January 6 panel passes Justice Department info on Trump fake electors’ scheme
Washington DC - The chair of the January 6 committee said the panel has started handing over information about former President Donald Trump’s fake electors scheme to Department of Justice prosecutors.
Bennie Thompson said the panel was working with the DOJ to come up with a "process" for investigators to access the potentially incriminating evidence compiled by the committee.
"The only issue we’ve engaged them on is the list of fraudulent electors," Thompson told reporters on Wednesday.
Thompson said that prosecutors want to see the transcripts of interviews with the bogus electors themselves.
The revelation could suggest that the Justice Department is swiftly investigating Trump’s scheme to get Republican lawmakers in some states he lost to elect phony slates of electors that would vote for him instead of Joe Biden.
On the other hand, it could mean prosecutors are only seriously probing the fake-electors scheme, not the rest of the sprawling plot to keep Trump in power after he lost the 2020 election, like his incitement of the attack on the Capitol itself.
Thompson also said that the panel had turned over details of Trump’s effort to contact a potential witness to prosecutors.
The chairman would not say if he believes Trump sought to intimidate the possible witness. The unnamed witness, who has yet to be publically identified, did not take the call and instead alerted their lawyer.
"It’s highly unusual ... that’s why we ...put that in the hands of the Justice Department," Thompson said.
Next January 6 session promises previously unknown bombshells
The panel is preparing for its next hearing, which is planned for next Thursday, July 21, during prime time.
The session is expected to focus squarely on what members are calling Trump’s "supreme dereliction of duty" as the mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6.
Lawmakers are hyping the upcoming session as the most explosive yet as they plan to reveal previously unknown information about Trump’s failure to even try to stop the attack in real-time.
The existence of the witness Trump tried to call suggests there are more bombshells to come, like the account of White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson that rocked Trump’s defenders last week.
Hutchinson also told the panel that Trump insiders sought to silence her before her explosive appearance.
Cover photo: Collage: REUTERS