U.S. House panel investigating Capitol riot delays release of final report

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. House select committee investigating the Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021, said on Wednesday that it will delay the release of its final report.

The House panel said in a statement that it "now anticipates its final report will be filed and released tomorrow."

It also said that the release of other records is possible on Wednesday.

The announcement came two days after the committee referred former U.S. President Donald Trump to the Department of Justice for four criminal charges, including inciting an insurrection.

The criminal referrals are not legally binding, and it is up to the Department of Justice to decide whether to pursue charges, according to U.S. legal pundits.

The Department of Justice is running its own probe into the Capitol riot, in which Trump supporters disrupted a joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021, to certify the 2020 presidential election results.

A Republican, Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 White House race but has refused to acknowledge defeat and continues to promote unsubstantiated claims that the election was rigged.

Trump, who launched a third bid for the White House last month, has repeatedly lashed out at the Jan. 6 committee and described the investigation and other inquiries related to him as politically motivated.