After months of investigating, the Jan. 6 committee announced Monday that it recommends that criminal charges be brought against former Republican President Donald Trump.
How likely is it that Trump will actually face charges? Even if he doesn’t, the committee recommendation will likely have an impact on Trump’s 2024 presidential election campaign.
Could Trump face charges?
An executive summary for a forthcoming committee report mentioned referrals for the U.S. Department of Justice. Per the committee’s Twitter, it recommends criminal charges related to: obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to make a false statement and insurrection.
It is not yet clear whether the DOJ will pursue the charges.
During a CBS News interview this week, reporter Robert Costa said there is a possible federal indictment on the horizon for Trump. However, CNN said the Jan. 6 panel has no authority to prosecute the former president.
“The potential charges concerned also have little case law precedent,” said the outlet. “And while both Attorney General Merrick Garland and the House committee have long argued that every American should be subject to equal justice, the gravity of indicting an ex-president and current White House candidate who has already used violence as a political tool means the department’s dilemma is among the most fateful in American history.”
Authors Norman Eisen, E. Danya Perry and Fred Wertheimer also noted that the “unprecedented” nature of the potential charges may make a DOJ case against Trump challenging in an opinion piece in The New York Times. However, they noted that “seditious conspiracy charges were also rare until this month’s landmark convictions of Stewart Rhodes and Kelly Meggs for conspiring to promote violent insurrection on Jan. 6.”
Rod Rosenstein – who served as deputy attorney general in the Trump Justice Department – told CNN’s Erin Burnett “the most serious referral” that accuses Trump of giving aid and comfort to an insurrection would most likely come up against a First Amendment defense.
“The Department would have to prove that the president’s comments were directed at inciting imminent lawless action,” he said. In other words, they’d actually have to prove he intended for a mob to engage in violent activity. That would be a hurdle to prosecuting him under that charge.”
Already, the DOJ is investigating the Capitol riot and classified documents found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate after he left office.
What does this mean for 2024?
“The video of Trump’s mob smashing into the Capitol and the courageous testimony of witnesses, often Republican, who testified against him will certainly be at the center of the 2024 presidential campaign if Trump is the GOP nominee.,” said CNN.
Costa said the committee’s announcement about criminal charges is “creating a new sense of vulnerability about the Trump 2024 campaign,” and that other Republicans have started considering a primary run against Trump.
“The committee’s evidence and analysis will be useful to those asking election officials and courts to consider whether Mr. Trump must be excluded from primary ballots,” said the authors of The New York Times opinion piece.
Indeed, CNN said that the Jan. 6 committee’s ultimate purpose is really to prevent Trump from ever becoming president again. According to POLITICO, the release of a final report this week has even more potential to impact Trump’s campaign.
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