The House Jan. 6 committee害羞草研究所檚 final report asserts that Donald Trump criminally engaged in a 害羞草研究所渕ulti-part conspiracy害羞草研究所� to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election and failed to act to stop his supporters from attacking the Capitol, concluding an extraordinary 18-month investigation into the former president and the two years ago.
Trump 害羞草研究所渓it that fire,害羞草研究所� the committee害羞草研究所檚 chairman, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, writes.
The comes after the panel interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses, held 10 hearings and obtained more than a million pages of documents. The witnesses 害羞草研究所� ranging from many of Trump害羞草研究所檚 closest aides to law enforcement to some of the rioters themselves 害羞草研究所� detailed Trump害羞草研究所檚 害羞草研究所減remeditated害羞草研究所� actions in the weeks ahead of the attack and how his wide-ranging efforts to overturn his defeat directly influenced those who brutally pushed past the police and smashed through the windows and doors of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The central cause was 害羞草研究所渙ne man,害羞草研究所� the report says: Trump.
The insurrection gravely threatened democracy and 害羞草研究所減ut the lives of American lawmakers at risk,害羞草研究所� the bipartisan nine-member panel concluded, offering a definitive account of a dark chapter in modern American history. It functions not only as a compendium of the most dramatic moments of testimony from months of hearings, but also as a document that is to be preserved as a warning for future generations.
In a series of recommendations, the seven Democrats and two Republicans on the committee suggest that Congress consider barring Trump from holding future office. The findings should be a 害羞草研究所渃larion call to all Americans: to vigilantly guard our Democracy and to give our vote only to those dutiful in their defense of our Constitution,害羞草研究所� says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a foreword to the report.
The tell the story largely as the panel害羞草研究所檚 hearings did this summer 害羞草研究所� describing the many facets of the remarkable plan that Trump and his advisers devised to try and void President Joe Biden害羞草研究所檚 victory. The lawmakers detail the former president害羞草研究所檚 pressure on states, federal officials, lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence to game the system or break the law.
In the two months between the election and the insurrection, the report says, 害羞草研究所淧resident Trump or his inner circle engaged in at least 200 apparent acts of public or private outreach, pressure, or condemnation, targeting either State legislators or State or local election administrators, to overturn State election results.害羞草研究所�
Trump害羞草研究所檚 repeated, false claims of widespread voter fraud resonated with his supporters, the committee said, and were amplified on social media, building on the distrust of government he had fostered for his four years in office. And he did little to stop them when they resorted to violence and stormed the Capitol, interrupting the certification of Biden害羞草研究所檚 victory.
The massive, damning report comes as Trump is running again for the presidency and also facing multiple federal investigations, including probes of his role in the insurrection and the presence of classified documents at his Florida estate. This week is particularly fraught for him, as a House committee voted to after he has fought for years to keep them private. At the same time, Trump has been blamed by Republicans for a worse-than-expected showing in the midterm elections, leaving him in his most politically vulnerable state since he was elected in 2016.
Looking forward, the committee makes several suggestions for action, including an overhaul of the Electoral Count Act, the election law that Trump tried to circumvent. Bipartisan legislation to make it harder for lawmakers to object to presidential results, and for the vice president to intervene, is set to be passed as part of year-end spending legislation on Friday and sent to Biden for his signature.
The panel also notes in that section that the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution holds that anyone who has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution can be prevented from holding office for engaging in insurrection or rebellion.
Trump 害羞草研究所渋s unfit for any office,害羞草研究所� writes the committee害羞草研究所檚 vice chairwoman, Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming.
Posting on his social media site, Trump called the report 害羞草研究所渉ighly partisan害羞草研究所� and falsely claimed it didn害羞草研究所檛 include his statement on Jan. 6 that his supporters should protest 害羞草研究所減eacefully and patriotically.害羞草研究所� The committee did include that statement, noting that he followed it with election falsehoods and charged language exhorting the crowd to 害羞草研究所渇ight like hell.害羞草研究所�
The report details a multitude of failings by law enforcement and intelligence agencies, noting that many of the rioters came with weapons and had openly planned for violence online before they overwhelmed underprepared law enforcement. 害羞草研究所淭he failure to sufficiently share and act upon that intelligence jeopardized the lives of the police officers defending the Capitol and everyone in it,害羞草研究所� the report says.
