Jan. 6 Committee criminal referrals of Trump are political 'theater,' DOJ likely to 'ignore' say legal experts

Legal experts say that the House January 6 Committee's criminal referrals of former President Donald Trump to the Justice Department for his involvement in the 2021 Capitol protests are "theater" and will likely be ignored by the DOJ, and they could possibly have a counterproductive effect should the DOJ decide to bring charges.

The Jan. 6 panel held what is expected to be their final meeting Monday and voted unanimously to issue criminal referrals to the DOJ on Trump for obstructing an official proceeding of Congress, conspiracy to defraud the federal government, making a false statement, and inciting, assisting or aiding and comforting an insurrection.

The committee’s unprecedented criminal referral holds no official legal weight, and a final determination in whether to pursue the charges will be up to Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Fox News contributor Andy McCarthy, former federal prosecutor, called the referrals "theater" since they don’t have any legal binding. He believes the DOJ will "ignore" the referrals for that reason and because they could be a prosecutorial liability in the DOJ’s ongoing probe into Trump.