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The House committee holds its last session at 1 p.m. ET today, marking the end of its expansive probe into the Capitol riot and the former president’s role

The House committee holds its last session at 1 p.m. ET today, marking the end of its expansive probe into the Capitol riot and the former president’s role
1 min ago

The other notable investigations Trump faces

From CNN’s Dan Berman

Former President Donald Trump attends a rally to support Republican candidates ahead of the midterm elections in Dayton, Ohio, on November 7.
Former President Donald Trump attends a rally to support Republican candidates ahead of the midterm elections in Dayton, Ohio, on November 7. (Gaelen Morse/Reuters)

Former President Donald Trump, whose third White House bid has already become mired in controversy, is facing a myriad of legal issues, alongside his business and allies.

Aside from the Jan. 6 committee’s probe, here are some other notable investigations involving Trump:

Tax returns.The House Ways and Means Committee finally got access to the former president’s tax returns after the Supreme Court dealt a massive defeat to Trump, paving the way for the Internal Revenue Service to hand over the documents to the Democratic-led House. The committee’s chairman, Richard Neal, a Massachusetts Democrat, first sought the tax returns from the IRS in 2019, and the agency, under the Trump administration, initially resisted turning them over.

Mar-a-Lago documents. Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed special counsel Jack Smith to oversee the Justice Department criminal investigations into the retention of national defense information at Trump’s resort and parts of the January 6, 2021, insurrection.

The Justice Department investigation continues into whether documents from the Trump White House were illegally mishandled when they were brought to Mar-a-Lago in Florida after he left office. A federal grand jury in Washington has been empaneled and has interviewed potential witnesses to how Trump handled the documents.

2020 Election. The Justice Department has an investigation of its own into the post-2020 election period. While DOJ has not acted publicly during the so-called quiet period leading up to the midterms, a grand jury in Washington has been hearing from witnesses.

Meanwhile, Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis is overseeing a special grand jury investigating what Trump or his allies may have done in their efforts to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia. The probe was launched following Trump’s call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which he pushed the Republican to “find” votes to overturn the election results.

Trump Organization. New York Attorney General Letitia James, after a lengthy investigation, sued Trump, three of his adult children and the Trump Organization in September, alleging they were involved in an expansive fraud lasting over a decade that the former president used to enrich himself.

James alleged the fraud touched all aspects of the Trump business, including its properties and golf courses. According to the lawsuit, the Trump Organization deceived lenders, insurers and tax authorities by inflating the value of his properties using misleading appraisals.

Read more about other investigations here.

24 min ago

These are the 9 members on the Jan. 6 committee

From CNN’s Annie Grayer and Ryan Nobles

From left to right, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, Rep. Pete Aguilar, Rep. Adam Schiff, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, Chair Rep. Bennie Thompson, Vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Rep. Jamie Raskin and Rep. Elaine Luria are seated as the House select committee hearing on June 9.
From left to right, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, Rep. Pete Aguilar, Rep. Adam Schiff, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, Chair Rep. Bennie Thompson, Vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Rep. Jamie Raskin and Rep. Elaine Luria are seated as the House select committee hearing on June 9. (Andrew Harnik/AP)

Members of the House select committee have been investigating what happened before, after and during the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol. Now they are getting ready to present their findings in a final report.

The committee is made up of 7 Democrats and 2 Republicans. It was formed after efforts to create an independent 9/11-style commission failed. 

Rep. Liz Cheney is one of two Republicans on the panel appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy pulled all five of his selections because Pelosi would not accept two of his picks. In July 2021, Pelosi invited GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois to join the committee, making him the second GOP lawmaker to sit on the committee. 

Here’s who is on the panel:

Democrats: 

  • Chair: Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi
  • Rep. Pete Aguilar of California 
  • Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California
  • Rep. Elaine Luria of Virginia
  • Rep. Stephanie Murphy of Florida
  • Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland
  • Rep. Adam Schiff of California

Republicans 

  • Vice chair: Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming
  • Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois
56 min ago

Here’s what a criminal referral is — and what it means for the Jan. 6 committee’s investigation

From CNN’s Tierney Sneed

Chair Rep. Bennie Thompson speaks during the House select committee's first hearing on June 9.
Chair Rep. Bennie Thompson speaks during the House select committee’s first hearing on June 9. (Jabin Botsford/Pool/Reuters)

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection is set to make announcements at its final public meeting on Monday about criminal referrals to the Justice Department.

So what is a criminal referral? A referral represents a recommendation that the Justice Department investigate and look at charging the individuals in question. The House committee’s final report – to be released Wednesday – will provide justification from the panel’s investigation for recommending the charges.

But any move by the Jan. 6 panel to approve a referral would be largely symbolic because a referral by no means obligates federal prosecutors to bring such a case.

With the federal investigation now being led by special counsel Jack Smith, it appears Justice Department investigators are already looking at much of the conduct that the select committee has highlighted.

But whether the department brings charges will depend on whether the facts and the evidence support a prosecution, Attorney General Merrick Garland has said. Garland will make the ultimate call on charging decisions.

In addition to criminal referrals, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the chair of the Jan. 6 committee, has said the panel could issue five to six other categories of referrals, such as ethics referrals to the House Ethics Committee, bar discipline referrals and campaign finance referrals.

CNN’s Evan Perez and Katelyn Polantz contributed reporting to this post.

1 hr 11 min ago

Ex-police officer who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6 says he wants to see DOJ indict Trump

From CNN’s Chandelis Duster

Former DC police officer Michael Fanone listens to testimony during a House select committee hearing on July 12.
Former DC police officer Michael Fanone listens to testimony during a House select committee hearing on July 12. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Sipa/AP)

Michael Fanone, a former DC police officer and CNN law enforcement analyst, told CNN he would like to see the referrals from the Jan. 6 committee lead to an indictment of former President Donald Trump.  

