The Jan. 6 select committee has formally voted to accuse Donald Trump of four crimes. The committee argued that the former President provided “aid and comfort” to the mob attacking the Capitol in 2021.
They also stated that Trump could be charged with obstructing Congress’ Jan. 6 joint session, conspiracy to make false statements to the National Archives, and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
“Faith in our system is the foundation of American democracy. If the faith is broken, so is our democracy,” select panel chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said. “Donald Trump broke that faith. He lost the 2020 election and knew it, but he chose to try to stay in office through a multi-part scheme. This can never happen again.”
The final meeting went down on the two-year anniversary of Trump’s Dec. 19, 2020 tweet, in which he called for a “wild” protest against the election results. The committee says the post was a key inflection point for the ensuing riot. Later Trump urged his supporters to “fight like hell” to convince lawmakers to vote against certifying Joe Biden’s victory.
Despite the committee’s decision, they have no power to prosecute Trump, as that will come down to the Department of Justice.
“I’m convinced that now that our committee has released our information, they will take the information that we’ve shared with them and proceed with the investigation,” Thompson also said of the DOJ’s decision.
[Via]