What are the Jan 6 panel's 4 criminal referrals against Donald Trump?

The House Select Committee investigating the January 6 US Capitol riots approved the criminal referrals against former US President Donald Trump on Monday. The Monday session was the last time the January 6 committee sat to investigate what went down at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. The final proceedings concluded a 17 month-long congressional investigation which included 100 subpoenas and interviews of around 1,200 witnesses.

The committee voted to recommend the case to the US Department of Justice. With this, the twice-impeached former US President has also become the first President in American history to be formally recommended by Congress for persuasion of criminal charges. 

The Jan 6 committee approved criminal referrals against Trump for instigating the rioters who were involved in the US Capitol riots and for attempting to overturn the 2020 US Presidential Election results.

The panel recommended four crucial criminal charges against the former US President and his allies. The charges include “inciting insurrection, obstruction of official proceedings, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and making false statements to the US government".

Here's a brief analysis of what these charges are about: 

Inciting insurrection 

The January 6 committee said the former US president played a crucial role in “inciting, assisting or engaging” in any form of rebellion and insurrection against the democratic framework of the United States government. 

The committee also held Trump responsible for not stopping or discouraging the rioters who were involved in the January 6 Capitol riots.

In the final committee hearing, Rep. Jamie Raskin, who was heading the January 6 panel stated, “The committee believes that more than sufficient evidence exists for a criminal referral of former President Trump for assisting or aiding and comforting those at the Capitol who engaged in a violent attack on the United States”.

Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney said the “most shameful finding” was that the former US President watched the attack playout in his “private dining room” and refused to intervene. 

Conspiracy to defraud the United States

The Jan 6 panel also held that Trump and his allies engaged in "an agreement to impair, obstruct, or defeat the lawful functions of the United States government by deceitful and dishonest means. 

Speaking on this charge, Rep. Raskin said “there is more than sufficient evidence” that Trump and his allies conspired to “defraud the United States”.

The committee said Trump and his co-conspirators participated in the former US President’s plan to “obstruct and defeat” the certification of the current US President Joe Biden’s 2020 Presidential Election victory. 

Obstruction of official proceedings

On Monday's hearing, the panel said there "should be no question" that the former US President was part of an effort to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress. The committee held that "Trump was attempting to prevent or delay the counting of lawful-certified Electoral College votes." 

The committee has called Donald Trump's obstruction effort "corrupt". It has also called upon the Justice Department to investigate Trump's efforts to obstruct the current investigation.  

Making false statements 

The committee further said Trump and his allies should be referred to the Justice Department for violating the law "which makes it unlawful to knowingly or willfully make materially false statements to the federal government." 

The panel accused Trump of conspiring to transmit fake electoral college certificates from GOP activists to National Archives. 

The panel said Trump hoped the existence of fake documents will help Vice President Mike Pence disrupt congressional vote counting sessions. It also mentioned Trump's speech where he called upon Pence to "show some courage". The speech was followed by aggressive tweets against Pence. 

The Jan 6 panel further said Trump vehemently denied the election results, even after it was proven that his rival Joe Biden won the 2020 elections.  

Trump’s response

Donald Trump has slammed the Jan 6 panel's report saying all criminal referrals against him are "fake". "The Fake charges made by the highly partisan Unselect Committee of January 6th have already been submitted, prosecuted, and tried in the form of Impeachment Hoax #2." 

"The whole business of prosecuting me is just like impeachment was -- a partisan attempt to sideline me and the Republican Party," he wrote. 

What next? 

The House Select Committee's criminal referrals will not automatically translate to charges against the former President. The Justice Department will decide on the charges. 

A full report of the January 6 panel's findings will be published Wednesday. This will include all documentation and interviews of the Capitol riots.