Two of the most senior officials on the Jan. 6 committee said this weekend they personally believe the committee could make a unanimous decision to refer former President Donald Trump for criminal prosecution—should that be what it chooses to do.
Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Liz Cheney (R-WY) made the claims over a 12-hour period, each of them noting the committee could make a unanimous decision to refer the twice-impeached former president for prosecution.
“We operate with a high degree of consensus and unanimity,” Schiff told CNN anchor Jake Tapper on State of the Union. “It will be certainly, I think, my recommendation, my feeling, that we should make referrals, but we will get to a decision as a committee, and we will all abide by that decision, and I will join our committee members if they feel differently.
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“I do agree ... there have been several laws broken and it is, I think, apparent that there is evidence that Donald Trump was involved in breaking several of those laws,” Schiff continued. “When Congress does find evidence that people have broken the law, it is not always the case that it makes a referral, but in circumstances like these, I think that’s the better part of the argument.”
Cheney said the same, telling Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith that she didn’t believe the committee will have to hunt for votes. “I think we will be unanimous,” she said. “In whatever action we take, we will be unanimous.”
The claims by both members of Congress come as the committee is set to return for its next public hearing on Wednesday. It will be the committee’s first public hearing in more than two months, and could serve as its final one, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) told Chuck Todd on Sunday.
“It may be the last investigative public hearing where we’re going to try to round out the factual narrative,” he said on Meet The Press.
The committee is still set to hear testimony from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and a key figure in the spiraling narrative of the plot to overturn the 2020 election. Raskin said he hoped whatever came from those interviews would be made public at another hearing.
“In this investigation, I’ve learned to say, ‘never say never,’” Raskin said. “My expectation is this will be the last investigative hearing. But our report is all about giving the information to Congress and the American people about what needs to be done. And if relevant information surfaces in that interview or any others, we will include it.”
