The January 6 Committee made their “big” announcement on Monday indicating that they would urge the Justice Department to prosecute former President Donald Trump, and some of his allies, over the Capitol riot that took place.
In a statement posted to his Truth Social account, the former president said that the referrals from the committee will only make him “stronger.”
“These folks don’t get it that when they come after me, people who love freedom rally around me. It strengthens me. What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger,” he wrote. “Americans know that I pushed for 20,000 troops to prevent violence on Jan 6, and that I went on television and told everyone to go home… The people understand that the Democratic Bureau of Investigation, the DBI, are out to keep me from running for president because they know I’ll win and that this whole business of prosecuting me is just like impeachment was — a partisan attempt to sideline me and the Republican Party.”
Trump went on to say that the “fake” charges made by the highly partisan “unselect” committee have already been submitted, prosecuted, and tried in the form of “Impeachment Hoax # 2. I WON convincingly. Double Jeopardy anyone!”
Here are the criminal charges they brought in the referrals against Trump: obstruction of an official proceeding; conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to make a false statement; and inciting or assisting an insurrection.
The Department of Justice is not likely to be swayed by the evidence from the referrals, according to former DOJ officials.
University of Baltimore Law School Dean Ronald Weich, a former DOJ liaison to Congress, said, “I’m sure the Attorney General will welcome any new evidence the committee sends over, but the authority to indict rests with the executive branch, not Congress. The decision of whether to bring criminal charges is solely within the purview of the Justice Department. I expect DOJ to respond courteously to the committee, but the referral will not change the outcome.”
