- Max Matza
- BBC News
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Trump supporters stormed the US Congress on January 6, 2021
The Congressional Investigation Committee, which is responsible for investigating the riots that took place in the US Congressional Headquarters on January 6 last year, said that former US President Donald Trump should be charged with criminal charges, including rebellion.
The Democratic-led congressional committee voted in favor of the US Department of Justice indicting Trump.
Trump supporters stormed the Congressional Building on January 2021, 2021, in an attempt to stop the election results certification session and adopt Joe Biden as President of the United States.
The former US president, who categorically denies any wrongdoing, issued a statement attacking the committee, describing it as a “sham court”.
After 18 months of investigations into the riots, the House Committee of Representatives at its last meeting recommended that Trump be charged with four charges:
- Inciting and aiding rebellion
- obstruction of official proceedings
- Conspiracy and fraud against the United States
- Conspiracy to make false statements
However, there is nothing that makes the Department of Justice – whose attorney general decides whether or not these charges will be brought against Trump – obligated to implement the recommendations of the Congressional Investigation Committee.
Although the commission’s actions are primarily symbolic, its chair described the proposed indictments as a “road map to justice”.
A spokesman for the US Department of Justice declined to comment on the committee’s recommendations.
“The rebellion is an insurrection declared against the authority of the United States,” said Jamie Raskin, a Democratic US congressman from Maryland, who is a member of the committee.
“It is a serious federal crime and is enshrined in the Constitution,” he added.
The congressional commission of inquiry, made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans, released on Monday a 161-page preliminary summary of its comprehensive report.
The committee accused Trump of “conspiring with multiple parties” to disrupt the enforcement of the will of American voters in the lead-up to and during the riots.
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The Trump campaign released statements describing the investigation into the “congressional attack” as a “martial court.”
The committee based its decisions on the fact that Trump worked to publish allegations that he knew were incorrect about the 2020 US presidential elections before he began to put pressure on the Ministry of Justice and his deputy, Mike Pence, to help overturn the facts indicated by the election results, which include his defeat.
The committee also accused Trump of inciting a riot at the Capitol as part of a last-ditch attempt to prevent a peaceful transfer of power to President-elect Joe Biden.
The full report of the parliamentary inquiry commission, consisting of hundreds of pages, is due to be released on Wednesday.
The committee published a new video clip from the testimony of Trump aide Hope Hicks, saying that she had warned the former US president that if he and his team continued to publish false allegations, this could lead to “destroying his legacy.” She added that Trump ignored her warning.
During her testimony, she said, “The Republican president said something along the lines of, ‘No one cares if I lose if I leave, so it wouldn’t matter at all. The only thing that matters is winning.'”
The committee also accused the eldest daughter of the former president and his former aide, Ivanka Trump, of not being “frank during the investigations.”
She also noted that Trump’s eldest daughter and White House press office director Kayleigh McEnany “pretended not to be able to remember specific problems, or that their testimonies were not frank and direct enough.”
Trump’s campaign, which launched last month, issued a statement accusing the committee of conducting “show trials supported by supporters of the ‘Never Trump’ movement who represent a stain on the history of this country.”
“This moot court is nothing but arrogance that insults the intelligence of Americans and mocks democracy,” the statement added.
The committee indicated that it would refer four Republican members of Congress to the Ethics Committee, including Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, for not complying with the committee’s instructions.
“If we want to preserve laws and democracy, this cannot be allowed to happen again,” said committee chair Benny Thompson.
He added, “If faith is lost, democracy is lost. And Donald Trump has lost faith.”
The committee has charged 900 people in connection with the Capitol riot.