Donald Trump “chose not to act” on January 6. Despite pressure from his advisors, including his children Ivanka and Eric, the former president was adamant, glued to the TV watching the Fox assault. And in so doing he “betrayed his oath to the Constitution, did not defend the country” and “abdicated his obligations to him”.
The Congressional Assault Inquiry Commission traces the 187 minutes of the uprising, from Trump leaving the stage after inviting his supporters to march on Capitol Hill to posting the video on Twitter asking his fans to go home. . “He has paved the way for violence and corruption” with his attempts to overturn the outcome of the vote and for this he must “be held accountable,” says the chairman of the special commission, Democrat Bennie Thompson.
Through videos and live and non-live testimonies, the commission retraces – minute by minute – those little more than three hours of panic. Hours of tension in the White House with almost all of the president’s advisers trying in vain to get him to intervene and stop the protest. Trump has not heard from anyone and indeed, just before the violence exploded with force, he tweeted against former Vice President Mike Pence calling him a ‘coward’ for wanting to certify the vote. During those hours in Congress, Pence was immediately removed from the Secret Service: the agents – the commission reports – were so worried that the worst could happen that they phoned their families to say hello. With the twitter about Vice President Trump “he has thrown fuel on the fire”, he has effectively given the “authorization” to the protesters to raise their tone, says Sarah Matthew, the former deputy spokesperson for the White House, before the commission.
As the situation exploded on Capitol Hill, the former president was engaged in a tug-of-war with his folks who wanted him to tweet to clamor and call for peace. It took hours, until 16.02, before Trump was persuaded to post a relaxing video asking the protesters to go home, a video made possible in part thanks to the intervention of Ivanka who helped find the right words, those pleasing to the president. «Everyone» in the White House and outside «wanted a stop to the protests. Everyone except Trump, ”highlights Republican MP Adam Kinzinger, a member of the commission on January 6. During the two hours and 45 minutes of hearing, the commission also presented the video of Trump of January 7, when more than 24 hours after the attack he was speaking to the nation but only after he was told the real possibility of an impeachment. and an appeal to the 25th Amendment. The video shows Trump refusing to say that the “elections are closed”: “I can’t say. I say that Congress has certified the result.
In the White House, while Congress was under assault, there was also Melania Trump. “I did not know what was happening otherwise I would have condemned the violence,” the former First Lady told the microphones of Fox shortly before the commission’s public hearing. “I was carrying out my duties as First Lady – he points out -, cataloging the articles of the White House for the national archives”. The hearing ends with the harsh words of Liz Cheney, the Republican deputy who sits on the committee. The former president is “indefensible,” she says. “She exploited the patriotism of his supporters by using it as a weapon,” she adds, making an appointment in September with a new series of hearings.