Jan. 6 committee will not make any criminal referrals, chairman says

[867-5309.]

Source: NBC News

The chair of the House committee investigating the Capitol riot said Monday night that the panel will not make any criminal referrals, even though its leaders have previously hinted at the possibility of doing so.

"Our job is to look at the facts and circumstances around January 6 — what caused it — and make recommendations after that," Chair Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., told reporters as he left the House chamber after the second day of public hearings by the panel.

When pressed on the matter and whether the committee had ruled out the possibility of referring criminal charges, particularly for former President Donald Trump, Thompson replied: "We don’t have authority."

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/jan-6-committee-will-not-make-criminal-referrals-chairman-says-rcna22325

[Journeyman]

1. Maybe it's a good cop/bad cop story. Good cop Democrat says no referral, bad cop Republican . . .

says hell yes we're going to look into that.

All concerns and outrage from the right is effectively stifled as it's one of their own pushing hardest for accountability.

[agingdem]

2. he's right...recommendations yes, referrals no

the J6 committee is tasked with telling the story of January 6..prosecuting Trump and his coup co-conspirators is within the DOJ purview...

[getagrip_already]

3. But the full house could........

Maybe they just want all of the q'rs to be on record?

Even if the task force doesn't have the mandate to do it, the full house can. A referral is not a legally binding document. It's more of a sense of the house document. It isn't even equivalent to the house issuing a subpoena and having it ignored.

The house itself has no legal authority to initiate a criminal inquiry.

And the doj will do what it wants, which apparently will be just to study the matter.

[herding cats]

4. Jan. 6 Committee Says a Trump Criminal Referral Is Still on the Table

Jan. 6 Committee Says a Trump Criminal Referral Is Still on the Table
Liz Cheney and others are pushing back on Chairman Bennie Thompson’s claim that the committee is only going to “tell the facts”

Snip


Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) soon after released a statement pushing back on her colleague’s claim. “The January 6th Select Committee has not issued a conclusion regarding potential criminal referrals. We will announce a decision on that at an appropriate time,” Cheney tweeted.

Other committee members backed Cheney. “We haven’t had a discussion about that, so I don’t know that the committee has reached a position on whether we make a referral or what the referrals might be,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told CNN’s Anderson Cooper. “I thought we were deferring that decision until we concluded our investigation. At least that’s my understanding.” Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) tweeted a similar message: “Our committee has yet to vote on whether we will recommend criminal referrals to the Department of Justice. If criminal activity occurred, it is our responsibility to report that activity to the DOJ.”

In a statement provided to CNN, a spokesperson for the committee said “the Select Committee has no authority to prosecute individuals, but is rather tasked with developing the facts surrounding the January 6th riot at the Capitol. Right now, the committee is focused on presenting our findings to the American people in our hearings and in our report. Our investigation is ongoing and we will continue to gather all relevant information as we present facts, offer recommendations and, if warranted, make criminal referrals.”

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/jan-6-committee-trump-criminal-referral-1367769/

Unwarranted drama and distraction it seems. Any referral is basically symbolic and they appear to be of different minds on if it will help or harm.

[agingdem]

5. I wish they'd make up their minds or

not say anything until it happens

[herding cats]

12. I agree.

Sadly, it's politics and that's never how it goes. Then you have pundits offering their analysis of what it means in their "expert" opinion ad nauseam.

[PSPS]

6. It wouldn't matter anyway. Garland largely ignores them anyway.

[emulatorloo]

8. Whats yr 'definitive statement' based on? Inside knowledge?

DOJ doesn’t leak.

[PSPS]

9. To paraphrase "W", "Fitzmas me twice ... won't get fooled again!"

[emulatorloo]

13. 'Fitzmas' was a creation of shitty internet 'journalists'. Probably best to avoid dumb bloggers

and self-styled ‘reporters’

[Xoan]

10. Meadows, Scavino

[LizBeth]

7. Hey... Garland is watching. A year and half of this shit, but now, Garland is watching.

Make of it what you will.

[gab13by13]

11. It's better the select committee doesn't make a referral,

Garland doesn't want to appear partisan and a referral would give him pause. Garland knows what the committee wants without a referral.

[jaxexpat]

14. Then the sole point of the Jan 6th select committee is 2022 election politics?

The dissemination of facts to refute the Big Lie? Airing the testimony of Republican witnesses to the general public? Pouring water onto the GOP conflagration? Pouring gasoline onto the GOP conflagration?

There's an army of morons hell-bent on fomenting a turn to dictatorship to replace our government. Is the reaction from the people elected to serve in the people's house only campaign stuff to secure a few votes?

Can't we at least collect DNA from the wall shitter? Is Garland so vacuous that he needs a multi-hour TeeVee display in prime time to expose the evidence to indict?

Hey. All I got is questions.

[gab13by13]

15. The select committee hearings are meant to influence Garland to indict,

Liz Cheney has been pushing Garland for many months. If DOJ is waiting for a referral we are in a world of hurt.

[cannabis_flower]

17. And.....

The public to demand it!

[Justice matters.]

16. DOJ Expects Transcripts from the 1,000 J6 Committee witnesses (in September)

DOJ lawyers expect transcripts from the 1,000 January 6 committee witnesses to be made public in September

Business Insider link: https://www.businessinsider.com/january-6-committee-transcripts-witnesses-doj-investigation-2022-6

So that would be around the time the committee could finalize its report.

[Beastly Boy]

19. Indeed it is.

Unless they want to give ammunition to Trump's lawyers to appeal any subsequent action by DOJ. It is one thing to make a referral of a matter directly involving the Committee or its members as an aggrieved party, it's a whole different thing for a unit of the Legislative branch (which the Committee represents) to direct a unit of the Executive branch (which DOJ represents) in a matter they (the Committee) are tasked with investigating. A case, perhaps even a legitimate case, can be made that such referral would violate the separation of powers doctrine, and would be unconstitutional.

It's way above my pay grade to speculate on whether a referral compels DOJ to act on it or whether it is merely a suggestion left to the discretion of DOJ, but in either event, Rep. Thompson is right to be very cautious in what he puts on the record.

[ancianita]

18. More than one committee member begs to differ; that it's up to the whole committee, not just him.

[myohmy2]

20. why...?

...Cheney and Kinzinger balking...?

"We don’t have authority."

...I don't believe that...

...