Ex-President Donald Trump was guilty of several serious crimes: With this conclusion, a special committee of the US House of Representatives ended its work. For a year and a half he investigated the events surrounding the storming of the Capitol in Washington. Now the nine MPs unanimously decided on Monday to recommend indictments against ex-President Trump and several of his accomplices. Special Counsel Jack Smith and Attorney General Merrick Garland will decide.
The Committee is now exerting maximum political pressure on these two. He holds Trump guilty of the most serious crime under discussion: Trump, with the help of his supporters, attempted an “insurrection”, a violent uprising against the constitutional order. This recommendation is explosive because if found guilty, Trump not only faces a fine and up to ten years in prison, but also a lifelong ban from holding public office.
Sufficient evidence for a whole list of crimes
The committee further accuses Trump of disrupting the January 6, 2021 session of Congress, defrauding the United States with lies and influencing witnesses. For Bennie Thompson, the chair of the committee, Trump’s actions weigh heavily. “If trust in the election process is destroyed, so is American democracy,” said the Democrat. “Donald Trump destroyed that trust.”
The committee found that there was sufficient evidence for the entire list of crimes, and according to witnesses Trump always acted against his better knowledge. He claimed the elections had been rigged. He put electoral officials under pressure to falsify the result. He had false electors recruited. He pressured the Justice Department into groundless lawsuits over electoral fraud and wanted to replace the recalcitrant Attorney General with a compliant minion. He asked Vice President Mike Pence to prevent the confirmation of the election results.
Details and survey protocols will be made public in a few days
When that didn’t work, Trump summoned armed supporters to Washington, sent them to the Capitol, and incited violence against Pence to disrupt the congressional ceremony. He let the rioters do their thing and did nothing for more than three hours to restore law and order. And afterwards he tried to hinder the investigation by promising a well-paid job to a witness.
A violent uprising against the constitutional order is how the investigative committee sees the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
(Photo: Essdras M. Suarez./imago images/ZUMA Wire)
Trump’s alleged accomplices are also to appear before the judges. The lawyer John Eastman was mentioned by name. In the next few days, all details should be known with the final report, as well as the majority of the documents such as protocols of surveys. This is a blow for Trump: he is spending the first months of his presidential campaign for the 2024 election in defensive mode. Although it is not yet clear when Special Counsel Jack Smith and Attorney General Merrick Garland will decide on an indictment.