A year after a mob invaded Congress trying to cancel the election result, the US government found and punished more than 700 participants in the attack and reinforced Capitol security with even sand trucks, but is still looking for ways to hold officials involved in the action to account. .
The investigation involves several federal agencies, but the most noisy work is done in parallel, by a committee of Parliament. The group, which brings together Democrats and Republicans, has called on people close to Donald Trump to investigate the responsibility of the former president and figures in his administration in the invasion, which ended with five dead.
Among them are Steve Bannon, a former Trump strategist, and Mark Meadows, a former White House chief of staff. The first refused to testify and was arrested and prosecuted for it; the second also refused to appear initially, but changed his mind and delivered records of messages exchanged with several people on January 6, 2021, whose content has been gradually revealed.
On Tuesday (4), for example, Meadows’ conversations with Sean Hannity, Fox News presenter and Trump confidant, became public. The messages suggest the anchor was aware of the then-president’s plans — and worried about them. “I do NOT see January 6 happening the way it was told,” Hannity wrote to the presidency’s chief of staff.
In practice, the assault on democracy a year ago was an attempt by Trump and supporters to forcibly change the outcome of the election. The Republican had lost re-election to Joe Biden in November 2020, but refused to accept the defeat, citing an alleged fraud, never proven.
On the day of certification of the election, the strategy was to convince parliamentarians to invalidate part of the results. The then president considered that he could reverse the defeat at the polls if he managed to get congressmen to change the numbers of some places – an impractical maneuver in the House – and pressured his vice, Mike Pence, who would lead the session, to refuse data sent by the states.
Trump held a rally to question the popular vote and urged his supporters to fight back (without explicitly asking them to storm Congress). Then he retired and remained quiet during the invasion, for more than two hours, despite calls for him to do something.
Messages from Meadows already circulated showed that several allies were ignored. “He [Trump] gotta condemn this shit fast,” Donald Trump Jr., son of the then president, wrote to the then chief of staff, who replied: “I’m pressing hard. I agree.” Trump Jr. insisted: “We need a speech in the Oval Office. He has to take the lead now. It went too far and got out of hand.”
The records could be used as evidence that the Republican was fully aware that Congress was under attack and deliberately chose not to act. If it is proven that he and other officials played an active role in planning the invasion or were negligent, they could be criminally prosecuted for attempting to impede or corrupt an official congressional procedure —the certification of votes—a crime under the federal law code with penalty that can reach 20 years in prison.
Trump was impeached days after the invasion. He was found guilty by the House, but cleared by the Senate, which had a Republican majority. The decision, however, does not prevent further proceedings in the future.
The parliamentarians also want access to the official records of the former president’s communications during that period, which are in the custody of the National Archives. In late December, he asked the Supreme Court to prevent the disclosure of the information — there is no date set for a review of the case.
The congressional committee has invited Fox News’ Hannity to formally testify, and Democratic Representative Bennie Thompson, head of the group, wants to hear from Pence as well. “His life was at risk. There were people on the Capitol lawn who wanted to hang the vice president, he couldn’t get out of Congress because of the action,” Thompson told CNN.
Thus, the coming months will have a series of testimonies in Parliament, with some broadcast live. Still this year, a final report should be prepared, detailing the information obtained and assigning responsibilities. If the fraying of the Biden administration puts the House and Senate majority at risk in the midterms, midterm elections in November, analysts see the January 6 investigation as a thorn in the side of Republicans.
“This was the result of inaction, because the attack was orchestrated by a network of ultranationalist white supremacists and violent militias, which we failed to investigate and prosecute for many years. We cannot fail again,” said Patrick Gaspard, director of the think tank Center. for American Progress.
Aside from Congress, on the other flank, the FBI has done extensive work to identify and arrest people who actually participated in the invasion. The large amount of images, many of them published on social networks by the activists themselves, helped in the task.
