On Thursday's edition of MSNBC's "Deadline: White House," former Solicitor General Neal Katyal argued that even the limited evidence from the January 6 Committee that is currently available to the public implicates members of former President Donald Trump's inner circle in a criminal conspiracy.
"I think that the evidence does suggest a crime," said Katyal. "The judge that is reviewing the Eastman emails and documents has basically written a long, you know, 50-plus-page opinion, Judge Carter, saying he believes it's more likely than not that crimes were committed and including by up to the president of the United States — the former president of the United States."
Katyal then dived into the standards for proving such crimes.
"It will in large part [turn] on criminal intent, mens rea, but here, there's a host of evidence that suggests that this mens rea standard was met," said Katyal. "These people knew they had lost. They took active steps to conceal what they were doing, trying to hide and obfuscate. The very fact that there's 181-minute gap in the record entirely, the most important 181 minutes maybe or one of the most important 181 minutes that the American government has ever faced and it's gone, wiped from the record, all of that is very strong circumstantial evidence and more that the criminal intent standard will be met."
Ultimately, the decision whether to charge the former president or any of his allies is up to the Justice Department, as Congress doesn't have the power to prosecute people and has exceedingly limited powers of arrest.
However, experts have argued that even if Trump doesn't face criminal charges, the findings of the committee could be the basis for civil suits that bankrupt him and his allies.
Watch below: