The House Judiciary Committee met on Sunday to finalize its plans to refer at least three cases against former President Donald Trump.
The committee is expected to vote publicly on Monday on referrals asking the Justice Department to pursue at least three criminal charges against Trump in connection with the Capitol riot: obstructing an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the government, and inciting or assisting an insurgency.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., stated during a meeting overheard by NBC News that referrals were “warranted.”
NBC News previously reported that obstruction, conspiracy and incitement of an insurrection were among the charges the committee was considering recommending against Trump.
The criminal referrals have no official legal weight, and the Justice Department will decide whether or not to charge Trump and anyone else to whom the committee may refer.
Sources confirmed after the meeting that the discussions in the room were a review of previous decisions made by the committee that would be presented Monday and that the meeting served as a sort of rehearsal.
The committee also heard from John Eastman, a conservative lawyer on Trump’s legal team who wrote a memo outlining a theory for how Trump could keep power after January 6.
Eastman declined to comment through his attorney.
In addition, the committee intends to refer several Republican members of Congress to the House Ethics Committee for defying congressional subpoenas.
“None of the subpoenaed members complied,” said Raskin during Sunday’s meetings, presenting the findings of the subcommittee responsible for referrals. “And we are now referring four members of Congress for appropriate sanction with the House Ethics Committee for failure to comply.”
When asked for comment, a Trump campaign spokesperson shared a Friday statement criticizing the committee, adding that the campaign will have more to say once the referrals are made public on Monday.
The bipartisan committee, which is wrapping up its work before the end of the year, has rushed to compile its findings into an eight-chapter report that will be made public on Wednesday.
