January 6 committee division on criminal referrals surfaces long-simmering debate behind the scenes

Members of the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol are in wide agreement that former President Donald Trump committed a crime when he pushed a conspiracy to prevent the peaceful transfer of power. But they are split over what to do about it, including whether to make a criminal referral of Trump to the Justice Department, four sources connected to the panel tell CNN.

The internal debate, which has heated up in recent weeks, spilled into the open on Monday night when the committee’s chairman, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, repeatedly told a group of reporters at the Capitol