Four members of the House January 6 Committee have publicly called on the Department of Justice to launch an investigation into former president Donald Trump based on the "evidence" uncovered by the committee by subpoenaing records and participants of the events related to the so-called "Capitol riot".
Two Democrats, Adam Schiff and Elaine Luria, as well as two Republicans, Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney, who serve in the committee, issued calls for the DOJ to investigate the matter. Cheney, who has already been criticized by her own party and is facing the prospect of losing her seat, claimed that the committee had unearthed enough material to prosecute the ex-president.
"There’s no question that we have seen very serious misconduct and certainly supreme dereliction of duty […] I think that Donald Trump — the violation of his oath of office, the violation of the Constitution that he engaged in — is the most serious misconduct of any president in the history of our nation," Cheney said.
The GOP congresswoman went on to insist that Trump is "unfit for further office" and must not ever be "anywhere close to the Oval Office".
Her fellow Republican House lawmaker, Adam Kinzinger stated that the January 6 Committee had "proven different components of a criminal case" against Trump and claimed that he noticed "a significant amount of more movement" in the Department of Justice without elaborating what that means.
Democrat Elaine Luria, in turn, called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to open the investigation into Donald Trump and his alleged involvement in the January 6 events, claiming that the committee provided "plenty" of "evidence" for the probe. Her colleague from the Democratic Party, Adam Schiff, was less categorical, noting that the decision to open an investigation still rests with the DOJ, but added that in his view the unearthed "evidence" demonstrated major misconduct on Trump's part.
In an interview with CNN, Congresswoman Liz Cheney revealed that the January 6 Committee has not yet officially issued a criminal referral for Donald Trump, which might stipulate a DOJ probe into the former president. However, Cheney admitted that the committee is mulling such an option.
Trump himself denies involvement in the so-called "Capitol riot" – the January 6, 2021 incident during which dozens of protesters, most of whom supported the then-president, breached the perimeter around the Congress building and tried to halt the confirmation of the 2020 election results, forcing the lawmakers into hiding.
Democrats pointed fingers at Trump, who urged his voters to protest at the Capitol against the election fraud which he claimed had happened in November 2020. However, after the protesters entered the Capitol, something that the president never suggested that they should do, Trump addressed the crowd and asked them to leave.
The former president dismissed the accusations of "inciting insurrection" against him and harshly criticized the work of the January 6 Committee. Trump argued that it was just another political "witch hunt" against him, which is not based on any real evidence. He further criticized the committee for not probing the actions of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, who turned down then-president's proposal on deploying 10,000 to 20,000 troops to guard the Capitol ahead of January 6.