What is the integrity of a state, even the most powerful of all? What was behind the transition of power between a defeated American president, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden, chosen by a majority of voters to succeed him? These chilling questions escorted, Thursday, October 13, the public session of the parliamentary commission of inquiry into the January 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol. At its end, the nine elected members of the House of Representatives who compose it took the decision, unanimously, to summon Donald Trump to appear. A symbolic coup, allowing elected officials to show their concern for a contradictory debate. For the time being, the former president has not clearly rejected the idea of testifying live, simply being surprised at the lateness of this summons. “He must be accountable”said the chairman of the commission, Bennie Thompson, believing that Trump was “THE person at the center of the story”.
The elect know their time is running out. Midterm elections are scheduled for November 8. If the House of Representatives tilts in favor of the Republicans, the commission would have only a few weeks left, before January, to complete its final report and possibly recommend indictments. It is possible that an interim document will be published before the upcoming election. On Thursday, the commission addressed the American public to summarize the salient points of its demonstration, political and factual, developed during the eight previous sessions. After collecting nearly a thousand testimonies and going through a huge amount of documents, new elements have been revealed.
The most intense moment was a video montage of sequences filmed at the Capitol and then at the Fort McNair military base on January 6, where the highest parliamentary officials, Democrats and Republicans, had managed to find refuge. We see them replacing a failing president, intoxicated by his own lies, refusing his defeat even if it means scuttling American democracy. ” We have to finish the procedure [de certification de l’élection], or else they will have a complete victory”said Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives, walking briskly down the halls as she was evacuated. It is then 2:23 p.m., rioters have stormed the building and are physically looking for some elected officials, as well as Vice President Mike Pence, who refused to block the certification of the election, as demanded by Donald Trump.
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