WASHINGTON: The U.S. House of Representatives panel probing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol asked federal prosecutors on Monday to charge Donald Trump with four crimes, including obstruction and insurrection, for his role in sparking the deadly riot.
The Democratic-led select committee's request to the Justice Department - after more than 1,000 witness interviews and the collection of hundreds of thousands of documents - marked the first time in history that Congress has referred a former president for criminal prosecution.
The request does not compel federal prosecutors to act, but comes as a special counsel is overseeing two other federal probes of Trump related to the Republican's attempt to overturn his 2020 election defeat and the removal of classified files from the White House.
The committee asked the Justice Department to charge Trump with four potential felonies: obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress, conspiracy to defraud the United States, making false statements, and aiding or inciting an insurrection.
"An insurrection is a rebellion against the authority of the United States. It is a grave federal offense, anchored in the Constitution itself," Representative Jamie Raskin, a Democratic select committee member, said as he announced the charges.
A Justice Department spokesperson declined comment. A Trump spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump gave a fiery speech to his supporters near the White House the morning of Jan. 6, and publicly chastised his vice president, Mike Pence, for not going along with his scheme to reject ballots cast in favor of Democrat Joe Biden. Trump then waited hours to make a public statement as thousands of his supporters raged through the Capitol, assaulting police and threatening to hang Pence.
Monday's meeting was the last public gathering of the nine-member panel that spent 18 months probing the unprecedented attempt to prevent the peaceful transfer of power by thousands of Trump backers, inspired by his false claims that his 2020 election loss to Biden was the result of widespread fraud.
Representative Bennie Thompson, the committee's chairperson, slammed Trump for summoning the mob to the Capitol and criticized him for undermining faith in the democratic system by repeating false claims of fraud.
"If the faith is broken, so is our democracy. Donald Trump broke that faith," Thompson said.
ETHICS REFERRAL FOR HOUSE REPUBLICANS
The committee also said it referred four Republican House members, including Kevin McCarthy, the favorite to be the next speaker, to the chamber's ethics committee, for failing to comply with subpoenas as it investigated the attack.
The other three subpoenaed representatives were Scott Perry, Jim Jordan and Andy Biggs. Spokespeople for Jordan, Perry and Biggs dismissed the action as political stunts. McCarthy's office did not respond to a request for comment.
Republicans, who take control of the House on Jan. 3, are unlikely to act against members of their own leadership.
Trump has already launched a campaign to seek the Republican nomination to run for the White House again in 2024.
Five people, including a police officer, died during or shortly after the incident and more than 140 police were injured. The Capitol suffered millions of dollars in damage.
"Among the most shameful of this committee's findings, was that President Trump sat in the dining room off the Oval Office, watching the violent riot at the Capitol on television," said Representative Liz Cheney, one of two Republicans on the committee and its vice chairperson.
MULTIPLE INVESTIGATIONS
A summary of the committee's report also said the panel believed there were grounds to recommend criminal charges against some others close to Trump, including attorney John Eastman.
It named other Trump associates, including former Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark, former White House Chief of Staff and House member Mark Meadows and two lawyers - Kenneth Chesebro and Rudy Giuliani - as participating in conspiracies the panel is linking to Trump.
An attorney for Eastman responded with a statement criticizing the committee as partisan. Representatives of the others did not immediately respond to requests for comment or declined comment.
A jury has already found members of the right-wing Oath Keepers militia guilty of sedition for their role in the attack.
Trump has faced a series of legal problems since leaving office on Jan. 20, 2021. His real estate company was convicted on Dec. 6 of carrying out a 15-year-long criminal scheme to defraud tax authorities.
Trump has dismissed the many investigations as politically motivated. On Monday, he said any prosecution would mean he was improperly being charged twice, after he was impeached last year for a second time but then acquitted in the Senate.
"The Fake charges made by the highly partisan Unselect Committee of January 6th have already been submitted, prosecuted, and tried in the form of Impeachment Hoax # 2," Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
Hours into the riot, Trump released a video statement asking rioters to go home but also telling them that he loved them. He then sent a tweet saying, "These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away."
The select committee of seven Democrats and two Republicans approved the recommendation of charges unanimously.
The House Ways and Means Committee is due to meet on Tuesday to decide what to do with Trump's tax returns, which it obtained late last month after a long court fight. Trump was the first presidential candidate in decades to not release his tax returns during either of his campaigns for president.
