Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner believes there’s a good chance that ex-president Donald Trump may get up to 25 years in prison for offenses he committed stemming from the January 6 Capitol riot, now that the House select committee investigating the attack has made criminal referrals to the Department of Justice, Newsweek reports.

During an appearance on MSNBC’s The ReidOut, host Joy Reid asked him whether referrals have value, and Kirschner said they do, indeed.

“The Department of Justice prides itself on exercising independent prosecutorial discretion but they can’t turn a blind eye to a coequal branch of government that has done such an exhaustive investigation when they pass all of that evidence over to [the] DOJ and they recommend criminal investigations and prosecutions,” Kirschner said.

The Jan. 6 committee has seen fit to refer several criminal charges against Trump to the Justice Department. These include the obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to make a false statement, and conspiracy to defraud the U.S. by assisting, aiding, or comforting those involved in an insurrection.

All this means that Kirschner is hopeful. He sees this as a good sign.

“It is great that they’re talking about obstructing official proceedings, that’s a 20-year offense,” Kirschner said Friday. “It’s great that they are talking about conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, that’s a 5-year offense.”

We now know that Trump campaign attorney John Eastman, who wrote a pair of memos for the campaign that outlined methods to prevent the certification of the 2020 presidential election has joined his former boss on the referrals list. But Eastman also earned his place on the list for obstructing an official proceeding and for conspiracy to defraud the United States, according to The Hill.

But Trump and Eastman aren’t the only GOP members who have received referrals. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Scott Perry (R-Pa.), and Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) have been charged, per Axios, “with violating House rules requiring members to conduct themselves ‘at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House.'”

While a referral doesn’t carry much legal weight, it could still be a threat to the former president, experts say.

“Although the DOJ is independent, such a referral is more than symbolic,” said Ion Meyn, an assistant law professor at the University of Wisconsin, in an interview with Newsweek earlier this month. “A referral from a congressional committee that has conducted its own investigation is particularly influential. The referral would place significant pressure on the DOJ to prosecute, and the DOJ will be expected to justify any decision to decline the referral.”

Kirschner further emphasized that while Trump faces the potential of prison time for his alleged offenses stemming from the Capitol riot, it’s critically important that he be prosecuted for insurrection.

“The important one…is insurrection…because the available sentence if you’re convicted of insurrection unlike those other charges is that you shall be prohibited from holding office under the United States,” Kirschner said. “That quite frankly is the one I am rooting for.”

Attorney General Merrick Garland has not brought criminal charges against Trump just yet, but the former president is up to his eyeballs in other potential criminal investigations. This includes the DOJ’s probe into his mishandling of top-secret documents that the FBI recovered at Mar-a-Lago, his estate in Florida. Trump continues to maintain he has done no wrong, claiming he declassified the documents prior to taking them from the White House.

He was in rant mode Saturday, taking to his social media platform Truth Social to yell about the FBI, DOJ, and Democrats, characterizing them as a “cancer” that’s killing America.

“Our Country is SICK inside, very much like a person dying of Cancer. The Crooked FBI, the so-called Department of ‘Justice,’ and ‘Intelligence,’ all parts of the Democrat Party and System, is the Cancer. These Weaponized Thugs and Tyrants must be dealt with, or our once great and beautiful Country will die!!!”

He followed that up later Saturday with this shouty gem:

“THEY ARE GOING AFTER ME BECAUSE THEY ARE REALLY GOING AFTER YOU!”

Is there ever a day when this man isn’t ranting and hollering about some imaginary injustice? The Jan. 6 committee has combed over all this for 18 months and there is every indication of his criminality here. I’m sure Garland is examining every angle here but I hope he comes to a decision soon.

Meanwhile, here’s a clip of Kirschner’s response to Reid.

.@glennkirschner2 on DOJ & Jan. 6 committee: "They can't turn a blind eye to a coequal branch of government that has done such an exhaustive investigation when they pass all that evidence over to DOJ and they recommend criminal investigations & prosecutions." #TheReidOut pic.twitter.com/WmwQPVMmjR

— The ReidOut (@thereidout) December 17, 2022