Donald Trump and John Eastman likely to be on the January 6th panel's criminal referral list

The House Select Committee investigating the Jan 6th Capitol insurrection is meeting on Sunday and is expected to make criminal referrals to the Department of Justice which will put Attorney General Merrick Garland on the spot over whether to file indictments.

During an appearance on MSNBC's "The Katie Phang Show," one former federal prosecutor explained that she expects to see Donald Trump and attorney John Eastman at the top of the list of referrals.

Speaking with the host, Kim Whele, a professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law, said criminal referrals are not the same as indictments, but that there is clear evidence from a previous court ruling that a crime, or crimes, were committed by the former president and his attorney.

"Who do you see as the most likely candidates to get a criminal referral?" host Phang prompted. "There's been some reporting out there, we see Mark Meadows' name, Rudy Giuliani, for example, Donald Trump as well. Do you think there are any potential surprise names that could be on that referral list?"

"What we already know from David Carter, a federal judge out in California, that from his perspective, John Eastman, and Donald Trump, together likely committed crimes," Whele replied. "So I would add him to the list. Of course, he pled the Fifth many times, as did the other member of the Department of Justice that would likely be identified in the indictments who tried to get th -- to inject himself into the hierarchy so that DOJ could be used as a weapon in the January Six committee -- this was mentioned, Rudy Giuliani and others again."

"The key here is that people can hear the story, and I really think the January Six committee hearings did that to some degree," she added.

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MSNBC 12 11 2022 07 28 34youtu.be