Raskin said the committee will also refer Trump under a U.S. criminal code for inciting, assisting, or engaging in insurrection against the United States and giving "aid or comfort" to an insurrection.

"An insurrection is a rebellion against the authority of the United States. It is a grave federal offense anchored in the Constitution. ... Anyone who incites others to engage in rebelling, assists them in doing so or gives aid and comfort to those engaged in insurrection is guilty of a federal crime," Raskin said.

“The Committee believes that more than sufficient evidence exists for a criminal referral of former President Trump for assisting or aiding and comforting those at the Capitol who engaged in a violent attack on the United States,” Raskin continued. “The Committee has developed significant evidence that President Trump intended to disrupt the peaceful transition of power.”

Raskin said the committee is making a referral for Trump and others who made “materially false statements” to the federal government “knowingly and willfully.”

“The evidence clearly suggests that President Trump conspired with others to submit slates of fake electors to Congress and the National Archives,” Raskin said. “We believe that this evidence we set forth in our report is more than sufficient for a criminal referral of former President Donald J. Trump and others in connection with this offense.”

Raskin has announced that “there is more than sufficient evidence” to issue criminal referrals asking the Justice Department to pursue criminal charges against Trump, Eastman “and others” for conspiring to defraud the U.S.

“In other words, to make an agreement to impair, obstruct, or defeat the lawful functions of the United States government by deceitful or dishonest means,” Raskin said.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said the committee will refer Trump, lawyer John Eastman and others for obstructing an official proceeding.

Raskin said the first criminal statute the panel will invoke for referral "makes it unlawful for anyone to corruptly 'obstruct, influence, or impede any official proceeding' of the United States government."

"We believe that the evidence described by my colleagues today and assembled throughout our hearings warrants a criminal referral of former President Donald J. Trump, John Eastman, and others for violations of this statute," Raskin said. "The whole purpose and obvious effect of Trump’s scheme were to 'obstruct, influence, and impede' this official proceeding, the central moment for the lawful transfer of power in the United States."

As is the case with all of the criminal referrals being issued by the committee, these carry no official legal weight, and it remains up to the Department of Justice to decide whether or not to charge the former president and anyone else who might be referred by the committee.

Committee members played new testimony from former Trump aide Kellyanne Conway, in which she described Trump defending the rioters in a private conversation on Jan. 7.

Conway told interviewers that during that short conversation with Trump, she'd called Jan. 6 a "terrible day" and called it "crazy."

Asked by interviewers about what Trump said during the conversation, Conway said that Trump defended the rioters saying, “No, these people are upset. They’re very upset."

The committee recounted text messages it received from Hope Hicks, who was serving as a senior White House adviser on the day of the riot.

Hicks was texting with another staffer during the violence to say she had “suggested ... several times” on Jan. 4 and Jan. 5, 2021, that Trump state publicly that Jan. 6 should remain peaceful, and that "he" refused her advice, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., said.

"Hey. I know you’re seeing this. But he ... really should tweet something about Being NON-violent," campaign spokesman Hogan Gidley texted Hicks, according to the panel.

Hicks responded: "I’m not there. I suggested it several times Monday and Tuesday and he refused."

The committee asked Hicks whether "he" referred to Trump, but Hicks said she was talking about White House attorney Eric Herschmann. Murphy suggested the public review the transcript of the panel's interview with Herschmann when it is released.

Hicks recalled in testimony before the committee that Herschmann had earlier advised Trump to make a pre-emptive public statement in advance of Jan. 6 urging no violence that day.

Trump never made any such statement.

Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., said Trump summoned a mob to Washington on Jan. 6, hoping that they would pressure Congress "to do what he could not do on his own."

On Dec. 19, 2020, Trump posted a tweet urging his supporters to travel to Washington for a protest on Jan. 6, Murphy said. "Be there, will be wild!" he tweeted.

"Between December 19th and January 6th, the president repeatedly encouraged his supporters to come to Washington," she said.

Trump's tweet on Dec. 19 "galvanized domestic violent extremists, including members of the Oath Keepers, the Proud Boys, and organized militia groups," Murphy said.

The committee found that these people planned to come to D.C. in large numbers "with the specific intent to use violence to disrupt the certification of the election during the joint session," she said.

Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., stressed that Trump still attempted to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to go along with lawyer John Eastman’s theory on overturning the election results, despite Pence and Eastman himself warning that it would be unlawful to do so.

“John Eastman admitted in advance of the 2020 election that Mike Pence could not lawfully refuse to count official electoral votes,” Aguilar said. 

“But he nevertheless devised a meritless proposal that deployed a combination of bogus election fraud claims and the fake electoral ballots to say that Mike Pence, presiding over the joint session, could reject legitimate electoral votes for President-elect Biden,” he continued.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., summarized how Trump had sought to use the Department of Justice to invalidate the 2020 election — but that none of Trump’s attorneys general would go along with it.

Kinzinger said that when Bill Barr resigned as attorney general, after having investigated and disproven many of Trump’s false claims of voter fraud, Trump then requested that the acting leaders of the department, Jeffrey Rosen and Richard Donoghue, “just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican congressmen.”

“Between Dec. 23rd and Jan. 3rd, President Trump called or met with them nearly every day, and was told repeatedly that department investigations showed no factual support for Trump’s fraud allegations. Mr. Rosen and Mr. Donoghue told him that his fraud claims were simply untrue,” Kinzinger said. 

Trump then attempted to install Jeffrey Clark to lead the agency. But a wave of officials threatened to resign if Trump did so, and Trump did not move forward with installing Clark, Kinzinger said.