(Fwrd Axis) — The House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol has gathered enough evidence to recommend charges against former President Donald Trump but remain divided over whether to make a criminal referral to the Justice Department.
Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union” Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) told Jake Tapper the panel has not made a decision on moving forward with the referral.
“It’s definitely clear what President Trump was doing. What a number of people around him were doing. That they knew it was unlawful. They did it anyway,” Cheney said. “I think what we have seen is a massive and well-organized and well-planned effort that used multiple tools to try to overturn an election.”
Cheney’s remarks come after The New York Times released a story reporting the committee has concluded that they have enough evidence to make a criminal referral but remain divided on how to move forward with it out of fear of political backlash.
“The committee has got a tremendous amount of testimony and documents that I think very, very clearly demonstrate the extent of the planning and the organization and the objective,” Cheney added.
She added: “The objective was absolutely to try to stop the kind of electoral votes, to try to interfere with that official proceeding. And it’s absolutely clear that they knew what they were doing was wrong.”
CNN reported Friday that Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., texted then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows with details on how to overturn the 2020 election and give his father a second term.
“It’s very simple,” Trump Jr. wrote in a text message to Meadows on November 5, 2020. “We have multiple paths We control them all.”
Trump Jr.’s lawyer released a statement, denying his client sent those messages.
“After the election, Don received numerous messages from supporters and others. Given the date, this message likely originated from someone else and was forwarded,” Alan S. Futerfas told CNN.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime.
