January 6 Committee Suggests Charges for Former President Trump

January 6 Committee Suggests Charges for Former President Trump¹

The U.S. House of Representatives special committee investigating January 6 voted Monday to suggest four criminal charges against former President Donald Trump to the Justice Department.

The charges included conspiracy² to defraud³ the United States, obstruction⁴ of an official proceeding⁵ of Congress, conspiracy to make a false statement, and aiding an insurrection.

The action, called a criminal referral, came in the final meeting of the committee made up of seven Democrats⁶ and two Republicans. The leader of the Democratic Party in the House chose all members of the committee including two Republicans. The committee will dissolve on January 3 when Republicans take control of the House.

Committee chair Bennie Thompson of Mississippi said, "We have every confidence that the work of this committee will help provide a roadmap to justice."

Thompson said Trump "lost the 2020 election and knew it," adding, "but he chose to try to stay in office through a multi-part scheme to overturn the results and block the transfer of power." Transfer means the exchange of power from one group to another.

Republican Representative Liz Cheney is the vice⁷ chairwoman of the special committee. She said in opening comments: "Every president in our history has defended this orderly transfer of authority, except one.''

All nine committee members voted to approve its final report. The report will include its findings on the January 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol building.

A shortened version of the report called Trump the "central cause of Jan. 6th" saying, "None of the events of Jan. 6th would have happened without him."

It said Trump engaged in a "multi-part conspiracy" to overturn the election. They included purposely spreading false accusations⁸ of voter fraud, pressuring Congress, the Justice Department, and his vice president to join his efforts. The efforts, the committee said, were meant to overturn election results to stay in power. The committee also said Trump refused to tell his supporters to leave the Capitol on January 6. The full report is expected to be released on Wednesday.

The criminal referrals by the committee have no real legal standing⁹. The Justice Department must decide whether to bring legal action against Trump.

The criminal referrals by the committee, however, place additional pressure on Attorney General Merrick Garland and special counsel Jack¹⁰ Smith. Smith is investigating the events of January 6 and Trump's actions.

Trump has already launched a campaign to run for president again in 2024. He has long said the committee is unfair and political.

Both the Justice Department and the Trump campaign did not immediately answer requests for comments from news agencies.

When asked about the January 6 committee's report, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, "The President has been very clear our democracy continues and remains¹¹ under threat." She added, "The committee has been doing important, bipartisan work to get to the truth of what happened on that very day so that we can make sure that doesn't happen again."

The Jan. 6 committee also suggested legal actions against five of Trump's allies. They include Mark Meadows, his final chief of staff, and lawyers Rudolph Giuliani, John Eastman, Jeffrey Clark and Kenneth Chesebro.

Words in This Story

conspiracy –n. a secret plan by two or more people to do something that is harmful or illegal

defraud –v. to use criminal methods to get money, trick or cheat people

obstruction –n. (legal) the crime of preventing police or law enforcement from learning the truth about a matter being investigated

proceeding –n. (legal, often plural) the process of appearing before a court of law (usually) so that a decision can be made

insurrection –n. an often violent attempt to take control of a government

dissolve –v. to officially end something

scheme –n. a smart often dishonest plan to do something

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

3 defraud   

vt.欺骗，欺诈

参考例句：

• He passed himself off as the managing director to defraud the bank.他假冒总经理的名义诈骗银行。
• He is implicated in the scheme to defraud the government.他卷入了这起欺骗政府的阴谋。

4 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。

5 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。

6 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

8 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

9 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

10 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。