New Poll Finds 6 in 10 US Adults Support Prosecuting Trump for January 6 Capitol Attack

That’s an increase over a poll from before the hearings began.

Mark Humphrey/AP

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Since the formation of the House select committee to investigate the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, a question has loomed large over its proceedings: Will the panel issue a criminal referral of President Donald Trump for his pressure campaign to overthrow the 2020 election results? While the panel doesn’t have the power to itself pursue criminal charges against Trump, it could recommend that the Justice Department investigate him for his actions to subvert the peaceful transfer of power. The issue has divided panel members, who are in agreement that Trump’s actions amounted to a criminal conspiracy but conflicted over the potential political consequences of making a criminal referral for the former president, CNN has reported

Yet public support for such a move is rising as the committee continues to hold hearings revealing the findings of its 11-month investigation. According to a new poll from ABC News/Ipsos, 58 percent of US adults support prosecuting Trump for the riot—including 91 percent of Democrats and 19 percent of Republicans. (About 60 percent of independents believe Trump should be charged.) 

That’s an increase from late April, when the same pollsters found that barely over half of US adults supported charging Trump. The results may indicate the persuasive effect of the committee’s first three hearings, which have so far spun a compelling narrative about how Trump and his cronies attempted to undermine the election. About 60 percent of US adults believe the committee’s investigation has been fair and impartial, according to the new poll. 

Of course, it’s not up to the American public whether to charge Trump—it will be up to Attorney General Merrick Garland. So far, Garland’s Justice Department has declined to act on two of the four criminal referrals the committee has already sent to the department, against former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and aide Dan Savino, while pursuing charges against two other Trump associates, Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro, for not complying with the Congressional investigation. DOJ could also choose to charge Trump without a referral from the House select committee. But the move to make a criminal referral would carry heavy symbolic weight, putting Garland in a tight spot. 

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi), the chair of the committee, said last week said that it is “not our job” to issue a criminal referral for Trump. It didn’t take long for other committee members to make their own public statements clarifying that no decision had yet been made. And Thompson soon walked back his comments: “We’ve not actually discussed criminal referrals as a committee,” he told CNN. “Individuals have talked about it, but our primary mission is to get all of the facts and circumstances that brought about January 6, and that’s what we’re doing.” 

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate