The House committee investigating the January 2021 Capitol invasion on Thursday accused former US President Donald Trump of having participated in a “conspiracy against democracy” and of having led efforts to “overturn election results” in the previous year.
Supporters of the Republican stormed and vandalized Congress minutes after Trump, during a demonstration in the nation’s capital, Washington, urged activists to head to the House of Representatives. The action forced the House and Senate to lock their doors and paralyze the session that was supposed to confirm Joe Biden’s victory.
Democratic Representative Bennie Thompson, chairman of the committee formed to determine responsibility for the events, said during a public hearing that the attack was “the culmination of an attempted coup”. He also said that American democracy remains in danger.
“The conspiracy to thwart the will of the people is not over,” Thompson said. “There are people in this country who are thirsty for power but have no love or respect for what makes America great: devotion to the Constitution and allegiance to the rule of law.”
Thursday’s hearing is the first of six in which the committee presents the results of nearly a year of investigation. The sessions will be broadcast on major US television stations.
During the hearing, videos were shown showing the participation of members of the extreme right-wing group Proud Boys in the episode of violence. Statements by Trump, family members of the former president and aides were also rescued.
The committee heard from witnesses from the Republican, who watched the attack on TV and expressed support for the invaders. Mike Pence, then Trump’s deputy, who secured Biden’s victory certification that day, was 60 seconds away from the group that broke through security and reached the point where he was removed by the US Secret Service.
After the material was aired, Republican Representative Liz Cheney, vice chair of the commission investigating the Capitol Hill attack, said evidence proves that Trump convened and rallied the crowd, which “ignited the flame” for the attack.
“Donald Trump is gone, but his dishonor will remain,” Cheney said, according to The New York Times.
​At the end of the process, the committee investigating the episode may recommend opening criminal investigations. In all, more than a thousand witnesses were heard. Since the attack, more than 800 people have been arrested and charged in court — most of them for unauthorized entry into a federal building.
Trump called the investigation a “witch hunt” and, via the Truth Social platform, returned to defend the insurrection, calling the movement “the biggest in the history of the country” to make the United States “great again”. “This was a rigged and stolen election, and a country that was about to go to hell,” he wrote.
House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said Thursday that the commission to investigate the Capitol Hill attack was “the most political and least legitimate in the history of the United States.” The Republican Party has already promised to bury the group’s work if it takes control of Congress in the so-called “midterms”, elections that in November will renew part of the House.
On Tuesday, the US Department of Homeland Security issued a warning on domestic terrorism, explaining that the “high threat environment” is due to extremist movements motivated by ideology, religion, race and “current events”. The note specifically refers to the expected Supreme Court ruling on abortion and the midterm elections to be held in November.
