8:14 p.m. ET, December 19, 2022
Some people named in the committee's report summary react to the final steps of panel's investigation
From CNN staff
After the Jan. 6 committee's final public session Monday, some people named in the summary of the final report, as well as some of those who were referred by the committee, are reacting to the conclusion to the nearly year and a half investigation.
The committee approved a criminal referral for three charges against former President Donald Trump to the Justice Department. The former president responded on Truth Social, saying that the committee’s actions would make “him stronger” and indicated that the referrals today were part of a larger attempt to stop him from running for President in 2024.
Trump’s base has had a history of galvanizing behind him when Trump is in legal peril, including when he Mar-a-Lago home was searched by the FBI. As Trump’s political support has seemingly waned in recent weeks, it is unclear that these criminal referrals will have the same effect.
The committee said it was also advancing criminal referrals for attorney John Eastman and "others" to the Justice Department for investigation and potential prosecution.
There is evidence to justify an Eastman referral to DOJ on obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy to defraud the United States, the committee said Monday. Raskin said that the committee believed the conduct of others may also warrant Justice Department investigation and prosecution, but those referrals were not identified on Monday.
Eastman decried the committee’s “Stalinist” tactics said he had not yet received a subpoena in the DOJ criminal probe now being led by Special Counsel Jack Smith.
“One hopes that the Department of Justice doesn't act on this referral, understanding the significance of what has been done here and not being willing to take that step,” Eastman said on a virtual press call with reporters Monday afternoon.
He said that he had a “whole lot of information” to defend himself if federal prosecutors decided to bring a case against him. He also said that a federal judge “got it wrong” when the judge concluded that a handful of Eastman’s emails showed evidence of a crime.
Other referrals: The House select committee is referring four members of Congress to the House’s Ethics Committee after those members did not comply with the subpoenas from the panel.
An executive summary released after the meeting identifies the four Republicans as GOP leader Kevin McCarthy and Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Andy Biggs of Arizona and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.
Russell Dye, a spokesperson for Rep. Jim Jordan, called the referral a "partisan and political stunt" by the committee. In a statement, he claimed the panel "knowingly altered evidence, blocked minority representation on a Committee for the first time in the history of the U.S. House of Representatives, and failed to respond to Mr. Jordan’s numerous letters and concerns surrounding the politicization and legitimacy of the Committee’s work.”
CNN has also reached out to the other lawmakers.
Others named in the summary: In addition, several others are named as being participants in the conspiracies the committee is linking to Trump, including then-DOJ attorney Jeffrey Clark and Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, as well as Trump-tied lawyers Kenneth Chesebro and Rudy Giuliani.
Ted Goodman, communications and political advisor to Rudy Giuliani, a former lawyer for Donald Trump and former mayor of New York City, said in a statement: "Mayor Rudy Giuliani wasn't drinking election night and we have multiple in-person witnesses on the record to back this up. Anyone saying otherwise is either mistaken or shamefully lying about Mayor Giuliani — an honest, good American who has dedicated his life to serving others and doing the right thing."
The House select committee said in an executive summary of its final report that on election night in 2020, “the only advisor present who supported President Trump’s inclination to declare victory was Rudolph Giuliani, who appeared to be inebriated,” citing testimony the panel received.