Trump should face insurrection, obstruction charges, US Capitol riot panel says
WASHINGTON: The US House of Representatives panel probing January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol asked federal prosecutors on Monday to charge Donald Trump with four crimes, including obstruction and insurrection, for his role in sparking the deadly riot.
The Democratic-led select committee’s request to the Justice Department — after more than 1,000 witness interviews and the collection of hundreds of thousands of documents — marked the first time in history that Congress has referred a former president for criminal prosecution.
The request does not compel federal prosecutors to act, but comes as a special counsel is overseeing two other federal probes of Trump related to the Republican’s attempt to overturn his 2020 election defeat and the removal of classified files from the White House.
The committee asked the Justice Department to charge Trump with four potential felonies: obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress, conspiracy to defraud the United States, making false statements, and aiding or inciting an insurrection.
The US House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Attack on the US Capitol announces criminal referrals against former US President Donald Trump being sent to the US Justice Department during the final meeting of the US House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Attack on the US Capitol, on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, December 19, 2022. — Reuters
The US House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Attack on the US Capitol announces criminal referrals against former US President Donald Trump being sent to the US Justice Department during the final meeting of the US House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Attack on the US Capitol, on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, December 19, 2022. — Reuters
“An insurrection is a rebellion against the authority of the United States. It is a grave federal offense, anchored in the Constitution itself,” Representative Jamie Raskin, a Democratic select committee member, said as he announced the charges.
A Justice Department spokesperson declined comment. A Trump spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump gave a fiery speech to his supporters near the White House the morning of January 6, and publicly chastised his vice president, Mike Pence, for not going along with his scheme to reject ballots cast in favour of Democrat Joe Biden. Trump then waited hours to make a public statement as thousands of his supporters raged through the Capitol, assaulting police and threatening to hang Pence.
Monday’s meeting was the last public gathering of the nine-member panel that spent 18 months probing the unprecedented attempt to prevent the peaceful transfer of power by thousands of Trump backers, inspired by his false claims that his 2020 election loss to Biden was the result of widespread fraud.
Representative Bennie Thompson, the committee’s chairperson, slammed Trump for summoning the mob to the Capitol and criticised him for undermining faith in the democratic system by repeating false claims of fraud.”If the faith is broken, so is our democracy. Donald Trump broke that faith,” Thompson said.