Rep. Jamie Raskin had the honor of listing the criminal referrals the January 6 panel sent to the Department of Justice for Donald Trump. Mark Meadows, Jeffrey Clark, John Eastman, Rudy Giuliani and Kenneth Chesebro were also referred for investigation.
The specific crimes for the Trump referral are: Inciting or assisting an insurrection, obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress, conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to make a false statement.
Raskin noted that the five Trump cohorts warranted investigation of their roles in conspiring to defraud the United States. In addition, Raskin made it clear the committee wasn't clearing anyone else in the investigation.
The committee didn't stop there. They also referred four Republican representatives to the House Ethics Committee for their refusal to comply with subpoenas. They are: Kevin McCarthy, Jim Jordan, Scott Perry, and Andy Biggs.
We will inevitably hear cries that this was some kind of partisan effort, but it wasn't. It was bipartisan and unanimous. There were other charges they didn't refer because they were less sure about the evidence for those.
The charge of insurrection is historical -- no other president has ever been accused of such a thing. But then again, no other president has refused to hand over power peacefully.
Let the indictments begin, Jack Smith!
