Assault on the Capitol: a parliamentary committee presents its first conclusions

Published on: 06/09/2022 – 05:05 The parliamentary committee in charge of the investigation into the attack on the Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump, on January 6, 2021, presents its first conclusions on Thursday evening. Here is an update on their investigation, in six questions. For nearly a year, a group of elected members of the United States Congress has been conducting an investigation into Donald Trump’s responsibility in the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. On Thursday, June 9, this parliamentary committee will present its first conclusions during hearings What has the commission done so far? During its hearings, the commission promised “to provide the American people with a summary of its findings on the coordinated campaign to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and prevent the transfer of power”. Since the start of its investigation, the so-called “January 6” commission, made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans, has heard nearly 1,000 witnesses, including two children of the former president, to make shed light on Donald Trump’s actions after the 2020 election. .Q Four of Donald Trump’s closest aides and five elected Republicans, including House Conservative leader Kevin McCarthy, refused to comply with these subpoenas. What to expect from the hearings? Text messages, official documents and supporting videos, a series of lawyers and key witnesses will present the various scenarios envisaged by Donald Trump and his entourage to reverse the course of the presidential election of 2020, until the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Among these various scenarios, that of a proposed White House executive order that ordered the nation’s top military official to seize election machines across the country. The commission members also want to understand why Donald Trump took 187 minutes to call the crowd attacking the US Congress to go home. What have we learned so far? Some of the evidence in the hands of the parliamentary inquiry has already leaked in recent months. Among the most explosive documents, a rain of text messages between Mark Meadows, Donald Trump’s chief of staff, and conservative celebrities imploring him to push the president to calm the crowd at the Capitol. the most conservative of the Supreme Court to Mark Meadows, begging him to fight against the results of the presidential election of 2020 also leaked: “Help this great president to hold Mark!!! (…) The majority of people know that Biden and the left are trying the biggest hold-up in history”, writes Ginni Thomas in a message. How to follow the hearings? A sign of the importance that these elected officials want to give to their revelations, the first hearing was organized at prime time: 8 p.m. local time Thursday (00 a.m. GMT Friday). be injured by the rioters” on 6 Jan ier, as well as a documentary writer, Nick Quested, whose team documented the Capitol storming. made public. Will there be indictments? The so-called “January 6” commission does not have the power to proceed with indictments itself. But she should, however, hand over her evidence to federal prosecutors and can recommend prosecution. At the same time, a host of federal agents are embarking on a huge investigation to find the demonstrators who directly participated in the assault on the Capitol. To date, more than 800 people have been arrested and the majority have been charged, according to data from the US Department of Justice. Will this investigation make an impression? Supporters of this parliamentary committee consider its work essential in order to to ensure that one of the darkest episodes in American history is never repeated. But the majority of Republicans denounce the work of this group of elected officials, the main interested party Donald Trump castigating a “witch hunt”. The commission therefore faces a major challenge, that of constructing a narrative capable of capturing attention. of the general public and to convince them.With AFP