On Jan. 6, 2021, President Donald Trump incited a violent mob to attack the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overturn a free and fair election.
The U.S. House Select Committee investigation of the Jan. 6 attack has provided a powerful and detailed account of how Trump sought to overturn the election.
On July 21, former deputy national security adviser Matthew Pottinger and a former press aide, Sarah Matthews, were key witnesses at the committee’s prime-time hearing as the panel examined what Trump was doing as his supporters broke into the Capitol.
During the hearings, Pottinger and Matthews provided details on what Trump did—and didn’t do—as his supporters swarmed the U.S. Capitol and interrupted the ceremonial certification of the election.
The American people should never forget that more than three hours elapsed between Trump’s speech at a rally near the White House and his release of a video calling the rioters “very special” but asking them to “go home now.”
Pottinger and Matthews provided an account on what was happening behind the scenes as Trump resisted pleas from family, aides and Republicans to condemn the riot and urge people to leave the building.
The stunning testimonies of Pottinger, Matthews and previous testimony by Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff, provides clear evidence that the country was led by an unhinged leader so desperate to stay in power that he attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The testimony of Pottinger, Matthews, Hutchinson and others is damning because it makes clear that Trump knew the Jan. 6 rally could turn violent. Hutchinson said Trump knew his supporters were armed but demanded that metal detectors be removed as armed protesters descended upon the Capitol.
As his supporters rioted and chanted “Hang Mike Pence,” Trump said that his vice president, who had refused to bend under pressure to illegally throw out electoral ballots, deserved to be targeted, according to what Hutchinson said she heard from people who were present when Trump made the comment.
When demanding that magnetic detectors be removed to allow armed supporters into his Jan. 6 rally, Trump reportedly said, “They’re not here to hurt me.”
Hutchinson was appalled by the president and the rioters’ behavior as she watched as, in her words, “the Capitol building gets defaced over a lie.”
The repeated lies of a stolen election threatened election workers.
Wandrea Moss, a former Georgia election worker, testified about herself and her mother, Ruby Freeman, being targets of racism from Trump supporters who believed they rigged the 2020 election.
The nine-member U.S. House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack, comprising seven Democrats and two Republicans, has done an impressive and essential public service for the past year in investigating the connection between Trump and his allies and the violence that ensued at the Capitol.
The public hearing is having an impact.
A new poll shows that about half of Americans believe Trump should be charged with a crime for his role in the U.S. Capitol attack.
The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that 48 percent of U.S. adults say the Republican former president should be charged with a crime for his role, while 31 percent say he should not be charged. An additional 20 percent say they don’t know enough to have an opinion. Fifty-eight percent say Trump bears a great deal or quite a bit of responsibility for what happened on Jan. 6.
Some argue that Trump should not face criminal indictment because it will divide the country.
Trump is counting on this view prevailing. He has successfully used fear and intimidation tactics to get his way in business and politics.
But the question must be asked: What happens to a democracy when a president can seek to overturn a free and fair election without consequences? What happens to the rule of law? How can the United States have any moral authority to lead the world if it lets Trump get away with inciting an armed mob to overturn a democratic election?
There is mounting evidence against Trump, including:
Trump refused to perform his constitutional duties on Jan. 6 and sought to intimidate government officials with the threat of force and obstruction of Congress.
Trump coordinated with far-right militias to interrupt Congress’ Electoral College vote count.
After Trump left office, there is evidence he engaged in witness tampering and the obstruction of justice.
There is also evidence that Trump tried to contact unnamed committee witnesses.
The Justice Department should indict Trump for his role in inciting the assault on the U.S. Capitol, refusing to take any action to stop the rioters for over three hours and other criminal actions.
Trump must be held accountable.
(Reprinted from The Philadelphia Tribune)