Trump oversaw plan to nullify election won by Biden

Washington. A panel that investigated the assault on the United States Capitol last year recommended yesterday, December 19, to accuse Donald Trump of various crimes, including insurrection, which exposes the former president to being imprisoned.

The committee also proposed to charge him with the crimes of obstruction of an official procedure and conspiracy to defraud the United States after an 18-month investigation into the assault on Congress on January 6, 2021.

At least five people were killed when a mob fueled by Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was rigged ransacked the Capitol to prevent the transfer of power to President-elect Joe Biden.

The committee, made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans, voted unanimously to propose those criminal charges to the Justice Department after Justice Department Vice President Liz Cheney accused Trump of “clear negligence” in failing to immediately try to stop the riots, saying that “he is not fit for any office”.

“No one who behaves like this at that time can ever hold a position of authority in our nation again,” he declared.

The commission’s vote, largely symbolic, is not binding and the final decision will rest with Attorney General Merrick Garland.

“The commission gathered significant evidence that President Trump intended to disrupt the peaceful transition of power as required by our Constitution,” committee member Jamie Raskin said shortly before the vote.

“The evidence accumulated during our investigation justifies recommending criminal prosecution against Donald Trump,” he added.

The suggested charges expose Trump to prison terms and a ban from holding public office.

“He avoided transferring power”

Congressmen cannot bring charges on their own, but they can recommend doing so to the Justice Department, which has already appointed a special prosecutor to investigate Trump’s role in the Capitol riots.

Some 900 people were detained in connection with that attack.

The committee believes that Trump “oversaw and coordinated a sophisticated plan to reverse the presidential election and prevent the transfer of power.”

Investigators say the plot began with the Trump campaign spreading allegations it knew to be false that the election was rigged.

In eight hearings, the panel revealed extensive evidence about Trump’s involvement in plans to nullify the election and found it impossible for the then-president to be unaware that he had lost the election to Joe Biden.

Trump “oversaw and coordinated a sophisticated seven-part plan to nullify the presidential election and prevent the transfer of power” to Biden.

Investigators say the plot began with the former president’s campaign to knowingly spread false accusations of fraud in the 2020 presidential election.