JAN. 6 COMMITTEE TO RECOMMEND CRIMINAL CHARGES

WASHINGTON The chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol said on Tuesday that the panel had decided to make criminal referrals to the Department of Justice.

“Yes,” Representative Bennie Thompson, pictured, told reporters when asked about the topic. He did not elaborate on who might be referred, when or on what charges.

A referral does not necessarily mean that the Justice Department, which is conducting its own investigation of the riot, will decide to file charges.

The Democratic-led House Select Committee has spent more than a year investigating the attack on the Capitol by thousands of supporters of Donald Trump, after the then-president gave a fiery speech false claiming that his defeat by Democrat Joe Biden was the result of fraud.