At the same time, the committee makes an emphatic point that security failures are not the primary cause for the insurrection.
害羞草研究所淭he President of the United States inciting a mob to march on the Capitol and impede the work of Congress is not a scenario our intelligence and law enforcement communities envisioned for this country,害羞草研究所� Thompson wrote.
害羞草研究所淒onald Trump lit that fire,害羞草研究所� Thompson writes. 害羞草研究所淏ut in the weeks beforehand, the kindling he ultimately ignited was amassed in plain sight.害羞草研究所�
The report details Trump害羞草研究所檚 inaction as his loyalists were storming the building, detailing the hours when he watched the violence on television but did nothing to stop it.
A White House photographer snapped a picture of Trump at 1:21 p.m., learning of the early violence from an employee upon returning to the White House after his speech 害羞草研究所� after his own security officials had rebuffed his efforts to go to the Capitol himself. 害羞草研究所淏y that time, if not sooner, he had been made aware of the violent riot,害羞草研究所� the report states.
In total, 187 minutes elapsed between the time Trump finished his speech at the Ellipse and his first effort to get the rioters to disperse, through an eventual video message hours later in which he asked his supporters to go home even as he reassured them, 害羞草研究所淲e love you, you害羞草研究所檙e very special.害羞草研究所�
That inaction was a 害羞草研究所渄ereliction of duty,害羞草研究所� the report says, noting that Trump had more power than any other person as the nation害羞草研究所檚 commander-in-chief. 害羞草研究所淗e willfully remained idle even as others, including his own Vice President, acted.害羞草研究所�
During those hours, Pence huddled and hid in the Capitol, begging security officials for a quicker National Guard response as rioters outside called for his hanging because he would not illegally try to thwart Biden害羞草研究所檚 win as Congress was counting the votes. Inside the White House, dozens of staffers and associates pleaded with Trump to make a forceful statement.
But he did not.
害羞草研究所淲e all look like domestic terrorists now,害羞草研究所� longtime aide Hope Hicks texted Julie Radford, who served as Ivanka Trump害羞草研究所檚 chief of staff, in the aftermath.
The report says 害羞草研究所渧irtually everyone on the White House staff害羞草研究所� interviewed by the committee condemned Trump害羞草研究所檚 2:24 p.m. tweet 害羞草研究所� just as the rioters were first breaking into the Capitol 害羞草研究所� that Vice President Mike Pence 害羞草研究所渄idn害羞草研究所檛 have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution.害羞草研究所�
害羞草研究所淎ttacking the VP? Wtf is wrong with him,害羞草研究所� Hicks texted another colleague that evening.
The investigation害羞草研究所檚 release is a final act for House Democrats who are ceding power to Republicans in less than two weeks, and have spent much of their four years in power investigating Trump. Democrats impeached Trump twice, the second time a week after the insurrection. He was acquitted by the Senate both times. Other Democratic-led probes investigated his finances, his businesses, his foreign ties and his family.
On Monday, the panel officially passed their investigation to the Justice Department, recommending the department investigate the former president on four crimes, including aiding an insurrection. While the criminal referrals have no legal standing, they are a final statement from the committee after its extensive, year-and-a-half-long probe.
The committee has also begun to release hundreds of transcripts of its interviews. On Thursday, the panel released transcripts of two closed-door interviews with , who at one of the televised hearings over the summer and described in vivid detail Trump害羞草研究所檚 actions and inaction inside the White House.
In the two interviews, both conducted after her June appearance at the hearing, Hutchinson described how many of Trump害羞草研究所檚 allies, including her lawyer, pressured her not to say too much in her committee interviews.
