Republicans turn on Donald Trump amid criminal referrals: 'The entire nation knows who is responsible'

20 December 2022

After the Jan. 6 committee’s decision to recommend Trump’s prosecution to the Justice Department for his role in the insurrection, many Senate Republicans who once supported the former president are now in agreement with the committee’s choice, The Hill reports.

Senator Shelly Moore Capito said she’s “never seen” a process like this – one where Congress makes prosecution referrals. However, she does understand that Trump “bears some responsibility” for the attack.

“There’s no question that President Trump deserves culpability for inciting the riot on Jan. 6 and for failure to act to protect the vice president and the Capitol of the United States,” said Mitt Romney, who’s been criticized by far-right Republicans for voting to impeach Trump twice.

In addition to the prosecution referrals, Trump has already been on thin ice with some Republicans, as they believe his influence caused a considerable amount of GOP midterm losses across the country. The hearing outcome could be the icing on the cake for his dedicated advocates to finally rescind their support.

According to The Hill, following the hearing, Senator Mitch McConnell said, “The entire nation knows who is responsible for that day.”

Ohio Senator Rob Portman believes the referrals are not as important as the final report. “But the testimony is the testimony,” he said. “And they were able to get the testimony from most of the people they wanted — not everybody but most — and I think most of the significant figures. That is the historical record. That’s very important.”

After the hearing, Trump took to his social media platform Truth Social, to say, “These folks don’t get it that when they come after me, people who love freedom rally around me. It strengthens me. What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.”

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski said, “Obviously they spent considerable time and [went into] great detail over many months they have investigated this. It’s really up to [the Department of Justice] where they go next.”

“They did interview a lot of folks that had a lot of knowledge of what happened and they were people who I think were very credible,” said South Dakota Republican Senator John Thune.

“It’s up to Justice now.”

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