Assault on the Capitol: Donald Trump summoned to appear before Congress

Donald Trump addressing his supporters, January 6, 2021, in Washington. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP Time is running out for the United States Congress House of Representatives Committee investigating the assault launched by supporters of Donald Trump against the Capitol on January 6, 2021. In a “historic” gesture, Friday October 21, she cited the former president to appear “on or around November 14.” Donald Trump will have to submit documents to the commission and testify under oath on the events of January 6, which aimed to prevent Congress from certifying the victory of Joe Biden in the presidential election. Under federal law, refusing to respond to a congressional subpoena is punishable by one to 12 months in prison, but requires a prior vote of the House of Representatives to forward the case to the Justice Department. . The commission of inquiry requires Donald Trump to hand over the requested documents by November 4, and to appear before November 14. After a televised hearing, the committee of the House of Representatives responsible for shedding light on the role of the ex-president in the attack of January 6 had created a surprise by unanimously voting to summon of Mr. Trump. The one who openly flirts with the idea of ​​​​representing himself in 2024 had immediately renewed his attacks against an investigation described as a “fiasco”, without revealing how he was going to respond to it. This commission, made up of seven elected Democrats and two Republicans, has already questioned more than a thousand witnesses, including two children of Donald Trump, and gone through tens of thousands of documents, but has come up against the refusal to cooperate of some relatives. Former adviser Steve Bannon, considered to be the architect of Donald Trump’s victory in 2016, was also sentenced on Friday to four months in prison for refusing to respond to his summons. Read also the story: Article reserved for our subscribers The 187 minutes Donald Trump let the riots of January 6, 2021 take place The specter of the midterm elections The commission is engaged in a race against time: if the Democrats lose control of Congress during the mid-term elections on November 8, it risks being dissolved by the new Republican majority. Its two leaders, elected Democrat Bennie Thompson and Republican Liz Cheney, therefore formally summoned Donald Trump in just three weeks. “We agree that subpoenaing a former president is an important and historic action and we do not take it lightly,” they wrote to him. But, they added, “we have evidence that you personally orchestrated and oversaw a campaign to change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election and prevent the peaceful transfer of power”, and it resulted “in a bloody attack on the Capitol”. On January 6, 2021, hundreds of supporters of Donald Trump convinced by his allegations of “electoral fraud” had sown chaos in the temple of American democracy, when elected officials certified the victory of his Democratic rival Joe Biden. The Republican, who had urged his supporters to “fight like the devils”, was immediately the subject of an impeachment trial in Congress, but was acquitted thanks to the senators of his party. This did not end the case: in its final report, the commission could recommend that he be indicted. The decision will ultimately rest with the Minister of Justice Merrick Garland, a prudent and methodical man who “excludes nothing”. Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers Mid-term elections in the United States: forty days before the election, the nervousness of Republicans and Democrats Le Monde with AFP and Reuters