HO CHI MINH CITY –
An 800-page report to be released by House investigators on Thursday will conclude that then-President Donald Trump conspired to commit the crime of overturning his 2020 election defeat and “inciting violently mobilized his supporters” at the Capitol with false claims of widespread voter fraud.
As a result, on January 6, 2021, the Trump followers’ uprising threatened democracy with “horrific” atrocities against law enforcement and “put the lives of legislators at risk.” American law is in jeopardy,” according to the report’s executive summary.
“The primary cause of January 6 was one man, former President Donald Trump, whom many others have followed,” the report from the January 6 committee of the House of Representatives, is expected. will be published in full on Thursday, said. “None of the events of January 6 would have happened without him.”
Prior to the release of the report, the committee on Wednesday night released 34 transcripts from 1,000 interviews it conducted over the past 18 months. Most of those released were witnesses who invoked their Fifth Amendment right to self-incrimination.
The report’s eight chapters of findings will largely reflect nine hearings this year that drew on evidence from private interviews and millions of pages of documents. They tell the story of Trump’s extraordinary and unprecedented campaign to overturn defeat and his pressure campaign on state officials, the Justice Department, members of Congress, and the president’s vice president. himself to change the vote.
A 154-page summary of the report released Monday detailed how Trump, a Republican, amplified false claims on social media and in public appearances. , encouraged his supporters to come to Washington and protest against the Democratic presidential election victory of Joe Biden. And how he told them to “fight fiercely” at a massive rally in front of the White House that morning and then did little to stop the violence as they beat the police, stormed the Capitol and caused the legislators had to flee.
The commission concluded it was a “multipart plot”.
The massive, damning report comes as Trump is running for re-election and also faces multiple federal investigations, including investigations into his role in the uprising and the presence of classified documents on his property in Florida. The House committee is expected to release his tax returns in the coming days – a document he has struggled for years to keep secret. And he has been blamed by Republicans for performing worse than expected in the midterm elections, leaving him in the most politically vulnerable position since winning the election. 2016 election
It is also the culmination of four years the Democratic majority in the House has spent most of their time and energy investigating Trump and will cede power to Republicans in two weeks’ time. Democrats have impeached Trump twice – both times he was acquitted by the Senate – and investigated his finances, businesses, foreign relations and family.
But the January 6 poll was most personal to the lawmakers, most of whom were on Capitol Hill when Trump supporters stormed the building and interrupted Biden’s confirmation of victory.
While the long-term impact of the investigations remains to be seen – most Republicans remain loyal to the former president – the committee hearings were watched by tens of millions of people over the course of the season. summer. And 44% of voters in November’s midterm elections said the future of democracy was their top concern at the polls, according to AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of voters. .
“This committee is about to finish its job, but as a nation we are still in unfamiliar and uncharted waters,” said committee chairwoman Bennie Thompson of the Democratic Party. Mississippi, said at Monday’s meeting to approve the report and propose criminal charges against Trump. “We have never had a president of the United States provoke a violent attempt to stop the transition of power. I believe that almost two years later, this is still a time for reflection and reckoning.”
The “calculation” committee members are hoping to bring criminal charges against Trump and key allies. But only the Justice Department has the power to prosecute, so the panel recommended the department investigate the former president on four counts, including aiding an uprising.
While its key points are familiar, the January 6 report will provide new details from hundreds of interviews and thousands of documents the committee has gathered. The recording and some videos are also expected to be released in the next two weeks. Republicans take over the House on January 3, when the panel will be dissolved.
“I guarantee there will be some very interesting new information in the report and even more in the transcript,” Representative Adam Schiff, D-Calif., told “CBS Mornings.”
The transcripts released Wednesday included Jeffrey Clark, a senior official in the Trump Justice Department who worked to advance Trump’s efforts to overturn the election, and John Eastman, a law enforcement officer. conservative architect and architect of Trump’s last attempts to stay in office. Each invoked his or her Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination.
Also included in the release are testimonies from witnesses related to extremist groups involved in the pre-attack planning. Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who was convicted last month of conspiracy to riot for his role in the planning, and former Proud Boys frontman Enrique Tarrio have both spoken. talk to the committee. Tarrio and four other members of the extremist group will appear in court on similar charges this month.
The report’s summary describes how Trump refused to accept the legitimate results of the 2020 election and plotted to overturn his defeat. Trump has pressured state lawmakers to hold a vote nullifying Biden’s electors, seeking to “damage the US Department of Justice” by urging department officials to issue a statement. misleading about the election and repeatedly tried to personally convince Vice President Mike Pence to support democracy with unprecedented objections at a joint session of congress, it said.
Trump attempted to discredit the report, calling committee members “thugs and scoundrels” as he continued to falsely argue his 2020 defeat.
Responding to the jury’s criminal referrals, Trump said, “These people don’t understand that when they chase me, freedom-loving people gather around me. It gives me strength.”
The report will provide minute-by-minute details of what Trump did — and didn’t do — during the roughly three hours when his supporters beat police and stormed the Capitol. Trump incited the crowd at the rally that morning and then did little to dissuade his supporters for several hours as he watched the violence unfold on television inside the White House and ignored the pleas. interception request from the aide.
Lawmakers pointed to evidence of Trump’s actions that they still haven’t had since then, including call logs, official daily log entries or calls to any security officials which security.
“President Trump did not contact a top national security official during the day. Not at the Pentagon, nor at the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, the FBI, the Metropolitan Police, or the DC Mayor’s office,” the report said.
There is also a lack of official photos of the president during those hours.
“President Trump appears to have directed that the White House photographer not take any photographs,” the committee wrote in its summary, citing an interview with chief White House photographer Shealah Craighead.
The panel also raised questions about whether some aides were pressured by Trump or the rest of his allies not to appear in their interviews with the committee.
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Associated Press writers Eric Tucker, Jill Colvin, Farnoush Amiri, Lisa Mascaro and Michael Balsamo contributed to this report.
