Former Trump Chief of Staff Explains Which Jan. 6 Criminal Referral He Thinks ‘Should Frighten’ Trump the Most
Former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney offered his reaction to the House Jan. 6 committee voting to recommend the Department of Justice criminally charge former President Donald Trump.
The committee stated Trump should be charged under four statutes: inciting an insurrection, defrauding the United States, obstructing an official proceeding, and making false statements to investigators.
Mulvaney gave his reaction on Monday’s The Lead with Jake Tapper.
“I think the most interesting question about breaking the law probably goes to obstruction,” said Trump’s former chief of staff.
He stated that while he doesn’t think there’s “hard evidence” for three of the charges, the obstruction allegation seems the most viable path to an indictment. The committee said Trump obstructed its activities when he allegedly tried to influence witness’s testimonies, which is a form of obstruction.
“It’s that obstruction charge that continues to get my attention,” Mulvaney went on. “So often in this business, it’s not the crime, it’s the cover-up. And if they’ve got people willing to go under oath and say that Trump or someone on his team offered them benefits or tried to interfere with their testimony, that could be a real problem for him.”
Mulvaney stated he doesn’t think the committee’s referral will be particularly influential on the DOJ’s decision to charge Trump or not. He added that the obstruction accusation is the one that “should frighten” Trump.
“The Department of Justice is already investigating,” he said. “The FBI is already investigating. They’ve already asked the commission to share their evidence. I don’t know how these criminal referrals change much. I think the Department of Justice will say, ‘Thank you very much for the referral, thank you for the evidence, we’re going to continue to go about our business.’ And I have no feel one way or the other, but in my gut, I think that obstruction charge is probably the one that should frighten the Trump team the most.”
Watch above via CNN.
