The Congress select committee probing the January 6 Capitol riot is considering to press criminal charges against former president Donald Trump.
According to the US media, the House of Representatives is working to indict Trump for obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
The decision to penalise Trump was taken on the recommendation of a special committee—the subcommittee examining referrals—after renewed evidence pointed out Trump’s attempts to impede the certification of Joe Biden on January 6 2021.
The nine-member committee is expected to approve the recommendations and submit it to the Department of Justice, which is already probing Trump’s role in the unrest.
The justice department, however, is not obligated to consider referrals from any congressional panel.
The committee will hold its final meeting on Monday when any charging recommendations would be unveiled.
On Friday his spokesman, Steven Cheung, reacted to the reports in a statement, saying, “The January 6th un-Select Committee held show trials by Never Trump partisans who are a stain on this country’s history.”
The chief of the select committee, Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, said the full report will be made public on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, California congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, another member of the panel, told CNN on Friday that the lawmakers have “been very careful in crafting these [charging] recommendations and tethering them to the facts that we’ve uncovered”.
The panel believes that Trump incited Capitol riot in a last-ditch bid to remain in power.
It argues that Trump spread false claims about the 2020 presidential election being rigged, before pressuring state officials, the justice department and his own vice-president to help subvert his defeat.
(With inputs from agencies)
