Assault on the Capitol: the commission denounces a “shameless” manipulation by Trump

During this fifth public hearing, the nine elected officials – seven Democrats and two Republicans repudiated by their party – detailed the pressure exerted by Mr. Trump on the department to have it officially declare that the election had been rigged and to he is launching federal lawsuits parallel to those launched by the president’s lawyers.

Donald Trump didn’t just want the Justice Department to investigate. He wanted the Justice Department to help him legitimize his lies and groundlessly claim the election was riggednoted the chairman of the commission, Bennie Thompson.

The elected officials returned to the tensions within the department the days preceding January 6, 2021, when the beaten president had encountered an internal revolt while trying to install one of his relatives at the head of the institution. .

It was a brazen attempt to use the Justice Department to advance the President’s personal political interests.added Mr. Thompson.

Former acting justice secretary Jeffrey Rosen said he found himself under intense pressure from Mr. Trump, who contacted him almost daily between Dec. 31 and Jan. 3.

” At one point, he suggested appointing a special prosecutor for voter fraud. Several times he asked me to meet with his personal lawyer [Rudy] Giuliani. “

Former acting assistant secretary Richard Donoghue testified that he repeatedly told the former US president that his charges of voter fraud were unfounded.

Mr. Trump simply repeated that he had won the presidential election. The President said, “Just say the election was rigged and leave the rest in my hands and those of the elected Republicans”said Mr. Donoghue, based on his notes taken during a telephone conversation with Mr. Trump and former acting secretary Jeffrey Rosen.

A relative to Justice

Seeing that the highest officials of the Department of Justice refused to bend, the beaten president tried to install one of his relatives at the head of the institution. Jeffrey Clark, a mid-ranking official who espoused the theories promoted by the president about a rigged election, was to overrule the department’s findings – which found no evidence of fraud that could have changed the outcome of the November ballot.

Jeffrey Clark was also to intervene on behalf of the department to refuse to certify the result of the election in the key state of Georgia, where Joe Biden had won with only 12,000 votes in advance.

But Jeffrey Rosen, Richard Donoghue, senior department official Steven Engel and White House attorney Pat Cipollone threatened to resign during a meeting with Donald Trump on Jan. 3, warning him they would take the best federal prosecutors across the country.

” I pointed out that Jeff Clark did not have sufficient skills to become the Secretary of Justice. He has never pleaded in a criminal case. He never conducted a criminal investigation in his life. “

The commission of inquiry announced on Wednesday that two additional sessions would take place in July.

The Congress interrupts its work on July 4 for two weeks.

The commission continues to receive new evidence that is important to the investigation.explained a parliamentary source.

In particular, she wants to watch hours of film by documentary filmmaker Alex Holder, who had had access to Mr. Trump and his relatives before and after January 6.

After a year of investigation, the commission wants to present its conclusions before the end of the summer, placing Donald Trump at the heart of a coup attempt which culminated in the assault by hundreds of his supporters on the Congress building in Washington on January 6, 2021, as elected officials certified Joe Biden’s victory.

The images of chaos in and around the Capitol had gone around the world and shaken American democracy for a few hours.