Loading ...The Jan. 6 Committee’s Referral Is Unconstitutional
The Jan. 6 Committee has voted to refer former President Donald Trump to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution. This referral violates both the letter and spirit of the Constitution for at least two reasons.
First, Article 1 of the Constitution grants Congress “all legislative powers” and only “legislative powers.” Under our system of separation of powers, the power to prosecute lies exclusively with the executive branch through the justice department. Congress has no authority to refer specific individuals for prosecution. It is beyond the scope of its constitutional authority.
Second, Congress is specifically denied the power to pass any “bill of attainder.”
Prior to America’s independence, the British parliament enacted such bills that prosecuted named individuals. Our Constitution prohibited Congress from prosecuting named individuals. The power of Congress is limited to passing laws of general application that can be applied to specific individuals only by the justice department and a grand jury. A congressional committee officially voting to refer a named individual for prosecution violates the spirit of the explicit prohibition against congressional bills of attainder.
Of course, Democrats don’t care about any of this.
They are simply obsessed with the idea of preventing Trump from ever running again.
According to Alan Dershowitz
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