The day of January 6 was to be placed under the sign of democracy. The parliamentarians should have certified the victory of Joe Biden in the presidential election, and his predecessor, like those before him, depart with dignity from the political scene. But that was without counting on the recklessness of Donald Trump, ready to do anything to retain power. The former tenant of the White House “failed in his duty” during the assault on the Capitol. He must be held legally responsible, decided Thursday, during a prime time hearing, the elected officials who have been investigating the attack of January 6, 2021 for a year.
Bennie Thompson, who chairs the House of Representatives committee in charge of these investigations, did not mince his words: the former Republican president opened the floodgates “to disorder and corruption”. Members of the commission wrapped up a series of high-profile hearings giving a “minute-by-minute” account of part of Donald Trump’s most critical January 6 day. 187 minutes that forever changed American political life.
High noon. Black coat and red tie, Donald Trump delivers a fiery speech in the heart of the capital. He and his entourage are aware of the presence of weapons at the foot of the congressional steps, according to former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson. In front of him, a crowd of people, disappointed with the defeat of their champion, whom he asks to “fight like the devils” against supposed “massive electoral fraud”. Conscious or not of the consequences of his words, the businessman lights the fuse and seems to give his supporters a right to snatch victory by force. As he leaves for the White House, against his will, the crowd launches an assault on the temple of American democracy. Annoyed, Donald Trump would then have sought to grab the wheel of the limousine to join the rioters.
The following scene is surreal: entrenched in the dining room, Donald Trump watches the attack on television. Around him, there is incomprehension. “His close advisers and family members begged him to intervene,” describes the elected Democrat Elaine Luria. In a video clip of his deposition, former White House legal adviser Pat Cipollone confirms that he told him “very clearly” to make an “immediate and clear public statement to call on people to leave the Capitol”.
Trump’s passivity in front of his TV set
The president refuses “because of his selfish desire to stay in power”, continues Elaine Luria. Worse, according to her, he sends a tweet at 2:24 p.m. to criticize his vice president, Mike Pence, for not wanting to block the certification of the results of the election, fueling the grievances of the rioters.
Within two hours, Donald Trump will make minimal effort to put out the fire. He is content to call on the crowd “to remain peaceful”, a minimalist term accepted only after the intervention of his own daughter Ivanka, reports the deputy spokeswoman at the White House, Sarah Matthews.
It will take three hours for the septuagenarian to finish, via a video message posted on Twitter, by calling the protesters to order. The injunction is sober: “Go home, in peace”. He does not respect the text written by his advisers. “I know your pain,” he chose to say, presenting himself again as the victim of a “stolen” election. He never picks up his phone to “give orders or offer help” to the police or the army, notes Elaine Luria, who relies on telephone reports from the presidency.
Calm returned, the 45th president of the United States returns to his residence around 6 p.m. while a curfew is in effect in the capital, says the washington post. He does not mention the attack and is content to launch to an employee of the White House: “Mike Pence let me down”. The next day, when many employees resign, Donald Trump bows down and agrees to shoot a video to condemn the violence. But excerpts from the shoot revealed his reluctance. “I don’t want to say that the election is over,” he says with annoyance.
This series of testimonies paints a damning portrait of the American president and his management of the crisis. “This is not the story of inaction in times of crisis, but the final act of the plan concocted by Donald Trump (…) to stay in power”, concluded Liz Cheney at the end of the session, the only Republican on the commission along with Adam Kinzinger. For her, he “instrumentalized the patriotism and sense of justice” of his supporters to push them to act. Her actions were “premeditated”, “conscious, “indefensible”, asserted the elected official, repudiated by her party.
This audition was the eighth in six weeks and the second broadcast at prime time. The previous ones have focused, among other things, on the role of the far right in the assault or on the pressure exerted on electoral agents by Donald Trump. New auditions will take place in September, said Bennie Thompson. A final report is expected in the fall. The assault on the Capitol has not finished haunting Donald Trump.