Jan. 6 committee just made history. How will history judge it?

The Jan. 6 committee seems to have aimed its work at history, rather than the short-term political cycle. On Monday, it made some of its own, for the first time recommending that a former president be prosecuted on criminal charges.

The congressional Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, which held its final public meeting Monday, was in many ways a pathbreaking legislative effort.

Its slick production raised the standard for hearing presentations. Its investigations produced volumes of evidence implicating former President Donald Trump and his...