Rep. Liz Cheney, vice chair of the House Select Committee investigating the Jan 6 attack on the Capitol, suggested Sunday that it is possible for the House to refer former President Donald Trump to the Justice Department.
Cheney made the remarks on ABC’s “This Week”, as members of the committee said that more information was coming forward after last week’s explosive testimony by Cassidy Hutchinson, a 26-year-old former White House aide. Cheney stated that the Justice Department would determine if Trump is guilty of any criminal offenses and that the committee would ultimately decide whether to refer Trump.
Cheney stated Sunday that “I think that we may well, as a committee, have a viewpoint on that.” It’s quite chilling. I believe we will continue to show the American people what our findings are.
Cheney replied, “Yes,” when Cheney was asked if it was possible that the ex-president would be referred to criminal court.
This tone is different from that of Rep. Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the committee. Last month, he stated to reporters that the committee did not have the authority to refer Trump’s criminal case. Cheney and the other members of the committee appeared to disagree with that conclusion. This leaves room for criminally referring Trump.
“The committee has not reached a conclusion on potential criminal referrals. “We will announce a decision about that at an appropriate moment,” Cheney said on Twitter.
Cheney reminded us Sunday that the Justice Department does not need to wait for the committee to refer criminal cases.
Hutchinson, who testified last week that Trump knew his supporters at the National Mall were carrying weapons and wanted them to be allowed into his rally, said that Hutchinson. She said that Trump had said something to the effect that he didn’t care that they had weapons. They don’t want to harm me. Get rid of the effing mags. Let my people in. From here, they can march to the Capitol. Let the people in. “Take the effing mags out,” referring to magnetometers or metal detectors used for security screening.
Hutchinson also testified to the fact that Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s former attorney and White House chief staff officer Mark Meadows, sought presidential pardons.
Rep. Adam Schiff, a member of the Committee, stated Sunday on CBS News’ Face the Nation that more information has been released following Hutchinson’s testimony.
Schiff stated that there is more information coming forward. “Whether that information will be used to identify witnesses on particular topics or not, we’ll have to wait and watch, but we are still following additional leads. These leads could lead to new testimony, I believe.”
On CNN’s “State of the Union”, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican committee member, said that the committee will hear testimony from witnesses that he didn’t expect to hear during the investigation.
“Yes. Yes. He said that there will be, and that it is already.” There will be more information. Keep watching.