“I would like to see the Department of Justice indict the former president and those with whom their investigation determined that criminal statutes were violated,” Fanone told CNN on Monday.

Fanone was beaten by rioters during the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection.

“I would like to see those individuals put on trial and then again, as I’ve said many times, as Americans we should accept the results of those trials, even if it includes a guilty verdict for former President Donald Trump and jail time,” he said.

Fanone also said he is “hopeful” the Justice Department will bring an indictment against Trump. 

48 min ago

The White House is expected to watch quietly as Jan. 6 committee delivers final report this week

From CNN’s MJ Lee

The White House building seen in Washington, DC, on October 20.
The White House building seen in Washington, DC, on October 20. (Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto/Shutterstock)

When the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol delivers its ultimate conclusion to the public this week – holding a final public meeting on Monday and announcing expected criminal referrals to the Justice Department, followed by the release of its full report on Wednesday – the White House is expected to watch quietly and decline to offer judgment on any recommendations that the panel may make to the Justice Department.

For much of the year, top White House officials have made painstaking efforts to avoid delivering specific commentary on the panel’s work. There was one goal in particular of utmost urgency: staying clear of any moves that might suggest that the White House was trying to exert influence on the DOJ.

And those efforts are likely to become even more imperative for the Biden White House after the committee refers at least three criminal charges against former President Donald Trump to the DOJ, as a source familiar with the matter said the committee was expected to do this week.

One White House official told CNN ahead of the committee’s upcoming last meeting on Monday that it would continue to not weigh in on any potential referrals or actions that the panel may take. Another official said this would be in line with the White House’s efforts this year to avoid “running pundit” on the panel’s work.

But officials also noted that President Biden himself has been clear in his public remarks about the significance of what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, the importance of the committee’s work, not to mention his rejection of last year’s insurrection and the threats to the country’s democratic systems. 

Indeed, Biden made that a central theme of his political message in the lead-up to the midterm elections – that decision drew criticism from some fellow Democrats who argued he needed to have a nearly singular focus on the economy, but ultimately left the White House feeling vindicated after Democrats far outperformed expectations. 

And in the rare moments that Biden did directly comment on the committee, he made clear that he believes the members are doing work critical to documenting history. 

“It’s important the American people understand what truly happened and to understand that the same forces that led January 6 remain at work today,” Biden said this summer.

In October, following a hearing that revealed evidence and testimony from former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchison who said Trump continued efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election even though he knew he had lost reelection, Biden described the testimony and video as “absolutely devastating.” 

1 hr 29 min ago

Jan. 6 panel expected to announce referral of multiple criminal charges against Trump in Monday’s meeting

From CNN’s Jamie Gangel and Katelyn Polantz

Former President Donald Trump attends a rally to support Republican candidates ahead of the midterm elections in Dayton, Ohio, on November 7.
Former President Donald Trump attends a rally to support Republican candidates ahead of the midterm elections in Dayton, Ohio, on November 7. (Gaelen Morse/Reuters)

The House select committee investigating Jan. 6, 2021, is expected to announce it will refer at least three criminal charges against former President Donald Trump to the Justice Department, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The charges include:

  • Insurrection
  • Obstruction of an official proceeding
  • Conspiracy to defraud the federal government

The committee’s final recommendations could include additional charges proposed for Trump, according to the source. The referral recommendations will be presented at a committee meeting on Monday and the final report will provide justification from the panel’s investigation for recommending the charges.

The impact House referrals could have remains unclear because the Department of Justice special counsel investigation is already examining Trump in its extensive probe into Jan. 6. But in addition to criminal referrals, committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson told reporters that the panel could issue five to six other categories of referrals, such as ethics referrals to the House Ethics Committee, bar discipline referrals and campaign finance referrals.

More on the charges: The charging recommendations under consideration of obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy to defraud the federal government match allegations the select committee made against Trump and his elections attorney John Eastman in a previous court proceeding seeking Eastman’s emails. A judge had agreed with the House, finding it could access Eastman’s emails about his 2020 election work for Trump because the pair was likely planning to defraud the US and engaging in a conspiracy to obstruct Congress, according to that court proceeding.

The Guardian was first to report on the committee’s consideration of the charges.

Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump, criticized the committee in a statement as a “Kangaroo court” that held “show trials by Never Trump partisans who are a stain on this country’s history.”

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a member of the committee, told CNN’s Jake Tapper Friday that the panel has “been very careful in crafting these recommendations and tethering them to the facts that we’ve uncovered.”

“We spent a huge amount of time not just on what the code sections are and the bottom line recommendation, but the facts – and I think it’s really important when we discuss whatever it is we are going to do and we’ll have a vote on it, that people understand the facts behind the conclusions we reach,” the California Democrat said on “The Lead.”

The Justice Department has largely focused on criminal statutes related to the violence, for obstructing a congressional proceeding and in some limited cases for seditious conspiracy, when charging defendants in connection with the attack on the US Capitol.

1 hr 43 min ago

Jan. 6 committee will release final report summary and other information on Monday

From CNN’s Adam Levine

The House select committee investigating Jan. 6 will release an executive summary of the investigation’s final report on Monday after the 1 p.m. ET meeting, a committee aide said Sunday. 

“Following the business meeting, the Select Committee is expected to release certain materials, including an executive summary of the report, details on referrals, and additional information about witnesses who have appeared before the committee,” a committee aide said.

As CNN previously reported, the committee will also be releasing the entire report on Wednesday.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/jan-6-committee-public-meeting/index.html