EA on Times Radio: The Criminal Charges v. “America’s Grifter” Donald Trump


UPDATE, DEC 19:

The House Committee on the Capitol Attack voted unanimously to refer Trump to the Justice Department for giving aid or comfort to an insurrection, obstructing an official proceeding, defrauding the US Government, and making false statements.

After conducting more than 1,000 interviews and collecting documents, video, and audio for 18 months, the Committee concluded:

That evidence has led to an overriding and straightforward conclusion: The central cause of Jan. 6 was one man, former President Donald Trump, who many others followed. None of the events of Jan. 6 would have happened without him.

The Committee also referred four members of Congress — House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy and GOP Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Andy Biggs of Arizona, and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania — to the House Ethics Committee for refusing to comply with subpoenas.

The Committee’s final report will not be published until Wednesday, but it released an executive summary today.

Based on false allegations that the election was stolen, Donald Trump summoned tens of thousands of supporters to Washington. Although these supporters were angry and some were armed, Donald Trump instructed them to march to the Capitol on January 6th to “take back” their country.

Knowing that a violent attack on the Capitol was underway and knowing that his words would incite further violence, Donald Trump purposely sent a social media message publicly condemning Vice President Pence at 2:24 p.m. Knowing that violence was underway at the Capitol, and despite his duty to ensure that the laws are faithfully executed, Donald Trump refused repeated requests over a multiple hour period that he instruct his violent supporters to disperse and leave the Capitol, and instead watched the violent attack unfold on television.

Each of these actions by Donald Trump was taken in support of a multi-part conspiracy to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election.

Read the Executive Summary

Committee chair Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi said the decision to refer Trump was “clear” and he is “convinced” that the Justice Department will ultimately file charges.

It was clear in the evaluation of the evidence uncovered by our committee that those actions taken by…former President Trump, clearly created a problem for this country….

We think it’s important for the Justice Department to look at that body of information that we put together.


ORIGINAL ENTRY, DEC 17: The House select committee on the Capitol Attack will vote on Monday about pursuit of criminal charges against Donald Trump, according to multiple sources.

The committee will consider a report and recommendations from a subcommittee that evaluated the criminal referrals to the Justice Department. The charges include aid to insurrection, obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy to defraud the US Government.

The report cites a February 2022 ruling from US District Court Judge Amit Mehta that Trump’s language plausibly incited the Capitol Attack by his supporters on January 6, 2021. It notes that, for the crime of insurrection, Trump did not need an express agreement with the attackers but just needed to provide “aid or comfort” to them.

See also Federal Judge: Trump Instructed Supporters to March On Capitol Just Before Attack

Committee chair Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi said referrals are being considered to “five or six” different entities, including the Justice Department, the House Ethics Committee, the Federal Election Commission, and bar associations.

Next week the committee will release its evidence and transcripts of more than 1,000 witness interviews, including with members of Trump’s inner circle and his children Ivanka and Donald Jr..

Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung avoided the substance of the report and resorted to invective: “The January 6th un-Select Committee held show trials by Never Trump partisans who are a stain on this country’s history. This Kangaroo court has been nothing more than a Hollywood executive’s vanity documentary project that insults Americans’ intelligence and makes a mockery of our democracy.”