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The House Select Committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the federal capitol (pictured, above, by Reuters) by supporters of Republican President Donald Trump, particularly his own role, could refer the tycoon to the Justice Department to face a criminal trial on multiple charges, Republican Vice President Liz Cheney said yesterday, Sunday.
No need to wait
During an interview on ABC's "This Week," Ms. Cheney also noted that the Justice Department does not need to wait for a formal recommendation from the committee to move against Mr. Trump, it could bring him to trial more quickly."
Asked whether she believes the committee's hearings proved that Donald Trump should be brought before the U.S. criminal justice system, Ms. Cheney limited herself to saying "ultimately, that's for the Justice Department to decide.
Liz Cheney, one of two Republican staffers on the special investigative committee chaired by Democrats, assured that "we will make a decision as a committee" on whether and whether to make a recommendation to the Justice Department to prosecute the real estate mogul.
He insisted that the Justice Ministry "is not obliged to wait for the committee" to decide and that "there may be more than one."
What it would mean for the country
[/P]Never in U.S. history has a sitting or former president been indicted in a criminal trial.
Asked what the move by Joe Biden's Justice Department to indict a former president would mean for the country, Ms. Cheney replied "I'm more concerned about what it would mean if people were not held accountable for what happened here."
Liz Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney (2001-2009), criticized Mr. Trump's behavior before, during and after the attack.
Thousands of the former president's supporters violently stormed the Congressional seat on January 6, 2021, in a failed attempt to prevent Mr. Biden's victory in the November 2020 election from being formally certified by members of Congress.
Ms Cheney has specifically stood by Mr Trump's inflammatory speech before the incidents that shook America.
"I think it raises a much more serious threat to the Constitution if a president can engage in these kinds of activities and (...) the majority party looks the other way," or "if we decide as a country (...) that we are not going to take our obligations under the Constitution seriously," the Republican lawmaker stressed.
"He knows a mob is armed"
"If you just look at it from the standpoint that someone knows a mob is armed and sends them to attack Capitol Hill and provokes them when their own vice president is threatened, when Congress is threatened," she added.
Ms. Cheney refrained from saying whether she plans to run for president of the United States in 2024. She faces a very tough intra-party battle ahead of the GOP nominee or candidate to represent the state of Wyoming ahead of the November midterm elections.
Trump has yet to clarify whether or not he will run for president again in 2024, though he has hinted at it publicly repeatedly.
"Someone as dangerous as Donald Trump should never even approach the Oval Office," Ms. Cheney countered to ABC.
There has been no comment so far from spokespeople, his entourage or the tempestuous mogul himself on the Republican congresswoman's statements, a black sheep for him.
Mr Trump has denied any responsibility for the Capitol attack, but has assured that if re-elected to the presidency, he will pardon all those involved in it.
Explosive revelations
Cassidy Hutchinson, a former associate of then-secretary general ("chief of staff") of the presidency Mark Meadows, made explosive revelations while testifying before the House Select Committee on Intelligence on how Mr Trump behaved on the day of the invasion.
Ms. Hutchinson testified that the former president wanted him to take the wheel of the presidential limousine when his security refused to take him to the Capitol to join his supporters.
He also said Mr. Trump downplayed concerns that some of his supporters who had gathered to hear his speech before the storming of Congressional headquarters were armed with AR-15 rifles. He simply told his security detail to check those who wanted to hear him about guns so the crowd would appear as large as possible.
After Ms. Hutchinson's testimony, other witnesses want to appear before the committee, said Rep. Adam Kinzinger, the second Republican to serve on it, speaking on CNN's "State of the Union." More revelations are coming, "stay tuned," he added."
Source: APM
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