Donald Trump failed to stop violent supporters from storming the US Capitol and engaged in a conspiracy to overturn his failed Presidential bid, according to a bombshell new report.
The House Jan. 6 committee's final report asserts that Donald Trump criminally engaged in a "multi-part conspiracy" to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election.
He is also said to have failed to act to stop his supporters from attacking the Capitol, concluding an extraordinary 18-month investigation into the former president and the violent insurrection two years ago.
The 814-page report released Thursday comes after the panel interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses, held 10 hearings and obtained millions of pages of documents.
The witnesses - ranging from many of Trump's closest aides to law enforcement to some of the rioters themselves - detailed Trump's actions in the weeks ahead of the insurrection and how his wide-ranging pressure campaign to overturn his defeat directly influenced those who brutally pushed past the police and smashed through the windows and doors of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
"The central cause of January 6th was one man, former President Donald Trump, who many others followed," reads the report. "None of the events of January 6th would have happened without him."
The insurrection gravely threatened democracy and "put the lives of American lawmakers at risk," the nine-member panel concluded.
The report's eight chapters of findings tell the story largely as the panel's hearings did this summer - describing the many facets of the remarkable plan that Trump and his advisers devised to try and void President Joe Biden's victory.
The lawmakers describe his pressure on states, federal officials, lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence to game the system or break the law.
Trump's repeated, false claims of widespread voter fraud resonated with his supporters, the committee said, and were amplified on social media, building on the distrust of government he had fostered for his four years in office. And he did little to stop them when they resorted to violence and stormed the Capitol.
The massive, damning report comes as Trump is running again for the presidency and also facing multiple federal investigations, including probes of his role in the insurrection and the presence of classified documents at his Florida estate.
The committee met for its final hearing on Monday, in which they recommended four criminal charges to the Department of Justice (DoJ) regarding the conduct of Trump in the wake of the 2020 presidential election.
One of the charges included insurrection.
Transcripts of 34 Trump supporters and allies were also released and included the likes of InfoWars' Alex Jones and members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers far-right groups. Trump’s tax returns were also released this week.
Many of those who testified used their fifth amendment right to say nothing, but Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson told the panel that a Trump-allied lawyer tried to pressure her to testify favourably for the former president.
"We're gonna get you a really good job in Trump world," lawyer Stefan Passantino is alleged to have told her.
Passantino said: "As with all my clients during my 30 years of practice, I represented Ms. Hutchinson honorably, ethically, and fully consistent with her sole interests."
The DoJ is not obliged to follow Congress' recommendations, but Congressman Jamie Raskin suggested there could be more on the way from the DoJ: "These are not the only statutes that are potentially relevant to President Trump's conduct after the 2020 election.
"The president's actions could certainly trigger other criminal violations."
In the report's executive summary, the panel said: "The resulting January 6 insurrection of Trump’s followers threatened democracy with ‘horrific’ brutality toward law enforcement and ‘put the lives of American lawmakers at risk.
"The central cause of January 6th was one man, former president Donald Trump, who many others followed. None of the events of January 6th would have happened without him."
The charges included:
- Charge 1: obstruction of an official proceeding
- Charge 2: conspiracy to defraud the US
- Charge 3: conspiracy to make a false statement
- Charge 4: "Incite, "assist" or "aid or comfort" an insurrection
Committee Vice-Chair Liz Cheney said: "No man who ever behaved that way at that moment in time should ever serve in public office again."
An angry Trump responded to the report by continuing to claim the 2020 election was stolen. Trump's lies have no basis in fact, but he said he won the election "convincingly."
On his Truth Social social media site, Trump claimed: "The Fake charges made by the highly partisan Unselect Committee of January 6th have already been submitted, prosecuted, and tried in the form of Impeachment Hoax # 2. I WON convincingly. Double Jeopardy anyone!"
During the Monday hearing, the committee said they believed they had sufficient evidence for criminal referrals against lawyer John Eastman and others.
Four Republican lawmakers are also being referred to the House Ethics panel for not complying with committee subpoenas.
These are GOP leader Kevin McCarthy and Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Andy Biggs of Arizona and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.
