WASHINGTON: Lawmakers probing last year’s deadly assault on the US Capitol began a final public meeting Monday that is expected to end in a vote on whether to recommend criminal charges against former president Donald Trump.

The decision will be the culmination of an 18-month probe by a House of Representatives select committee that interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses and held explosive public hearings on the storming of Congress on January 6, 2021.At least five people died after a mob whipped up by Trump’s false claims of a stolen election, and directed to march on Congress by the defeated president, ransacked the seat of US democracy in a thwarted bid to prevent the transfer of power to President Joe Biden.

The referrals would be largely symbolic, as the panel has no control over charging decisions, which rest with the Justice Department.