WASHINGTON – The House committee investigating the storming of the United States Capitol by Donald Trump supporters wrapped up its gripping public hearings today with a televised primetime finale dissecting the former president’s actions on the day.
“It’s pretty simple,” said Congresswoman Elaine Luria, a member of the panel made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans who voted to impeach Trump after the violent January 6, 2021 insurrection.
“He was doing nothing to actually stop the riot,” the Democratic lawmaker from Virginia said, despite “his advisers urging him continuously to take action, to take more action”.
Luria told CNN the committee will examine Trump’s actions “minute by minute,” starting with a fiery speech to his supporters near the White House claiming the November 2020 election was stolen when he finally told the rioters they were “very special” but it was time to go home.
Liz Cheney, the Republican vice chair of the committee, said the panel will present evidence that “Donald Trump never picked up the phone that day to order his administration to help”.
“For multiple hours, Donald Trump refused to intervene to stop it,” Cheney said.
The panel has subpoenaed numerous advisors and aides to Trump as it seeks to determine whether the former president or associates had a role in planning or encouraging the bid by his supporters to prevent certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory.
Today’s two-hour hearing in Washington, the committee’s eighth, will start at 8.00pm (0000 GMT). It is expected to be the last one this summer, although the committee has not ruled out further sessions.
The committee’s opening hearing was also held in primetime, when television audiences are largest.
Two witnesses are expected to deliver live testimony at Thursday’s session: former deputy White House press secretary Sarah Matthews and Matthew Pottinger, who served on the National Security Council.
Matthews and Pottinger both resigned on January 6 as Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.
‘Wild’
Committee members said the hearing would also feature excerpts from a videotaped deposition by White House counsel Pat Cipollone.
In testimony aired previously, Cipollone said he agreed that there was no evidence of significant election fraud and that Trump should have conceded to Biden.
Previous committee hearings have focused on Trump’s attempt to sway elections officials in swing states that Biden narrowly won and pressure put on Vice-President Mike Pence not to certify the Electoral College results.
During its seventh hearing last week, the committee examined the impact of a tweet Trump sent on December 19, 2020 urging his supporters to descend on the nation's capital on January 6 for a rally he promised would be “wild”.
Members of right-wing militia groups, the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers and other Trump supporters saw the tweet from the president as a “call to arms”, lawmakers said.
More than 850 people have been arrested in connection with the attack on Congress, which left at least five people dead and 140 police officers injured.
The 76-year-old Trump, who has repeatedly hinted that he may run for the White House again in 2024, was impeached for a historic second time by the House after the Capitol riot – he was charged with inciting an insurrection – but was acquitted by the Senate.
The House committee is expected to submit a report to Congress this fall with its findings.
The committee may issue criminal referrals to the Justice Department, leaving it up to attorney-general Merrick Garland to decide whether Trump or others should be prosecuted for the attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Garland told reporters on Wednesday that the January 6 probe is the “most important” investigation the Justice Department has ever conducted and stressed that “no one is above the law in this country”. – AFP, July 21, 2022
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