The committee recommends that Trump be charged with having “conspired to make a false statement”, “obstructed the official activities of Congress”, “conspired to defraud the United States”, and “engaged in sedition”. The latter offense is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. The committee’s nine members adopted the proposal unanimously. – It is our assessment that the evidence presented by my colleagues today and collected through the hearings warrants a recommendation to issue criminal charges, said committee member Jamie Raskin from the Democrats after the vote. The vote marks the end of an extensive investigation that has been ongoing for a year and a half. GATHERED FOR THE LAST TIME: The congressional investigation committee gathered for the last time on Capitol Hill on December 19, 2022. Adam Schiff is among the panel’s members (3rd from left) Photo: EVELYN HOCKSTEIN / Reuters At the same time, there are still a number of steps to be taken before Trump is eventually indicted and a trial is held. Formally, the committee’s decision is only a recommendation to Minister of Justice Merrick Garland. First, the Department of Justice and Minister Garland must decide whether to press charges based on the evidence presented by the committee. A judge must then decide if there is a basis for an indictment. COMMITTEE LEADERS: Congressional Intelligence Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (front) and Vice Chairman Liz Cheney (back) during the panel’s final meeting on December 19. Cheney lost his seat in the House of Representatives during the midterm elections this fall. Photo: ANDREW HARNIK / AFP “The big lie” – Donald Trump broke the people’s trust in the electoral system, said the panel’s Democratic leader Bennie Thompson in the introduction to the meeting. – Trump is unfit to govern, said the Republican representative Liz Cheney, who is the deputy chairman of the committee. The committee’s panel also summarized the evidence that Trump sought to remain in the presidency. They call this attempt “The big lie”. INVESTIGATION: Documents that should have been requested by the FBI at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in August are strewn across a carpet. The image is shared by the US Department of Justice. Photo: JOSE ROMERO / AFP – The former president’s decision to declare victory on false grounds was not spontaneous. It was premeditated. The committee has found evidence that the former president planned to declare that he won the election and illegally request that the vote count cease, Democratic committee member Zoe Lofgren said during her summation. Among other things, the committee believes that Trump encouraged his supporters to storm Congress and tried to overturn the election results by using fake voters. Facts about the congressional investigation committee Photo: POOL / AFP The House of Representatives in Congress established an investigation committee in July 2021 to investigate what led to the storming of the congressional building in Washington on January 6 of the same year. The committee will try to determine the circumstances surrounding the storming and what role then-President Donald Trump and his associates played. The committee has nine members and is chaired by civil rights activist and Democrat Bennie G. Thompson. Two Republicans are on the committee, Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both of whom have been condemned by their own party for their participation. The committee has interviewed over 1,000 people and has reviewed over 125,000 documents and large amounts of video and audio recordings from the dramatic events that cost five people their lives. On 9 June, the start was made for an open and televised hearing where many witnesses will explain themselves and the committee will present parts of its material. The hearing is expected to last until the end of July. The committee is scheduled to present its final report in September. On January 6, 2021, thousands of Trump supporters gathered in Washington to protest the election results. Around 2,000 broke into the Congress. Five people died and 128 police officers were injured. Also calls for lawyer to be charged The committee also called for Trump’s lawyer and legal adviser, John Eastman, to be charged for his involvement in storming Congress. John EastmanLawyer, former law professor at Chapman University and founder of the conservative think tank Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence. Risks the congressional committee is seeking impeachment on the following grounds: A central part of the effort to undermine the results of the 2020 presidential election.Falsely conveyed to Vice President Mike Pence that Pence had the constitutional right to block the certification of the election results. Sent a detailed plan to Senator Mike Lee that involved throwing out the electoral delegates from seven states. Asked Mike Pence to violate election law to delay certification of election. In addition, the committee was expected to ask the House Ethics Committee to investigate several Republican congressmen who failed to comply with subpoenas. On July 22 this year, Trump’s former campaign manager and close adviser Steve Bannon was convicted of contempt of Congress after refusing to testify in the January 6 hearings. The punishment was four months in prison and a $6,500 fine.
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