WASHINGTON ( Associated Press) – Members of the House committee investigating the Capitol riots said Sunday they have called for the Justice Department to consider an unprecedented criminal indictment against former President Donald Trump to overturn the results of the 2020 election. sufficient evidence has been disclosed.
“I want to see the Justice Department investigate any credible allegation of criminal activity on the part of Donald Trump,” said Representative Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a committee member who also leads the House Intelligence Committee. . “There are some actions, some parts of these different parts of an attempt to reverse the election, that I don’t see evidence that the Justice Department is investigating.”
The committee held its first public hearing last week, in which members put their case against Trump, to show how the defeated president continued to advance his false claims of a rigged election despite several advisers telling him otherwise. He accelerated an extraordinary plan to reverse Joe Biden’s victory.
Additional evidence is set to be unveiled at hearings this week that will demonstrate how Trump and his advisers engaged in a “massive effort” to spread misinformation and pressure the Justice Department to embrace their false claims.
Committee members indicated Sunday that their most important audience during the hearing may ultimately be Attorney General Merrick Garland, who must decide whether his department can prosecute Trump. He left no doubt whether the evidence was sufficient or not.
Representative Jamie Ruskin, D-MD, talks with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 9, 2022, following the first public hearing of the House Select Committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. ( Associated Press Photo/Susan Walsh)
Photo: The Associated Press / Susan Walsh
An image of a mock execution on the grounds of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 as committee members from left to right, Representative Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Rep. Shown as Zoe Lofgren, D-California. President Benny Thompson, D-Miss., Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Vyo., Rep. Adam Kizinger, R-Ill., Rep. Jamie Ruskin, D-Md., & Rep. Ellen Luria, D-Va., watch as the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol reveals the findings of a year-long investigation, Thursday, June 9, 2022, at the Capitol in Washington held its first public hearing. ( Associated Press Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Photo: Associated Press/J.J. Scott Applewhite
Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks to announce a team to review a significant incident of the shooting in Uvalde, Texas, during a media availability at the Justice Department Wednesday, June 8, 2022, in Washington. ( Associated Press Photo/Alex Brandon)
Photo: The Associated Press / Alex Brandon
From left to right, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-California, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and Speaker Benny Thompson, D-Miss., listen as the House select committee investigates the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, a year on Capitol Hill, Thursday, June 9, 2022, Washington holds its first public hearing to reveal the findings of the lengthy investigation. , ( Associated Press Photo/Andrew Harnick)
Photo: Associated Press/Andrew Harnick
Rape. Elaine Luria, D-Va., listens as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol, its first to reveal the findings of a year-long investigation, on Capitol Hill, Thursday, June 9 Conducts public hearings. , 2022, in Washington. ( Associated Press Photo/Andrew Harnick)
Photo: Associated Press/Andrew Harnick
Representative Jamie Ruskin, D-MD, listens as the House Select Committee investigates the January 6 attack on the US Capitol holds its first public hearing to reveal the findings of a year-long investigation on Capitol Hill, Thursday, June 9 held. , 2022, in Washington. ( Associated Press Photo/Andrew Harnick)
Photo: Associated Press/Andrew Harnick
From left to right, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-California, Rep. Jamie Ruskin, D-Md., and Speaker Benny Thompson, D-Miss., talk during the break of the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol on Capitol Hill Thursday, June 9, 2022 in Washington But held its first public hearing to reveal the findings of a year-long investigation. ( Associated Press Photo/Andrew Harnick)
Photo: Associated Press/Andrew Harnick
From left to right, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-California, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-California., President Benny Thompson, d. —Miss., Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Voy., Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., Rep. Jamie Ruskin, D-Md., & Rep. Ellen Luria, D-Va., is sitting as House. The Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol held its first public hearing to reveal the findings of a year-long investigation Thursday, June 9, 2022, at the Capitol in Washington. ( Associated Press photo/Andrew Harnick)
Photo: Associated Press/Andrew Harnick
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“Once the evidence is collected by the Department of Justice, it needs to make a decision about whether it can prove to the jury the guilt of the president or someone else beyond doubt,” Schiff said. “But if there is credible evidence, they should be investigated, which I think is out there.”
Rape. Jamie Ruskin, D-MD, said he didn’t intend to “bark” Garland, but noted that the committee has already made a variety of criminal statutes in legal arguments that Trump believes. has violated.
“I think he knows, his employees know, American lawyers know, what’s at stake here,” Ruskin said. “They know the importance of this, but I think they are taking precedence in history as well as the facts of the matter.”
Garland has not specified how he can proceed, which would be unprecedented and could be complicated by a political election season in which Trump has openly flirted with the idea of running for president again in 2024. “Wherever we lead, we will follow the facts,” Garland said in his speech at Harvard University’s opening ceremony last month.
A federal judge in California ruled in a civil case in March that Trump had committed federal offenses in trying to obstruct Congress’ counting of Electoral College ballots on January 6, 2021. The judge cited two methods: obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy to defraud the United States. Trump has denied all wrongdoing.
Schiff appeared on ABC’s “This Week” and Ruskin spoke on Nation World News’s “State of the Union.”
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For full coverage of the January 6 hearing, visit https://www.apnews.com/capitol-siege.
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