Reuters
Tue Dec 20 2022
Trump has already launched a campaign to seek the Republican nomination to run for the White House again in 2024. - AP/Filepic
Pegawai, anggota bomba di lima negeri ada masalah kesihatan
Ujian Kemahiran Taktikal Kebombaan diduduki seramai 12,608 anggota dan pegawai dan hanya 9,313 sahaja yang lulus.
Kerajaan komited lahirkan lebih ramai teknousahawan
Anugerah Teknousahawan TVET@KKDW diperkenalkan bagi memberi pengiktirafan serta penghargaan kepada institusi, pengajar, pelajar, graduan dan alumni yang telah menunjukkan kecemerlangan dalam bidang keusahawanan TVET.
Kedah bakal bangunkan LRT di Langkawi
Kedah merancang membina sistem tren Transit Aliran Ringan (LRT) menggunakan teknologi levitasi magnet di Langkawi
Kes pedofilia MRSM Tumpat diklasifikasikan fitnah, tiada bukti kukuh
Kes pedofilia terhadap seorang guru Maktab Rendah Sains Mara di Tumpat diklasifikasikan sebagai fitnah selepas siasatan tidak menemui bukti kukuh berhubung kes itu, kata Ketua Polis Kelantan Datuk Muhamad Zaki Harun.
Kerajaan berusaha tangani inflasi, tingkat kuasa beli rakyat
Menurut Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali, kerajaan tidak berdiam diri dalam menangani masalah inflasi termasuk melalui pelaksanaan pelbagai bentuk intervensi seperti kawalan harga.
Keutamaan negara Asia Barat untuk penuhi hasrat rakyat Palestin
Sekiranya Palestin diberikan negara dan kebebasan, mana-mana pihak tidak perlu lagi campur tangan dan tidak ada lagi konflik di Timur Tengah.
WEF gemakan wawasan, keterbukaan Malaysia dalam tiga hasrat
Mesyuarat Khas Forum Ekonomi Dunia (WEF) menjadi platform untuk Malaysia menggemakan keterbukaan jalinan kerjasama untuk melonjakkan ekonomi negara.
Hari ketiga lawatan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim di Riyadh Arab Saudi membawa wawasan Malaysia memperkasa hubungan bilateral antara negara, selain perbincangan mengenai pelaburan dan usaha memperkasa jalinan kerjasama sedia ada.
Hari ketiga lawatan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim di Riyadh Arab Saudi membawa wawasan Malaysia memperkasa hubungan bilateral antara negara, selain perbincangan mengenai pelaburan dan usaha memperkasa jalinan kerjasama sedia ada.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Berita tempatan pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Berikut adalah berita yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang Isnin, 29 April 2024.
WEF gemakan wawasan, keterbukaan Malaysia melalui tiga hasrat
Malaysia mahu perkasa hubungan bilateral antara negara, selain perbincangan mengenai pelaburan dan usaha mengukuhkan jalinan kerjasama sedia ada.
Biden rancang untuk berdebat dengan Trump
Sebelum ini, Biden tidak komited untuk berdebat dengan lawannya, Trump.
Lelaki bertindak bakar diri di luar mahkamah New York
Max Azzarello yang berasal dari St. Augustine, Florida, dilaporkan telah diselamatkan dan berada dalam keadaan kritikal.
7 juri dipilih dalam bicara kes wang sogok yang dihadapi Trump
Tujuh juri dipilih dalam perbicaraan kes wang sogok Donald Trump di New York, perbicaraan jenayah pertama terhadap bekas presiden Amerika Syarikat.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Perbicaraan skandal Donald Trump - bintang porno bermula
Donald Trump menjadi bekas Presiden Amerika Syarikat pertama yang menghadapi perbicaraan kes jenayah.
Bicara kes bayaran tutup mulut yang dihadapi Trump bermula dengan pemilihan juri
Donald Trump akan menjadi bekas presiden pertama dalam sejarah Amerika Syarikat (AS) yang dibicarakan atas tuduhan jenayah.
Trump gagal tangguh, perbicaraan tetap berlangsung 15 April ini
Ini merupakan kali pertama bekas Presiden AS dibicarakan melibatkan bayaran menutup mulut kepada seorang bintang filem lucah.
Biden menang pemilihan peringkat awal di Dakota Utara
Dalam pemilihan peringkat awal di Dakota Utara, terdapat 13 perwakilan ditawarkan dan kebanyakan pengundian dilakukan melalui undi pos.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Perbicaraan Donald Trump bermula 15 April
Ini merupakan kali pertama bekas Presiden AS dibicarakan melibatkan bayaran menutup mulut kepada seorang bintang filem lucah.