Member of Jan 6 Cmte.: I Don’t Think Criminal Referrals Are Pointless
"Look, we’ve taken this job very seriously and we think the country is going to be far better off for the work that we were able to do," Kinzinger adds
The criminal referrals that the House select committee investigating the events surrounding the January 6, 2021, insurrection is considering will have value, according to one of the Republican members of the panel.
The committee whose live — sometimes primetime — hearings captivated the nation with often new, bombshell information about the attempt by Donald Trump, his allies and supporters, to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election so as to keep Trump in power, is weighing the potential for sending criminal referrals to the Justice Department (DOJ), as the panel completes its work by the end of the year.
If it does send criminal referrals — potentially against Trump and others involved in the conspiracy — it won't be a “pointless” exercise, according to committee member, outgoing Rep Adam Kinzinger said.
“But look, I don’t think criminal referrals are pointless. I think the point on that is that it’s very clear that DOJ has decided to take this effort up. I mean, there’s no doubt. I don’t know anything that you don’t know on that. DOJ doesn’t necessarily tell us what their activities are, but I think all you have to do is look out and say, 'They’re very interested on what happened on January 6,’” the Illinois Republican said in an on-camera TV appearance Sunday. “So, the criminal referrals themselves aren’t necessarily something that is going to wake DOJ up to something they didn’t know before, but I do think it will be an important, symbolic thing that the committee can do.
“Or even more than symbolic, just very clear that Congress thinks, you know, a crime has been committed here or the DOJ should investigate it. So, [the end is] only a few weeks away but, look, we’ve taken this job very seriously and we think the country is going to be far better off for the work that we were able to do,” added Kinzinger, who is retiring from Congress this year.
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