WASHINGTON DC – After seven months of public hearings, the House of Representatives’ 6 January committee voted on Monday (19 December) to recommend that the US justice department pursues criminal charges against the former president Donald Trump for his attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Among the charges the committee is encouraging the department to consider are conspiracy to defraud the federal government and inciting or assisting an insurrection.
This makes Trump the first president to have been formally referred by Congress for potential prosecution. As Seth Masket, a professor of political science at the University of Denver, put it, “All the actors in this are essentially treading new ground here.” This is an unprecedented moment in American history and politics.
Content from our partners
