Adam Schiff Threatens Trump & Giuliani With Criminal Referrals

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During a new television interview on MSNBC about the prospect of the House committee investigating the Capitol riot issuing criminal referrals, panel member Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) explicitly left open the possibility of these referrals implicating both the former president and several of his close associates, like Rudy Giuliani.

“We’re not confining our examination just to the president or anyone else, and we’ll be making our findings known fairly soon,” Schiff said. Besides referrals, a final report is also on the way. The panel may also be referring Republican members of Congress who defied subpoenas to the House Ethics Committee for investigation and lawyers who were involved with Trump’s efforts to the appropriate disciplinary authorities for potentially further punishment.

Schiff also spoke during the interview to how the attack on the Capitol threatened the core interests held by Congress in seeing the effective execution of its responsibilities. The violence was, of course, largely designed to upend the proceedings scheduled for that day for the certification of the presidential election outcome, meaning Biden’s win, and for hours, Congressional proceedings were, in fact, shut down as participants in the mob roamed the Capitol building and grounds and in some cases specifically hunted top officials. “We were, I think, way out ahead of the Justice Department in the investigation for a long time,” Schiff added. “There are areas where we probably still are. And there is where they’re ahead of us. We weighed the effect of a referral. It’s obviously not required of Congress, and the Justice Department, theoretically, could view it in a couple different ways.”

A referral implicating Trump, Giuliani, or anybody else for acts they took as part of the political schemes to keep the ex-president in power would not force the Justice Department to act. It would instead constitute more of a formal recommendation for charges, with accompanying evidence. “What I believe is that we have an independent responsibility,” the Democrat continued. “No matter what the Justice Department may do — when we believe that impeachable offenses have been committed, no matter what the Senate may do — we have to do our responsibility, and so I think there’s a fair degree of consensus around that, and we’ll be announcing what form that takes very soon.” Schiff was also asked about the appointment of Jack Smith as special counsel at the Justice Department in a role where he is now leading two investigations that involve Trump. Schiff was optimistic considering the unimpeded pace of the probes and the possibility for additional perspectives on what should be scrutinized.

Trump and close allies of his also continue facing the possibility of serious developments in the Georgia criminal investigation by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis into pro-Trump election meddling after the 2020 presidential election. Check out Schiff’s interview below: