US Representative Bennie Thompson, of Mississippi, Chair of the January 6th Committe, at Today’s ‘Session -Before Disbanding.
Congresswoman Lynn Cheney at Today’s “January 6 Committee” Meeting of Which She Has Served as Co-chair. She Said That Trump “is unfit for any elected office.”
The “January 6 Committee” Just Before its Last Public Session Before Disbanding Today. It Has Been in Session for Eighteen Months.
It took the January 6th Committee about one hour to make its case and vote to refer four criminal actions of Donald Trump to the Department of Justice for indictment this afternoon at its final public session before disbanding. A final, full report is expected to be released on Wednesday of this week..
The last and probably most serious of the four is Trump’s effort to “incite, assist and comfort an insurrection.” If convicted of that, the penalty is many years in prison. It’s success would also prevent Trump for running for any elected office ever again.
The others are: obstruction of an official proceeding; conspiracy to defraud the US government; and conspiracy to make a false statement.
At the outset of the final meeting, Chair Thompson said: “This can not happen again if we are to survive as a democracy.” Individual members of the Committee made the case for the referrals accompanied by videos of past testimony seen in previous public hearings.
However, not seen previously was testimony by former Trump aid Hope Hicks. She did not contact Trump directly, but did contact his office prior to the insurrection urging Trump to downplay the event. Trump ignored her urging. She testified that he was afraid of being seen as a “looser.”
The Committee also made four Congressional referrals to the Ethics Committee for ignoring the subpoenas of the Committee. The four referrals were for Republicans: Jordan, Bigs, Perry and McCarthy. The irony is that McCarthy and his allies have made known their plans to initiate investigations of their own, requiring subpoenas to their Democrat colleagues.
“Today’s final hearing from the bipartisan January 6 Committee ends one of the most successful oversight and investigation panels in Congress’ history. I thank the members of the Committee who pushed forward against ceaseless obstruction from former President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans. The Committee has shown the entire world the terrifying, grotesque violence of January 6, 2021. The evidence that President Trump incited and directed the mob on the Capitol is overwhelming. I endorse the committee’s recommendation that former President Trump be criminally prosecuted for his actions. Prosecuting a former President in court has never happened before, but if we fail to hold Donald Trump accountabe, the threats to America’s democracy will only grow,” said Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D) in a press release from her office issued this afternoon.