During an explosive new hearing on Thursday, the Commission of Inquiry into the attack of January 6, 2021 outlined the course of this day as experienced “minute by minute” by Donald Trump inside the White House. The former president “must be held legally responsible for the attack”, assures the deputy Beni Thompson, president of the Commission.
With our correspondent in Miami, David Thomson
At 1:25 p.m. on January 6, 2021, Donald Trump had just been forcibly returned to the White House after a confrontation with his security service, who refused to take him to the Capitol stormed by his supporters. The president then settles in the private dining room near the oval office and turns on the television, explains Elaine Luria, a member of the Commission of Inquiry. ” On Fox News, he follows the attack live, she saysfor two and a half hours without moving. »
” Add fuel to the fire “
His advisers and his family, including his daughter Ivanka, insistently ask him to broadcast a call for calm, but Donald Trump refuses. Before the commission, his advisers confirm that at no time does the president call the police for reinforcement. ” Of course he didn’t interveneaccuses the elected Adam Kinzinger, because the demonstrators were accomplishing his objective: to prevent the certification of the election results. The president chose not to act. »
And while at the Capitol, his vice-president is hastily evacuated in the face of demonstrators who threaten to hang him, Donald Trump posts a tweet to accuse Mike Pence of treason. ” It was throwing oil on the fire “Says a former councilor who resigns that day. It would take 187 minutes of inaction before Trump finally agreed to reluctantly tape a video asking his supporters to go home, while telling them he loves them and the election was stolen.
The former Republican president has opened the floodgates “to disorder and corruption,” said Bennie Thompson, who chairs the House of Representatives committee in charge of these investigations. All officials, including the White House, will have to “ answer for their actions in court “added the elected Democrat. “ There will have to be severe consequences, otherwise I fear that our democracy will not recover. »
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