The congressional committee probing the attack on the US Capitol last year has accused former President Donald Trump of a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn his electoral loss three months prior.
The panel’s final 845-page report on the attack has been released.
It assigns sole responsibility for the 6 January 2021 assault on Congress on the former president.
It also proposes that Mr. Trump be barred from holding public office in the future.
He refused to cooperate with the panel and, after the release of the final report, referred to it as a “witch hunt.”
Over the course of 18 months, the committee held ten public hearings and questioned over a thousand witnesses, including Trump administration officials and staff, Trump family members, Capitol police officers, rioters, and others.
The group of seven Democrats and two Republicans on Monday urged the Department of Justice to investigate Mr. Trump, who is launching another White House bid, for inciting an insurrection and three other criminal offenses.
In an introduction to the eight-chapter report, the Democratic chairman of the select committee, Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, stated that it was once “unimaginable” that the president of the United States would inspire a mob to march on the Capitol.
Here are the six most important conclusions that were released on Thursday evening:
1) Trump made misleading claims about which his advisors warned him.
The committee stated that Mr. Trump’s decision to fraudulently declare victory on election night in 2020 was “premeditated,” and that only Mr. Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani, approved this conduct. Soon after the election was called for Joe Biden, the former president began making false charges of widespread voter fraud, and he did so with increasing regularity after Biden was declared the winner.
The committee cites interviews with many advisers and attorneys close to Mr. Trump, who stated that they did not accept the allegations of fraud or could not locate any evidence of the occurrence.
The most prominent of these views was that of former Attorney General William Barr, who told the committee in a deposition, “I made it clear that I did not agree with the idea of declaring the election was stolen and putting out this garbage, which I told the president was [crap],”
In the following weeks, the president continued to spread electoral theories, even though top Trump administration officials claimed they advised him that the allegations were false.
2) Trump’s comments led riots to in the nation’s capital.
The committee argues that Mr. Trump was responsible for the attack on the Capitol.
In addition to Mr. Trump’s numerous charges of voter fraud, the committee alludes to a tweet the former president sent on December 19, 2020: “Large protest in Washington, DC on January 6th. There will be chaos there!”
In court filings and depositions, rioters and militia members who were present at the Capitol on that day cited Mr. Trump’s tweet as the reason for their presence. The committee cited individuals such as Robert Morss, who was convicted of assaulting Capitol officers during the breach. The report claims that Mr. Morss “believed that January 6th marked the time when ‘1776 Will Commence Again’ since President Trump ordered them to ‘Be there, Will be Wild.'”
In addition, the committee notes Secret Service concerns that individuals were planning to visit Washington on January 6 and were threatening to “go wild.
3) Trump did not intervene during the riot.
The committee contends that Mr. Trump did not take action when the attack on January 6 began and that he disregarded warnings from Congress that a serious strike was in progress.
Their judgment is based in part on the evidence of former White House worker Cassidy Hutchinson, who testified in a dramatic hearing earlier this year and also gave depositions regarding the mayhem she claims to have witnessed in the White House on that day.
A transcript of her testimony released on Thursday indicates that a former White House ethics attorney attempted to advise Ms. Hutchinson before she testified before the committee. “The fewer memories you retain, the better.”
The committee also recounts conversations between politicians stuck in the Capitol and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who received a growing number of frantic requests from members of Congress who were forced into hiding.
Texts from one of Mr. Trump’s most faithful advisers, Hope Hicks, summed up the White House staff’s dismay.
After the riot, Ms. Hicks texted Ivanka Trump’s chief of staff, Julie Radford, “we all look like domestic terrorists now.”
She also text-messaged a White House attorney: “I’m really unhappy. Everything we had worked for was lost.”
4) Far-right organizations prepared and then executed their plans
In December 2020, intelligence concerning armed organizations targeting Washington and even the Capitol explicitly began to arrive. The FBI was provided signals regarding the far-right Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, according to the article.
“There is just one way to proceed. They are not signs. It is not a rally. It’s nothing but bullets, “said one.
Capitol Police and Secret Service personnel, who are tasked with protecting the president, received similar communications from insiders and others. Some cited the Capitol as a potential hotspot for potentially violent activities.
Some of the talks originated from private encrypted chat applications, while other messages were accessible to the public on pro-Trump websites and Twitter.
On January 6, members of far-right groups were among the crowds inside the Capitol.
Alongside the findings, the committee disclosed dozens of unaltered transcripts of closed-door evidence presented by witnesses. Several of Mr. Trump’s most prominent far-right followers, including Alex Jones and white nationalist Nick Fuentes, declined to answer questions invoking their constitutional right against self-incrimination.
However, the testimony of others, such as Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, revealed mutual hostility, infighting, and conspiratorial thinking among the far-right organizations involved in the disturbance.
Last month, Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy and other offenses and faces decades in prison, whilst Mr. Tarrio is now on trial.
5) Trump exerted pressure on his vice president to reverse the election results.
Part of Mr. Trump’s strategy to remain in office hinged on a contentious interpretation of the US Constitution, which he claimed authorized Vice-President Mike Pence, who would preside over the election certification, to declare him the winner.
According to the story, Mr. Trump attempted to call Mr. Pence on January 6, shouting at staffers to get him on the phone. The former president subsequently misrepresented to Mr. Pence his authority to intervene in the certification process.
According to committee testimony, Mr. Trump once referred to the vice president as a “wimp” and said he was “not tough enough.”
Trump told a crowd on January 6 that he hoped Pence would “do the right thing.” As they rushed the Capitol, rioters would later yell “Hang Mike Pence” during the attack.
6) Trump should not be allowed to hold public office.
The panel’s study resulted in eleven recommendations.
One cites the Constitution, which specifies that a person who has taken an oath to support the US Constitution but has “engaged in an insurrection” or “provided aid or comfort to the enemies of the Constitution” is ineligible for public office.
Mr. Trump was sent to the Department of Justice for aiding a rebellion.
