US media report that the Justice Department is investigating Donald Trump’s efforts to change the results of the 2020 election.
Federal prosecutors reportedly questioned witnesses directly about the former president’s conduct.
They have elected not to initiate an official criminal inquiry into Mr. Trump.
On January 6, 2021, rioters stormed the US Capitol in an attempt to overturn the president’s election loss.
No past US president has ever been charged with a crime.
Mr. Trump has publicly hailed the attackers but denies any culpability on his part.
The Justice Department is currently conducting a criminal investigation into the events of January 6. The fact that witnesses are reportedly being questioned about Mr. Trump’s role does not indicate that federal prosecutors will decide to file criminal charges against him.
The probe is distinct from the recent high-profile, televised Congressional hearings on the same subject, which Mr. Trump has called a political witch hunt.
The Washington Post reported that federal prosecutors questioned witnesses before a grand jury about their contacts with Mr. Trump and his inner circle in the months preceding the January 6 violence.
The witnesses were reportedly asked about instructions issued by Mr. Trump regarding any efforts to impede the certification of President Joe Biden’s election victory by Congress.
Multiple US sites say that among those questioned were top members of former Vice President Mike Pence’s administration.
The Justice Department has refused to comment on whether or whether it will consider filing charges against Mr. Trump for his suspected role in attempting to reverse his 2020 presidential election loss.
When questioned on Tuesday whether he was concerned about indicting a former president, the department’s senior officer, Attorney General Merrick Garland, simply said that he wanted to hold “everyone” accountable.
Mr. Garland told NBC News that federal officials would pursue anyone “criminally culpable for interfering with the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to another.”
According to him, the Justice Department’s inquiry into the events of 6 January 2021 is the “most comprehensive investigation in its history.”
Any decision by federal prosecutors to file criminal charges against a former president and potential candidate for the 2024 election would have huge constitutional and political repercussions.
In addition to federal prosecutors, a powerful congressional committee in the United States has been conducting its inquiry into the armed assault on the Capitol.
The congressional committee, comprised of seven Democrats and two Republicans, called scores of witnesses last week to establish a case that Mr. Trump illegally attempted to overturn his loss to Mr. Biden in the 2020 presidential election, resulting in the riot.
Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top adviser to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, provided some of the most inflammatory testimony during the televised hearings.
Ms. Hutchinson, who appeared as a surprise witness during the sixth session, stated that Mr. Trump knew that members of the audience at his morning rally outside the White House were armed because Secret Service officials were turning them away.
“I could care less that they had weapons. They do not intend to harm me “Ms. Hutchinson reported having heard the president say. “Allow my people entrance. From here, they can march to the Capitol.”
Her testimony provided the committee with the evidence they had been seeking since the beginning of the proceedings: that Mr. Trump was aware of a very serious threat of violence yet did nothing to prevent it.
Its panel of Congress members has recommended that there may be sufficient evidence to file criminal charges against Mr. Trump, but it lacks the authority to do so.
Therefore, any indication that the Justice Department may be investigating the former president’s role is noteworthy.
