January 6 panel's final report sets out case to try Donald Trump for Capitol riot role

Washington DC

A Congressional panel report has clearly held former US president Donald Trump responsible for the unprecedented attack on Capitol Building in Washington DC. The report paves the way to try Trump as he engineered the events leading up to the riots. 

The report lists 17 specific findings, discusses the legal implications of actions by Trump and some of his associates.

The deadly attack of January 6, 2021 followed weeks of Trump's claims that he had won the US Presidential Election 2020 and that the election was rigged in favour of President Joe Biden.

The report contains allegations that Trump himself "oversaw" the dubious effort of claiming that the elections were rigged. “In the Committee’s hearings, we presented evidence of what ultimately became a multi-part plan to overturn the 2020 Presidential election,” says the report from the US House of Representatives select committee, released on Thursday.

“That evidence has led to an overriding and straight forward conclusion: the central cause of January 6th was one man, former President Donald Trump, whom many others followed. None of the events of January 6th would have happened without him.”

The House committee, comprising both Democrats and Republicans, prepared the 845-page report after 1,000-plus interviews, examination of a large number of documents, phone records, texts and more.

Watch | Capitol Hill Riots probe: No end to Trump's troubles; Jan 6 panel releases witness testimony

The committee had also subpoenaed Trump to testify before it. The former president declined. The panel has made a recommendation to the US Justice Department that criminal charges be filed against Trump. This is the first time ever that such a recommendation has been made against a former president.

Trump has termed the investigation carried out by the committee a "witch hunt".

Shortly before Trump supporters attacked the Capitol, Trump had addressed them in a rally. He had also said that he would "march with them" to Capitol Hill but ultimately did not.

Also Read | Donald Trump's tax filings to be made public, votes US House panel

The committee report also states that Trump did not act quickly to pacify his supporters. On January 6, 2021, the first tweet from Trump appealing to his supporters to stand down came more than an hour after the chaos unfolded.

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