Former US President Donald Trump is under criminal investigation by the Department of Justice for having encouraged protesters to storm the Capitol on January 6 of last year, in an attempt to reverse the defeat for Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 election. were anticipated by the American newspaper Washington Post.
According to the report, investigators seized phone records of top Trump aides and are examining conversations involving the Republican. Authorities are also questioning witnesses about the former president’s allies who are said to have mobilized to organize a false voter scheme.
In the investigation, prosecutors have been asking detailed questions about meetings conducted by Trump, pressure on former Vice President Mike Pence not to accept the results of the polls and instructions that were allegedly given about false voters. Some of the questions, according to witnesses who spoke on condition of anonymity, seek to directly understand Trump’s role in the episodes.
The report also says that Justice Department investigators received phone records from key Trump administration officials and aides, including his former chief of staff Mark Meadows. In seeking to understand how and why his supporters tried to reverse the outcome, officials are also seeking to identify what the former president told lawyers and allies.
The investigation comes as a bipartisan committee in the House seeks to shed light on the role of public figures and protesters in the episode considered one of the biggest attacks on American democracy in history. In all, eight public hearings have been held so far. The group, however, has no power to initiate criminal investigations or legally accuse anyone of wrongdoing.
Many elements of the extensive criminal investigation on 6 January remained under wraps. But in recent weeks the public pace of work has picked up, with a new round of subpoenas, search warrants and interviews, according to the Washington Post. The newspaper also said that Trump’s team did not respond to a request for comment. The Justice Department declined to comment.
Meanwhile, Trump delivered his first speech on Tuesday in Washington since leaving the White House last year. “It’s all a setup,” he said during an event at the America First Policy Institute, an allied-run public policy think tank.
The Republican also called the members of the House committee “political pirates and thugs”. “They really want to hurt me […] but I don’t think that’s going to happen,” he added.
Trump also indicated that he will try to return to the presidency in the 2024 elections. “The story is far from over and we are preparing for an incredible comeback. We have no choice,” he said, while supporters echoed cries of “four more years.” “I always say I ran for the first time and I won, and I ran for the second time and I did much better,” Trump added.
He also spoke about the need to increase efforts against illegal immigration, which has been on the rise in recent months, and organized crime, accusing Biden of having “brought the United States to its knees”.
Pence, who also visits Washington, expressed his differences with the Republican. “We don’t agree with the priorities,” he said at an event where he presented a program focused on fighting abortion and protecting the right to bear arms and religious freedoms. About the Capitol invasion, the former vice president said the episode marked a “tragic day”.
