Former President Donald Trump speaks during an event on July 8 in Las Vegas. What are the next steps for the Department of Justice and Congress in their investigations into the events at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021? (John Lochner, Associated Press)
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WASHINGTON — This is not the end of the investigations into the Capitol riots.
The House committee investigating the deadly events of a frigid January day — now a year and a half in the past — has wrapped up its summer series of televised hearings, each featuring revealing details about the day of violence itself or President Donald Trump’s weeks of efforts and his allies to reverse his loss in the 2020 election.
But the panel, as of Jan. 6, has been preparing for more hearings in September, and investigations are continuing in multiple jurisdictions and locations. New details may be discovered. Additional criminal charges against the rioters who stormed the Capitol are a safe bet. Other prosecutions — Republicans in Georgia were recently warned that charges could be brought — may also be on the horizon.
A look at what’s to come:
Ministry of Justice
In keeping with department protocol, federal prosecutors have said nothing publicly about the background check on Trump himself.
Attorney General Merrick Garland told reporters on Wednesday that “we do not make our investigations public.” But he left no doubt about the scope of the investigation, calling it “the most important investigation the Justice Department has ever entered into.”
He also said that “no man is above the law” and vowed to hold offenders accountable “at every level” as signs point to an investigation that is being stepped up rather than wound down.
Authorities have so far arrested more than 855 people in connection with the riot, and work to identify those who stormed the building continues. Yet the investigation goes beyond that, as prosecutors have made clear in recent weeks their interest in a broader effort by Trump allies to overturn the election results.
Last month, the FBI opened a new front in the investigation by seizing records from a group of Republicans who served as fake voters in battleground states won by Democrat Joe Biden. Trump and his allies have urged officials in those states to replace duly elected Biden voters with those who support him, as they have raised allegations that his victory was stolen.
As for Trump, who has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, it remains unclear whether prosecutors may seek criminal charges.
Legal experts said damaging testimony from the hearings, including claims that he wanted to join his supporters at the Capitol on Jan. 6 or that he dismissed warnings that many had guns, gave prosecutors territory to explore. Some say his overall campaign to throw out the election results and his willingness to interfere with congressional certification of the census could amount to a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States.
As Democrats press Garland to act, he and his team say their decisions are based on the facts, the evidence and the law. However, there are other considerations that could come into play even if prosecutors gather compelling evidence.
Any prosecution of Trump is likely to further inflame tensions in an already deeply polarized country. And if the former president soon announces a new bid for office, the decision to indict him could inject the department into presidential politics.
Violent rioters loyal to President Donald Trump storm the Capitol, January 6, 2021, in Washington. The House committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol has concluded its summer series of public hearings, each of which has included revealing details about the day of violence itself or weeks of efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to cancel the 2020 election (Photo: John Minchillo,)
In the Capitol
The commission’s investigation is not over, and the commission plans to hold new hearings in September. Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the Republican vice chairman, said the nine-member panel “has a lot more evidence to share with the American people and more to gather.”
“The floodgates opened, new subpoenas were issued and the dam began to break,” Cheney said Thursday. “We have a lot more work to do.”
One outstanding question is whether the committee will call Trump or former Vice President Mike Pence to testify. The members debated whether to subpoena Trump, the main focus of their investigation, but a witness who opposed the investigation recanted much of the evidence and whose credibility would be attacked.
The panel could also invite Pence to testify in camera or ask him to answer written questions. Members are debating whether he is needed, as many of his closest aides have already testified. His top White House counsel, Greg Jacobs, testified at one of the committee’s hearings in June and characterized much of Pence’s thought process as Trump pressed him to block or delay Biden’s victory.
Another timing factor: If Republicans take over the House in November’s midterm elections, the committee will likely be disbanded in January. Its Democratic chairman, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, said he would issue a report before the end of the year.
The committee is also expected to consider possible legislative changes to the Election Counting Act, which governs how the president is certified by Congress. A bipartisan group of senators this week released proposals for changes to the law that would clarify how states send electors and the vice president counts votes. Trump and his allies tried to find loopholes in the law before Jan. 6 as the former president sought to reverse his defeat by Biden. Pence declined to continue.
The commission has not been shy about subpoenaing potential prosecution witnesses who refuse to cooperate. Although the Justice Department has not taken up all such referrals, it won a conviction on Friday against longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon, who resisted the panel’s subpoena.
The House Special Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol is holding a hearing at the Capitol in Washington on July 21, 2022. The committee has announced more hearings in September, and investigations are continuing in multiple jurisdictions and locations. (Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, Associated Press)
Georgia
The investigation that may pose the most immediate danger to Trump is based in Fulton County, Georgia, where District Attorney Fannie Willis is investigating the former president’s attempts to get state officials to overturn his election loss by imploring them to “find” votes , which he falsely claimed to have stolen from them.
Willis said he is considering subpoenaing Trump for his testimony, a move that would seek to compel him to cooperate with a criminal investigation even as he lays the groundwork for another bid for office.
Prosecutors have already subpoenaed the testimony of several Trump aides, including attorney Rudy Giuliani and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham. They have also notified 16 Georgia Republicans that they are at risk of being indicted. These Republicans signed a certificate certifying that Trump had won the election and declared themselves to be “duly elected and qualified” electors of the state, even though Biden won the state and a number of Democratic electors were certified.
The scope of the investigation includes a January 2, 2021 phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. During that conversation, Trump urged Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn his loss in the state.
“All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” Trump said during that call. “Because we won the state.”
Trump has denied any wrongdoing. He has repeatedly described his conversation with Raffensperger as “perfect”.
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