During his final public hearing on Monday, the body retained four possible reasons for an indictment of the former president. But the decision now goes to the Ministry of Justice, which had appointed a special prosecutor in November.
by Piotr Smolar (Washington, correspondent)
Donald Trump must be prosecuted as a criminal, due to acts of exceptional gravity. This is the conclusion – both symbolic and historical – to which the parliamentary commission of inquiry has reached the assault on January 6, 2021 against the Capitol. During its final public hearing on Monday, December 19, the Commission retained four possible reasons for an indictment: obstruction of an official procedure (the certification of the results at the Congress after the victory of Joe Biden), conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy in order to produce false declarations (the alternative lists of large voters), and finally incentive or helps in an insurrection.
The nine elected officials of the House of Representatives believe that they have enough evidence, after their monumental work of eighteen months, to address these recommendations to the Ministry of Justice (DOJ). The latter is by no means obliged to adopt them. It is here that the nuance between parliamentary work, as rigorous and ample as it is, comes in, and the construction of an accusation file having to hold the road in front of a large jury which will decide any prosecution.
For the Commission, Donald Trump’s responsibilities are indisputable, as details a summary of 160 pages published Monday , before the entire report on December 21 . This captivating text rests above all on the testimony of close advisers. He manages to assemble all the parts of the dark business which aimed to prevent the peaceful transition of power. A coup was tempted and failed. At the helm was Donald Trump, intoxicated by his own lies, ready to burn everything rather than losing everything.
Well upstream of the presidential election of November 3, 2020, Trump had planned to challenge an unfavorable result, without taking into account the opinion of his advisers. He then initiated a campaign of lies on imaginary fraud, while collecting considerable funds (nearly 250 million dollars) with his sympathizers. He tried to promote alternative lists of large voters in certain key states, puts pressure on local elections of the ballot as in Georgia, pushed the Ministry of Justice to endorse his lies, asked his vice-president Mike Pence prevent the certification of results in the congress. Then Donald Trump multiplied the calls for mobilization for January 6, activating armed extremist groups like the Proud Boys or the Oath Keepers, so that his supporters walk towards the Congress.
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