rumitoid

The Guardian
Peter Stone in Washington DC
Fri, December 24, 2021, 12:00 AM

Expectation is growing that Donald Trump might face charges for trying to obstruct Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s e******n this year as a House panel collects more evidence into the 6 January attack on the Capitol, former prosecutors and other experts say.

Speculation about possible charges against the former US president has been heightened by a recent rhetorical bombshell from Republican representative and 6 January panel vice-chair Liz Cheney suggesting the House panel is looking at whether Trump broke a law that bars obstruction of “official proceedings”.

Former prosecutors say if the panel finds new evidence about Trump’s role interfering with Congress’ job to certify Biden’s e******n, that could help buttress a potential case by the Department of Justice.

In varying ways, Cheney’s comments have been echoed by two other members of the House select committee, Republican Adam Kinzinger and Democrat Jamie Raskin, spurring talk of how an obstruction statute could apply to Trump, which would entail the panel making a criminal referral of evidence for the justice department to investigate, say DOJ veterans.

Cheney’s remarks raising the specter of criminal charges against Trump came twice earlier this month at hearings of the committee. Experts believe the charges could be well founded given Trump’s actions on 6 January, including incendiary remarks to a rally before the Capitol attack and failure to act for hours to stop the r**t, say former justice department officials.

“Based on what is already in the public domain, there is powerful evidence that numerous people, in and out of government, attempted to obstruct – and did obstruct, at least for a while – an official proceeding – i.e., the certification of the P**********l e******n,” said former DOJ inspector general and former prosecutor Michael Bromwich in a statement to the Guardian. “That is a crime.”

Although a House panel referral of obstruction by Trump would not force DOJ to open a criminal case against him, it could help provide more evidence for one, and build pressure on the justice department to move forward, say former prosecutors.

Attorneygeneral Merrick Garland has declined to say so far whether his department may be investigating Trump and his top allies already for their roles in the Capitol assault.

The panel has amassed significant evidence, including more than 30,000 records and interviews with more than 300 people, among whom were some key White House staff.

The evidence against Trump himself could include his actions at the “Stop the Steal” rally not far from the White House, where he urged backers to march to the Capitol and “fight like hell [or] you’re not going to have a country any more”. Trump then resisted multiple pleas for hours from Republicans and others to urge his violent supporters to stop the attack.

Recent rulings by Trump-appointed district court judges have supported using the obstruction statute, which federal prosecutors have cited in about 200 cases involving r****rs charged by DOJ for their roles in the Capitol assault that injured about 140 police officers and left five dead.

Still, experts note that the House panel’s mission has been to assemble a comprehensive report of what took place on 6 January and work on legislation to avoid such assaults on democracy. They caution that any criminal referral to DOJ documenting Trump’s obstruction of Congress will take time and more evidence to help bolster a DOJ investigation.

Some DOJ veterans say that any referral to DOJ by the House panel for a criminal case against Trump – and perhaps top allies such as ex chief of staff Mark Meadows, whom the House last week cited for criminal contempt for refusing to be deposed – might also include Trump’s aggressive pressuring of federal and state officials before 6 January to block Biden’s win with baseless charges of fraud.

Bromwich stressed that “the evidence is steadily accumulating that would prove obstruction beyond a reasonable doubt. The ultimate question is who the defendants would be in such an obstruction case. Evidence is growing that, as a matter of law and fact, that could include Trump, Meadows and other members of Trump’s inner circle.”

Cheney teed up the issue about Trump’s potential culpability first at a House panel hearing last week, when she urged that Meadows be held in contempt for refusing to be deposed, and then hit Trump with a rhetorical bombshell.

“We know hours passed with no action by the president to defend the Congress of the United States from an assault while we were counting e*******l v**es,” Cheney said.
Read much more at https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-could-face-charges-trying-070018305.html if you can take the t***h.

Liberty Tree

NWR NWR

billy a Loc: South Florida

"expectation is growing"..."might face charges"..."speculation about possible charges"..."rhetorical bombshell"..."if the panel finds new evidence"... and on and on and on. Rumi, do you ever actually READ what you post ? You might as well switch over to flying saucers landing in the Rose Garden, at least we'd all get a laugh. fjb

American Vet

nwtk2007 Loc: Texas

Cheney was lying. Trump was tweeting out within minutes of the violence beginning.

And dude, had the ceremonial v**e been hampered or stopped, do you honestly think Biden would not still be the president????

JFlorio Loc: Seminole Florida

That might actually explain why i***t Joe doesn't know much about this world. They're dropping him off from the saucer version of the short bus.

JFlorio Loc: Seminole Florida

Objecting to the seating of e*****rs is a common practice from both sides of the aisles.

Michael Rich Loc: Lapine Oregon

Exactly...how many times have we read..."we gonna git him this time"

Forkbassman Loc: Missouri

If he's guilt, he should be nailed. What about Clintons, Bidens etc or do we have a double standard in America?

LogicallyRight Loc: Chicago

***Trump could face charges for trying to obstruct certification of e******n
>>>But he didn't. So you are fishing for something like a cheney or even a pelosi, but it is all fabrications to the extreme at the low life crap you come up with.

rumitoid

?

nwtk2007 Loc: Texas

But only treason if done by Trump supporters and GOP members!!

rumitoid

You are right. I went overboard. Very, very rarely post speculations such as this. My apologies.

nwtk2007 Loc: Texas

There is no such charge, LOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

rumitoid

Trump was not on Twitter, ergo no tweeting. (And what was he "tweeting out.") As you admitted Biden is president--but the announced and oft repeated intent of the I**********nists was to disrupt a Constitutional and democratic process fundamental to the freedom of our nation to o*******w the e******n.