‘They Just Threw the Book at Donald Trump’
Significance of the select committee's criminal referrals debated
The House select committee investigating the events surrounding the January 6, 2021, insurrection wound down its public work Monday with a final hearing and an historic three criminal referrals against Donald Trump.
Just how significant those bombshell referrals to the federal Justice Department (DOJ) have become a source of some debate.
The criminal referral of Trump accuses him of obstructing an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the government, and inciting or assisting an insurrection.
The recommendation by the committee is not binding on the DOJ, which is already investigating Trump for actions covered by the referral.
“This is a huge deal. They just threw the book at Donald Trump. They just named him and his potential co-conspirators. Let’s put it, according to the committee, which made the news, and we can also discuss the defenses and replies afforded to Donald Trump and others, but according to the committee, Donald Trump is a felon, an insurrectionist, someone who wanted to riot but just physically couldn’t get there,” said MSNBC host and legal affairs expert Ari Melber.
Mick Mulvaney, a former top official in the Trump White House, had a mixed reaction in an on-camera appearance on CNN.
“The Department of Justice is already investigating. The FBI is already investigating. They’ve already asked the commission to share their evidence. So I don’t know how these criminal referrals change much. I think the Department of Justice will say, ‘Thank you very much for the referral, thank you for the evidence, we’re going to continue to go about our business,’” he said. “In my gut, I think that obstruction obstruction charge is probably the one that should frighten the Trump team the most.”
Somewhat strangely, MAGA adherents aren't even talking about these referrals, according to NBC News reporter Ben Collins.
“A lot of scary stuff about the microchips in the vaccines, but not a lot of stuff about Donald Trump. Infowars, actually, if you look up the word ‘Donald Trump,’ on its page — there’s no Donald Trump on Infowars home page right now. It’s just simply not there. And I will say, this is not the usual reaction in these spaces. They usually rally the troops, they usually try to find someone to bully or target, right? Not right now.
“Even on — there’s a place called ‘The Donald,’ the biggest pro-Trump forum on the Internet, they’re not talking about this,” Collins continued. “They’re not talking about this at all. They’re talking about Hunter Biden right now and Twitter and stuff like that. I’m not saying that the utility for Donald Trump has worn off in these circles, but I’m saying the number one priority right now is not to defend this guy.”
In an on-camera discussion with host Katy Tur, Collins said that “maybe they’re moving on a little bit.”
However, before the referrals were announced, select committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo) made clear the gravity of Trump's wrongdoing.
“No man who would behave that way at that moment in time can ever serve in any position of authority in our nation again. He is unfit for any office,” the outgoing congresswoman said.
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