- Mick Mulvaney said Donald Trump should most fear the prospect of being charged with obstruction.
- "It's not the crime, it's the cover-up," the former acting White House chief of staff said.
Former President Donald Trump has most to fear from the House Jan. 6 committee's recommendation that he be charged with obstruction, according to his former acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney.
The Democratic-led committee on Monday said it was unanimously referring Trump to the DOJ on charges of insurrection, defrauding the United States, obstructing an official proceeding, and making false statements to investigators.
It said it had uncovered substantial evidence in its 18-month probe that Trump violated the laws in seeking to cling to power after his defeat in the 2020 presidential election.
The referral is not binding — the DOJ can decide whether or not to act on the information it was sent.
Among the crimes the committee alleges Trump committed was seeking to influence witnesses testifying to the panel.
One claimed she was offered a lucrative job as the date of her testimony to the committee approached.
In an interview on Monday with CNN, Mulvaney said the most concerning charge for Trump was likely obstruction, since he didn't think there was "hard evidence" to substantiate the other three.
"It's that obstruction charge that continues to get my attention," Mulvaney told host Jake Tapper.
"So often in this business, it's not the crime, it's the cover-up. And if they've got people willing to go under oath and say that Trump or someone on his team offered them benefits or tried to interfere with their testimony, that could be a real problem for him."
He said that he doubts the DOJ will be significantly influenced by the referral. There is already a special counsel at the department conducting a separate investigation into the Capitol riot, and the committee has shared its evidence with the department.
"I don't know how these criminal referrals change much," he commented.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing in relation to the riot, in which supporters angered by Trump's false claims of mass fraud in the 2020 election attacked the Capitol in the hope of keeping Trump in office.
He has also continued to defend the rioters and push his baseless election-fraud claims as he carries out a new campaign for the presidency in 2024.