Katyal: "My fundamental message to Congress is: I know a referral is not necessary, but it's part of your job. Do your job! [emphasis added] Trump is going to say it's political no matter what, whether Congress refers or not"
It's really not Congress' job.
“Our job is … to look at the facts and circumstances around what occurred.
“A formal criminal referral from Congress in this situation could backfire. The Justice Department’s charging decisions should not be influenced by political pressure, and that’s how this might look,” said Ronald Weich, a University of Baltimore law professor and former assistant attorney general in the Obama Justice Department. “A referral could make it harder for the Department to prosecute.”
Congress has no power to initiate a prosecution; that decision rests entirely with the Justice Department. There’s no formal process for making such a referral; the select committee could choose to vote on one and directly send it to DOJ without a vote in the full House. But referrals have long appeared to have little bearing on DOJ’s charging decisions — the department rarely takes them up and other times has charged witnesses for lying to Congress despite no referral from the legislative body.
“It would have no legal effect, just political ones,” echoed Randall Eliason, a George Washington University criminal law professor. “And Congress wouldn’t be telling the DOJ anything it doesn’t already know, or that it couldn’t tell the DOJ without a referral. So I still feel like the costs outweigh any benefits.”
Garland emphasized Friday that he’s already aware of Carter’s ruling on Trump, telling reporters at a press conference that he had seen news coverage of the decision. He said that external factors would not influence DOJ’s prosecution decisions in relation to the Jan. 6 probe.
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/04/jan-6-panel-trump-criminal-referral-00022470Yes, Trump and troops will say it's political, partisan, a witch-hunt. But they've been saying all that from day 1 of the Committee creation. But without a criminal referral, the claims
are political; Congress is just doing its job.
With a referral, Congress oversteps its authority and the claims become fact.
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