Capitol Building, Washington D.C., the location of the January 6 Insurrection. Source : Wendy Maxwell on Pexels
The committee tasked with looking into the January 6 insurrection of the Capitol in the U.S. has released their full report.
The report comes after the Democrat-controlled, at the time of forming, House select committee spent nearly 18-months investigating the insurrection at the Capitol in Washington DC in 2021.
The 845-page document discussed information obtained by over 1000 interviews, and evidence obtained by investigators, including emails, text messages, and phone records.
The executive summary discussed some of the evidence, revealing that many of the instigators of the insurrection, who are part of the Oath Keepers group, which is an anti-government militia, were provoked by tweets sent by Donald Trump surrounding the results of the 2020 election.
The executive summary began with a recount of the testimony of Graydon Young, who testified against Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, and other members.
“[Gradyon] Young explained to the jury how he and other Oath Keepers were provoked to travel to Washington by President Donald Trump’s tweets and by Trump’s false claims that the 2020 Presidential election was ‘stolen’ from him.” The executive summary said.
Young said in his testimony, which took place over a year and half after the insurrection, that he felt ashamed and embarrassed over what took place that day, however his feelings were different at the time.
“I felt like, again, we were continuing in some kind of historical event to achieve a goal.” Mr Young said.
Many other testimonies also said the same, with many individuals involved feeling like they were doing their patriotic duty.
“The President of the United States…[is] out on TV telling the world that it was stolen, what else would I believe, as a patriotic American who voted for him and wants to continue to see the country thrive as I though it was?” Lewis Cantwell said in his testimony.
Based on the recounts of witnesses, and the results of the investigation, the committee came to 17 findings.
“Beginning election night and continuing through January 6th and thereafter, Donald Trump purposely disseminated false allegations of fraud related to the 2020 Presidential election in order to aid his effort to overturn the election and for purposes of soliciting contributions.” The first finding said.
“These false claims provoked his supporters to violence on January 6th.” It finished.
The committee ultimately found that Donald Trump was the main factor in the insurrection, with the supports who instigated the event, most of which being members of the Oath Keepers, choosing to follow Mr Trump’s statements in a violent manner.
The committee, in a Twitter thread, have urged for the prosecution of Mr Trump.
“We believe that the evidence assembled throughout our hearings warrants a criminal referral of former President Donald J. Trump, John Eastman, and others for violations of [Title 18 Section 1512(c)]” they said.
They have passed over their findings to the U.S. Department of Justice, publicly calling for the prosecution of Mr Trump on criminal charges.
The committee presented a total of 11 recommendations.
The report was finalised and penned by outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and committee members Chairman Bennie Thompson, and Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney were thanked for their contributions.
Final Report: Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol
