Committee to vote on criminal referrals, adopt its final report

Ahead of Jan. 6 meeting, jury selection for Proud Boys seditious conspiracy trial begins

Jury selection begins Monday in the trial of Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, and four other members of the group. Each of them are charged with seditious conspiracy and other felonies for their actions leading up to and on Jan. 6, 2021.

Tarrio is charged along with three other defendants, who are accused of being leaders of their local Proud Boy chapters: Ethan Nordean of Washington, Joseph Biggs of Florida and Zachary Rehl of Pennsylvania. The fifth defendant, Dominic Pezzola, is accused of using a stolen police shield to break a window in the Capitol that allowed rioters to climb inside the building.

Although Tarrio was not physically in D.C. on Jan. 6, prosecutors allege he helped plan the group’s strategy and actions during the Capitol attack.

Jury selection is expected to take place throughout this week before opening statements on Jan. 3.

Schiff says Trump broke the law

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Sunday that the House Jan. 6 committee has evidence that former President Donald Trump broke the law, but he declined to get specific about the criminal referrals it will make.

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In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Schiff, a member of the committee, cited multiple efforts by Trump to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, including pressuring state officials to go along with his false claims of widespread election fraud. “If that’s not criminal, then I don’t know what it is,” he said.

Schiff, however, declined to comment on specific referrals, saying the panel is set to vote on them and will reveal its decision Monday, as well as release its final report later this month.

“But I can tell you that our process has been to look meticulously at the evidence and compare it to various statutes. Is there sufficient evidence as to each element of a particular crime?” he said. “We are not referring, or at least won’t be voting to refer, everyone we think there may be evidence, because we want to focus on those for which we believe there’s the strongest evidence.”

Read more here.

Jan. 6 committee finalizes criminal referral plan for Trump

The House Jan. 6 committee met Sunday to finalize its plans to issue at least three criminal referrals for former President Donald Trump, NBC News learned exclusively.

The committee is expected to vote on referrals asking the Justice Department to pursue at least three criminal charges against Trump related to the Capitol riot: obstructing an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the government and inciting or assisting an insurrection.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said in part during the meeting overheard by NBC News that he believed referrals were “warranted.” A source familiar with the committee’s plans told NBC News about the meeting and its location on the Capitol complex.

The criminal referrals carry no official legal weight, and it remains up to the Justice Department to decide whether or not to charge Trump and anyone else the committee might refer.

The committee also plans to refer several Republican members of Congress to the House Ethics Committee for their defiance of congressional subpoenas, NBC News has learned.

Read more here.