Status: 06/10/2022 05:20 a.m
The storming of the Capitol in January 2021 sparked outrage around the world. The investigative committee is convinced that the escalation was planned. The hearing also revealed the rift across the country.
The public hearing concludes with a return to the events of January 6, 2021. Caroline Edwards was one of the first police officers to be injured by rioters during the Capitol storm.
“What I saw was a theater of war. I couldn’t believe officers were on the ground. I slipped in people’s blood. I caught people as they fell. It was carnage, it was chaos,” she said . “I have police training, but I’m not combat-hardened. That day was hours of hand-to-hand combat.”
“The violence was no coincidence”
The investigative committee wants to show that the storming of the Capitol was planned and not a coincidence. An intrigue at the center of which was President Donald Trump.
Radical groups and supporters followed his call, says committee chairman Bennie Thompson: “January 6 was the climax of an attempted coup d’état. A shameless attempt to overthrow the government, as one rioter later called it. The violence was no accident. It was Trump’s last ditch effort to stop the transfer of power.”
The pictures of the storming on January 6 went around the world – many “Oath Keepers” and “Proud Boys” had come to the capital in combat gear.
Image: AP
The tale of the stolen election
But the United States is a country where nothing is clear and obvious anymore. A nation where people can no longer agree on what is true and what is false.
And so the committee begins its public meeting with the obvious: Namely, that the election of Joe Biden to the presidency in 2020 was not rigged. And as evidence, a statement by Trump’s Attorney General William Barr is recorded:
“I had three conversations with the President that I remember. And in that regard, I made it clear that I didn’t agree with his idea of saying the election was stolen from him. I told the President that was ‘bullshit’ .”
The anger of right-wing militias
Video footage of the violent storming of the Houses of Parliament in Washington DC is also repeatedly shown. The committee believes militant groups such as the Oath Keeper and Proud Boys planned to storm the building.
Explosive Trump quote
Rep. Liz Cheney quotes from one of the 1,000 witness interviews. After that, violence was not a problem for the president-elect while he watched the pictures in the White House. She says:
And knowing the rioters’ rallying cry to hang Vice President Mike Pence, the President replied, “Perhaps our supporters have the right thought.” Mike Pence ‘deserves it’.
The commission draws a connection between Trump, members of the Republicans and the violent groups. The President violated his oath of office to defend the Constitution against foreign and domestic enemies.
Republicans doubt legitimacy
Most Republicans don’t want that. Minority leader Kevin McCarthy spoke before the hearing of “Pelosi’s inquiry,” which was formed solely at the instigation of the Speaker of the House.
“The January 6th committee is unlike any other committee in US history. It is the most political body and the least legitimate,” McCarthy said. “It has used subpoenas to attack Republicans, violated principles of due process and restricted the freedom of individuals to express themselves politically.”
McCarthy dodged the question of whether he considered Joe Biden to be the legitimate President of the United States. He hopes to become speaker of the House of Representatives after the congressional elections in the fall – and that is only possible with the support of President Trump, who has been voted out.
He had written on his own platform that January 6 was not just a protest, but the “biggest movement in the country’s history” to make America great again, according to Trump.
Will there be an indictment?
The question is whether, at the end of the public presentation, the US Department of Justice could be forced to announce investigations or press charges against Trump based on circumstantial evidence and testimonies.
Republican Cheney spoke to her party’s conscience.
Image: AFP
Republican Liz Cheney at least recognizes a resolution: “On the morning of January 6, President Donald Trump intended to remain President of the United States. Despite the legitimate result of the presidential election and contrary to his constitutional duty, to relinquish power.”
Addressing her Republican party colleagues, she said one day Donald Trump will be gone. But “your disgrace will remain”.
Capitol Storm: The first day of public presentation
Torsten Teichmann, ARD Washington, June 10, 2022 5:41 a.m