive justification for the recommended charges.

Speaking to reports on the charges, Rep. Zoe Lofgren [D-CA], who sits on the House panel, remarked on Friday that the committee had “been very careful in crafting these recommendations and tethering them to the facts that we’ve uncovered.”

“We spent a huge amount of time not just on what the code sections are and the bottom-line recommendation, but the facts," Lofgren said. "And I think it’s really important when we discuss whatever it is we are going to do and we’ll have a vote on it, that people understand the facts behind the conclusions we reach."

The committee was tasked with investigating the US Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, during which a crowd breached the Capitol Complex and disrupted the certification of election results in favor of Joe Biden.

US prosecutors have convicted a number of individuals with crimes related to the riot, which the committee attempted to tie to Trump over a series of public hearings.

Through the hearings, the committee has detailed that the Capitol riot was the byproduct of widespread conspiracies, rather than simply being a spontaneous event on the same day that US lawmakers were set to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.

A full report on the panel's findings is expected to be released to the public on December 21.