The storming of the Capitol was the “culmination of a coup attempt” orchestrated by Donald Trump, according to the congressional investigative committee tasked with shedding light on the events of January 6, 2021. Victor Bardou-Bourgeois , researcher at the Raoul-Dandurand Chair and specialist in American politics, helps us see things more clearly.
1- Donald Trump played a key role
After almost a year of work, more than 1,000 testimonies collected and 140,000 documents analyzed, the US Congressional Inquiry Committee, made up of 2 Republicans and 7 Democrats, has come to the conclusion that Donald Trump played a key role in the storming of the US Capitol.
Thus, the commission insists that the uprising was “nothing spontaneous”, but that it was rather part of a coup attempt by the sulphurous Republican president not to concede victory to Joe Biden.
“This is the first time that an American president has refused to accept the results of an election,” recalls Victor Bardou-Bourgeois.
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2- It was an elected Republican who sounded the charge
It was the Republican representative of Wyoming, Liz Cheney who sounded the charge against the former president by bringing multiple charges against him.
In particular, she said that “Donald Trump mobilized a violent horde”, referring to a fiery speech delivered by the president a few minutes before the invasion, the Republican added that “President Trump lit the flame of the attack” , in addition to doing nothing for hours to end the violence.
AFP
Liz Cheney before the Congressional Investigative Committee, June 9, 2022.
She also referred to testimony from a member of Trump’s entourage that the president, when informed that the rioters were chanting “Hang Mike Pence!” Hang Mike Pence,” reportedly replied that it was a “good idea.”
“Mike Pence deserves it,” he reportedly added.
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However, there should not be a break in the Republican ranks, nuance Victor Bardou-Bourgeois.
“The two Republicans who are on the commission were disowned by their party for strongly criticizing Donald Trump. So they really don’t represent the dominant thinking of the party,” he said.
Mr. Bardou-Bourgeois also recalls that the commission is widely perceived as being partisan and that a large part of the American conservative right gives it very little importance.
3- Ivanka Trump has distanced herself
Donald Trump’s daughter, who was then an adviser to the White House, not only refused to support her father when the latter claimed that the election had been rigged, but she actually said the opposite.
Among other things, the commission featured a video interview of William Barr, the former attorney general and Trump ally, repeatedly saying that the voter fraud allegations and the president’s statements were “bullshit“.
A testimony that Ivanka Trump has publicly said “accept”.
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4- Trump has mobilized the far right
The committee gave the floor to a British documentary filmmaker who followed members of two far-right groups the day before and the day of the attack. They were mainly from two groups: Proud Boys, considered terrorist in Canada, and Oaths Keepers.
AFP
The images captured showed that many rioters had moved to Washington at the request of the billionaire, since he had addressed them during a presidential debate asking them to “stay back and watch”.
The interrogation of another member of the Proud Boys also suggested that the forces of the extremist organization “probably tripled” after this comment by the president.
5- There are still many unknowns
“The commission does not have the power to accuse, its objective is above all to present the facts to the American public from the moment Donald Trump lost the election, until the assault on Capitol Hill,” explains Vitor. Bardou Bourgeois.
It will then be up to the US Department of Justice to take up the case.
Moreover, the expert points out that there is still a lot of important information to disclose, since we are only at the first of 7 scheduled hearings.
“Usually in this kind of hearing, commission members keep some of their best cards up their sleeves to unveil as they go. There could therefore be “bombs” which explode in the next hearings”, he argues.