According to Justice Department data, as of December 30, about 725 defendants have been arrested. Of these, more than 225 were prosecuted for attacking or preventing the work of public servants, 10 for attacking press professionals and 75 for entering a restricted area with a deadly weapon.
Another 40 were prosecuted for conspiracy to obstruct congressional action, impede police action or attack agents. Of the defendants, 165 have pleaded guilty and 70 have already been tried: 38 received prison sentences — the harshest of which was 5 years and 3 months. On Wednesday, Secretary Merrick Garland said the agency “remains committed to holding all perpetrators of January 6 to account.” […], whether they were present on the day or criminally responsible for the attack on our democracy”.
There are still many unknown suspects, however. The FBI created a website with more than 1,500 images and videos of participants in the act who have not yet been identified. There are rewards for helping the police, up to $100,000 for tips to help find who bombed sections of Washington’s plumbing on January 5 (found before it exploded).
For William Galston, from the Brookings Institute, in addition to investigations, legislative changes must be made to defend democracy and prevent a new attack of this type. He cites as an example the reform of the Electoral Count Act of 1887. “It is vague on key issues, which leaves it open to serious constitutional questioning if it needs to be used to resolve a disputed future presidential election,” he says.
In terms of physical security, the Capitol police reviewed procedures, gained reinforcements and began to exchange more information with other government agencies, including intelligence, to receive alerts about possible threats. One of the indicators monitored is ticket and hotel reservations: an atypical high can indicate preparation for an eventual attack, for example.
On September 18, there was a sample of the result of this work. A large protective structure was mobilized for a protest calling for lighter penalties for intruders in Congress. There was a reinforcement in the number of agents, barriers around the Congress and the use of dump trucks, with sand in the bucket, as a mobile protection.
Vehicles have been adopted for years to form safety barriers in the country. They provide protection from car attacks, make it difficult for people to move around and can be moved quickly as needed. The sand in the bucket increases the weight of the truck, making the barrier stronger and eventually helping to contain the effects of a bomb.
This Thursday (6), the FBI said it did not have concrete information about possible threats, but informed that there will be a reinforced alert for security forces in the capital. Throughout the day, events will be held inside and outside the Capitol to remember the invasion. Among them, a speech by Biden – which, according to his spokeswoman, will highlight “Trump’s singular responsibility for the chaos and carnage” seen.
The idea now is to help prevent a situation like that from happening again.
Investigated by Congress by the 6th of January
Donald Trump
Then president, he called a protest to question the result of the election; those present at the act invaded Congress soon after. He is now trying to prevent, in court, investigators from accessing records of his conversations.
Mark Meadows
He was Trump’s chief of staff. He received messages from several allies at the time warning the president to act to contain the invaders. He refused to testify to Congress, but backed off and delivered the messages after being pressed.
Michael Flynn
A former national security adviser, he attended a December meeting at the White House in which radical measures were discussed to try to change the outcome of the presidential election, such as invoking national emergency measures.
Jeffrey Clark
He lobbied colleagues at the Justice Department to help Donald Trump devise a strategy to change the outcome of the polls.
John Eastman
Lawyer, wrote a memo citing ways in which the Republican could remain in power even after losing the election.
Sean Hannity
Fox News host and Trump confidant. He was called to testify before the Congressional committee because of indications that he knew details of the then president’s plans for January 6th. Co-anchors Laura Ingraham and Brian Kilmeade are also cited, but not yet investigated, for having sent messages trying to convince Trump to do something to stop the invasion.
Steve Bannon
Strategist of Trump’s victory in 2016, he walked away from the politician afterwards. He was arrested and prosecuted for refusing to testify in Congress about the January 6 invasion.
Scott Perry e Jim Jordan
Republican lawmakers are suspected of involvement in attempts to reverse Trump’s defeat. Perry has already refused to testify.
Phil Waldron
Retired Army colonel, drafted a document with several plans to try to change the outcome of the 2020 election.
.
