According to new reporting from Punchbowl News, the House panel investigating January 6, which was set to release the full version of its final report summarizing its year and a half of work this week, has recently provided materials for use by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who now leads the investigation at the Justice Department into political schemes after the last presidential election to keep Trump in power despite his loss.
The panel will also continue providing Smith with materials from its probe, the report notes. So far, what committee investigators gave the Smith team relates to Mark Meadows, John Eastman, and the multi-state scheme after the 2020 election to assemble claimed electoral votes for Trump in states where Biden won.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who is on the riot panel, explained in a new interview how the efforts to assemble what were essentially falsified electors figured prominently in the committee’s thinking when preparing for the criminal referrals it publicly approved on Monday. Those referrals, which essentially constitute recommendations for prosecution, include allegations of conspiracy to defraud the United States, in addition to other allegations the panel lodged against Trump — like obstructing an official proceeding and providing aid for an insurrection. Raskin noted Trump’s support for the insurrectionists has in tangible terms extended to recent developments like his talk about issuing presidential pardons if he regains office.
According to Punchbowl News, Smith asked the House panel investigating January 6 earlier this month for all of its investigative materials. What he has now obtained includes “all of Meadows’ text messages and related evidence,” the outlet says. Other items on the list include transcripts from committee interviews with witnesses related to the scheme to assemble essentially faked electoral votes for Trump. Smith has the authority to issue criminal charges, and he and his team have also been collecting potentially relevant evidence from local and state election authorities in locales across the country — ranging from Nevada to Georgia — where Trump and allies of his challenged the 2020 election results. Subpoenas have directed officials to provide communications with Trump, the Trump campaign, and allies of his including Eastman and Rudy Giuliani — who along with Meadows was also referred by the House riot panel on Monday to the Justice Department for potential criminal prosecution.
The committee also referred several House Republicans who defied panel subpoenas for investigations by the House Ethics Committee for doing so. A key legislative priority backed by committee members may soon become reality with the expected passage this week of reforms to the process of certifying presidential election results that raise the amount of support needed in each chamber of Congress for an objection to certain electoral votes to move to debate and a vote. Previously, only a single member from each chamber was needed.
