Donald Trump Faces More Problems: Just shy of two years before the second anniversary of the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol released its final report Thursday.
“The central cause of Jan. 6 was one man, former President Donald Trump, whom many others followed,” the report said. “None of the events of Jan. 6 would have happened without him.”
Following the Committee’s referral, earlier in the week, of Trump to the Justice Department on four potential criminal charges. The report also recommends that Trump be barred from holding public office again.
While others received criminal referrals, such as attorney John Eastman — author of a memo laying out how Trump could ask the vice president to set aside the electoral votes of certain states — the report was critical of the actions of several others who didn’t receive referrals. These included former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, and Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
Four Republican Congressmen, including Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), and Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), were referred to the House Ethics Committee for their refusal to comply with subpoenas issued by the committee.
The report is 845 pages, representing the culmination of the committee’s 18-month investigation.
According to CNN, there are several new revelations in the full report. Donald Trump and his team, the report says, committed at least 200 acts of trying to pressure officials in different states to overturn the election. One of them was Trump’s January 2, 2021, call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, asking him to “find 11,780 votes.” Reported by the press the following day, that call is the subject of a special grand jury in Georgia.
The report also states that Trump’s declaration in the wee hours the morning after the 2020 election that “frankly, we did this election” was “premeditated,” and that the campaign went on to raise millions of dollars, after the election, on the false claims of fraud.
“President Trump’s claims were treated as true and blasted to millions of people with little to no scrutiny by those tasked with ensuring accuracy,” the report says, per CNN.
In addition, the report names Republican attorney Kenneth Chesebro as the “original architect” of the fake electors scheme, in which Trump backers in the primary swing states lined up slates of dubious electors for the Trump ticket.
The Committee also recommended that lawyers involved in those schemes face the consequences, possibly from bar disciplinary bodies. It also recommended reform to the Electoral Count Act, which appears likely to pass in the omnibus spending bill that is currently under consideration in Congress.
There were also revelations about Trump’s actions during the January 6 riot itself. Trump, the committee said, did not make any calls during the insurrection to any national security officials. “Not at the Pentagon, nor at the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, the F.B.I., the Capitol Police Department, or the D.C. Mayor’s office,” the report said.
“What most of the public did not know before our investigation is this: Donald Trump’s own campaign officials told him early on that his claims of fraud were false,” Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), the committee’s Vice Chair, wrote in an introduction.
“Donald Trump’s senior Justice Department officials—each appointed by Donald Trump himself—investigated the allegations and told him repeatedly that his fraud claims were false. Donald Trump’s White House lawyers also told him his fraud claims were false. From the beginning, Donald Trump’s fraud allegations were concocted nonsense, designed to prey upon the patriotism of millions of men and women who love our country.”
Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.
