Adam Schiff Hints At Potential Trump Criminal Referral To DOJ

Adam Schiff says DOJ should investigate Trump

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Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 01:48 pm

1/6 Committee member Rep. Adam Schiff said that Garland and the DOJ should investigate Trump.

Video:

MARGARET BRENNAN: Before I let you go, I want to ask about the January six committee. There was a development this week, a court filing claiming there is now evidence that President Trump broke the law in his efforts to overturn the election in 2020. Do you think that the attorney general is moving fast enough with his enforcement?

REP. SCHIFF: What we made clear in our filing to the court is we believe there’s a good faith basis to conclude that the former president and his campaign may have violated any number of federal laws, including obstructing an official proceeding, the joint session, and defrauding the American people. And I do think that the Justice Department ought to be looking at these issues and ought to be investigating in particular just to give one very graphic example the former president on the phone with the secretary of state in Georgia demanding that he find 11,780 votes that didn’t exist, but the precise number he would need to overtake President Biden. I think if anyone else had engaged in that conversation, they would be under investigation and it should be no different for the former president. So I think the department is diligently pursuing those who attack the Capitol that day. But there were multiple lines of effort to overturn the election that may have violated the law, which also should be investigated.

If The Committee Believes That Trump Committed Crimes, A Criminal Referral Is The Logical Next Step

If the Committee shares the view that Rep. Schiff expressed, then the next logical step is for the Committee to make a criminal referral or urge the DOJ to investigate Trump.

The 1/6 Committee has shown a willingness to be aggressive with criminal referrals, but they are not a criminal investigation. The Committee can’t criminally charge Donald Trump, but they do have the ability to put some serious heat on the Department of Justice if they find that crimes were committed by the former president.

Schiff expressed the belief that Trump should be criminally investigated, and if the rest of the Committee shares his position, they force Garland to make a decision on investigating Trump.

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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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