Top Jan 6 committee investigator says former Trump aides could be charged

Committee recommended four charges for Donald Trump last year

Members of the January 6 committee were unable to secure all the evidence and testimony they had hoped to acquire but saw reason to believe that other top aides to Donald Trump should face criminal charges not recommended by the committee in its final sessions, an investigator for the now-defunct panel says.

In an interview with The New York Times published Sunday, the panel’s lead investigator Timothy Heaphy said that other top aides to Mr Trump who were not targeted in referrals to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution could face criminal charges stemming from the January 6 attack.

Lawmakers on the committee met in December and voted to refer Donald Trump and one of his top lawyers, John Eastman, to the DoJ for prosecution. Mr Trump was accused of obstructing an official proceeding, giving comfort to an insurrection, and other charges. Mr Eastman was accused of the same obstruction of an official proceeding charge as well as conspiracy to defraud the United States.

But Mr Heaphy believes that, had the committee had more time to gather evidence or been successful in compelling testimony from Mark Meadows, Mr Trump’s former chief of staff, there could have been more referrals.

“There’s evidence that the specific intent to disrupt the joint session extends beyond President Trump. There is a cast of characters that includes the ones you mentioned. I think you could look at Giuliani, and Mark Meadows. I think that the Justice Department has to look very closely at whether there was an agreement or conspiracy,” he told the Times.

“[T]here’s a lot of evidence that we didn’t get. Mr. Meadows didn’t come and talk to us. We did interview Mr. Giuliani, but he asserted attorney-client privilege a lot,” added Mr Heaphy, who noted that those men would likely have less luck evading the Department of Justice’s prosecutors.

The DoJ continues to investigate the January 6 attack on Congress and the Trump White House’s role in it. A grand jury has been impanelled in Washington DC to hear evidence, and a special counsel appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to determine whether Mr Trump himself will be criminally charged.

In Fulton County, Georgia, another grand jury investigation into members of Mr Trump’s legal team concluded last week with members of the grand jury recommending to prosecutors that one or more witnesses be prosecuted for lying under oath, though the names of those recommended for charges were not released.

The January 6 committee concluded its business in the House last December as the GOP prepared to take control of the chamber in January. Republicans, with the exception of two (now-former) members on the January 6 panel, largely refused to cooperate with the investigation after members who were judged by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi as unfit to participate in the investigation were not seated on the committee.