The House Special Committee on the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol released its final report on Thursday. There are no surprises in the report that accuses former President Donald Trump of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. The report says Trump and his inner circle “engaged in at least 200 apparent acts of public or private outreach, pressure, or condemnation, targeting either state legislators or State or local election administrators, to overturn State election results.”
The report comes after the committee formally accused Trump of inciting insurrection and other crimes and called for the Department of Justice to open a criminal investigation.
“Our country has come too far to allow a defeated President to turn himself into a successful tyrant by upending our democratic institutions, fomenting violence, and, as I saw it, opening the door to those in our country whose hatred and bigotry threaten equality and justice for all Americans,” wrote the panel’s Chair Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat. He was joined by Republican Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, and Democrats Adam Schiff, Zoe Lofgren, Pete Aguilar, Stephanie Murphy, Jamie Raskin and Elaine Luria.
The report makes several recommendations, including reforming the Electoral College with the Electoral Reform Act. In fact, on Thursday the Senate did pass that act, which was tucked inside the massive spending package that will cost taxpayers $1.7 trillion.
The report also advises pursuing criminal and civil actions against those accused of misconduct by the report. It would ask Congress to create a process to bar people from future office, using the 14th Amendment. It recommends more severe punishment for those attempting to impeded the transfer of presidential power and stronger sanctions for those making threats against election workers.
The report also goes after certain unnamed media, saying that Congress “should continue to evaluate policies of media companies that have had the effect of radicalizing their customers, including by provoking people to attack their own country.”
To read the report, click this link that takes you to the House Committee’s PDF.
