KBarely a month before the congressional elections in America, the committee of inquiry into the storming of the Capitol decided with a bang: Committee chairman Bennie Thompson took the floor towards the end of the meeting on Thursday: There is more at stake than the investigation of January 6, 2021. Donald Trump must be held accountable, the Democrat said. Then: He must testify as a witness.
There are precedents for such an approach. Nevertheless, MEPs are aware that the measure they now want to take is as serious as it is exceptional. So you want to do this in front of the American people. Thompson handed the floor to his deputy, Liz Cheney. The Republican was given the task of introducing the request for a subpoena from the former president. She emphasized that the committee had gathered sufficient information about the storming of the Capitol in the past few months. But there is still one key task: The “central actor” of January 6, 2021 must testify. The evidence presented so far has shown that the “central cause of January 6th was one man – Donald Trump.” A public vote followed: All nine members of the special committee approved the motion.
The fact that Cheney was allowed to introduce the resolution was certainly a sign of recognition by the seven Democrats on the committee: The MP, who broke with Trump long ago and had to pay for it with the post on the group executive committee, had been there since the last committee meeting before the summer break also inferior in their internal party primaries in their home state. In the next Congress, Wyoming will almost certainly be represented by a Trump-loving MP. Cheney himself has announced that he will do everything in his power to prevent Trump from running again for the presidency. If she fails, she will leave the Republican Party.
After the decision to summon Trump, much is still unclear: the committee is now likely to enter into negotiations with Trump’s legal team. After the November 8 election, there could be a private testimony under oath. Committee members had previously made it clear that they wanted to avoid a public circus. If Trump ignores the subpoena, a lawsuit for contempt of Congress is likely to follow. Either way, Trump’s lawyers are likely to encourage their client to exercise his right to remain silent. It is also unclear (and debatable) whether the committee will formally ask the Justice Department to put Trump on trial by the end of the year. Although such a decision would be legally non-binding, it could give the impression of political influence.
Trump faces defeat in Supreme Court
The committee had previously worked out that, as pointed out by Adam Kinzinger, the second Republican on the committee, Trump knew he had lost the 2020 presidential election. However, he made a conscious decision to disregard the rule of law procedure for the change of power. Trump recently tried to justify his behavior after the election by saying that he “felt” that he had won the election.
The panel also displayed previously unreleased footage capturing the leadership of the congressional factions during the dramatic hours of the Capitol siege. The footage shows House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer being taken by the Secret Service to Fort McNair, a nearby military base. There they phoned the acting secretary of defense and the governors of Maryland and Virginia to call in more forces — and Vice President Mike Pence to ensure the continuation of the congressional session after the siege was lifted. The recordings were made by Pelosi’s daughter.
Meanwhile, Trump had to take a second hit: In the dispute over the evaluation of confiscated secret documents, the Supreme Court rejected an urgent application from the former president. Trump’s lawyers asked the Superme Court last week that a special examiner must have access to the classified documents. The court did not provide an explanation as to why it rejected the application.