Last week’s Jan. 6th House select committee primetime hearing set the stage where the members intend to show former President Trump’s involvement in the Capitol riot and attempted overthrow of the 2020 presidential election. The bipartisan committee has also said they have uncovered enough ‘credible evidence’ in their ongoing investigation for the Justice Department to consider a criminal indictment against the former President, the Associated Press reports.
Former President Trump was twice impeached during his tenure in office, but has yet to receive any formal punishments for pressuring various electors and state officials to change election results in his favor. It’s a case that the Jan. 6th committee will attempt to continue to build as the primetime hearings resume today.
The Associated Press notes that the second hearing will focus on ”millions of dollars Trump’s team brought in fundraising in the run-up to Jan. 6. They will also speak to witnesses such as BJay Pak, the top federal prosecutor in Atlanta who left his position after an audio recording was made public in which Trump called him a “never-Trumper,” and Chris Stirewalt, the former political editor for Fox News.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) went on ABC News on Sunday and stated he would like the DOJ to investigate how Trump methodically sought to alter election results.
“I would like to see the Justice Department investigate any credible allegation of criminal activity on the part of Donald Trump,” he said on ABC News on Sunday. “There are certain actions, parts of these different lines of effort to overturn the election that I don’t see evidence the Justice Department is investigating.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) stated that the panel’s intention is not to put extreme pressure on Attorney General Merrick Garland. Still, they are presenting the case that Trump violated various criminal statutes.
“I think that he knows, his staff knows, the U.S. attorneys know, what’s at stake here,” Raskin said. “They know the importance of it, but I think they are rightfully paying close attention to precedent in history as well, as the facts of this case.”
A federal judge stated it was “more likely than not” that former President Trump committed a crime in March. Since Trump has said he plans to run again in 2024, time might be running out for the Justice Department to decide to pursue any legal recourse.