NBC anchor Chuck Todd said Sunday on “Meet the Press” that the January 6 House Select Committee issuing a criminal referral for former President Donald Trump could “add negatively to the political stew.”
Todd said, “The January 6 committee is likely to issue some criminal referrals to Justice, they say. Without getting, we don’t want to prejudge that, but of the committee, what you saw and what the committee has produced, do you think they have made their case against Donald Trump?”
Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said, “It is not their role to make a criminal case.”
He continued, “To me, it is largely symbolic because at the time we first started having this debate about a referral, it wasn’t clear how far along the Justice Department was. Since then, the Justice Department has appointed a special counsel, as we mentioned, and they have a lot of staff that they’ve added to the matter. And they’re far along. So they’re investigating this thing anyway.”
Todd asked, “But doesn’t it add negatively to the political stew?”
Bharara replied, “You could argue that.”
He added, “I think it has no impact on the Justice Department whatsoever.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN