Jan. 6 panel offers ‘closing argument’ to DOJ on possible Trump prosecution

The likely final hearing of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack had a secondary audience in mind when it laid out evidence of former President Trump’s state of mind leading up to the Capitol attack: the Department of Justice capable of charging him.

Three phrases were echoed over and over again on Thursday by the panel’s nine members, who repeatedly mentioned Trump’s motivation, intent or state of mind — a callout to elements prosecutors would need to demonstrate if they choose to pursue charges against Trump.

“I think they were trying to hand the Justice Department all the evidence on a silver platter,” said Ryan Goodman, co-director of the Reiss Center on Law and Security at the New York University School of Law.