1/6 Committee Drops The Hammer And Threatens Trump Witnesses With Criminal Referrals

The House Select 1/6 Committee isn’t playing games and will make criminal referrals for Trump and other Republican witnesses who refuse to testify.

The 1/6 Committee Could Refer Trump Witnesses Who Refuse To Testify For Criminal Charges.

Video of Rep. Raskin:

Rep. Raskin said when MSNBC’s Ali Velshi asked if criminal referrals will be for criminal activity or not showing up to testify:

It could be both. When we come to people that have committed crimes on January 6th, we will turn that over, but at the same time, the chairman has signaled our determination to get all of the information we’re asking for. It’s not discretionary or optional. It’s the government’s subpoenas or documents from you, you have to testify unless you will assert a Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, and we don’t think that that exists. 

If someone like President Trump would want to come forward hypothetically or someone else and say I’m exercising my privilege against self-incrimination and that sets off a whole other process where they could be given use immunity. In other words, we will immunize you from the use of any information you give us, but you do still have to testify. So that’s possible, too. The point is we’re not going to play these games during the Trump administration when they treated a subpoena like it’s optional, and that’s not what it is.

This is deadly serious stuff. We’re asking for the information, and we owe a comprehensive report to the American people about what took place and what changes we need to make through the entire system of government and security in order to protect democracy against right-wing, violent extremist attacks and political manipulation and clues. 

Trump And His Band Of Insurrectionists Can’t Hide From The 1/6 Committee.

The message from Rep. Raskin is that the 1/6 Committee has the White House behind them, and they aren’t messing around. Trump and his co-conspirators can no longer hide behind the power of the presidency, and if they refuse to testify, they will be hit with criminal charges, fines, or both.

Trump will definitely try to claim executive privilege or sue, but there is a belief that he doesn’t have executive privilege and that any lawsuit is likely to fail.

The 1/6 Committee is coming to get the whole story of the Capitol attack, and that story has the potential to be damning for Trump and House and Senate Republicans.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association

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