First change: 21.12.2022 – 11:16
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The House of Representatives committee investigating the 2021 attack on the United States Capitol is convinced that Donald Trump committed various crimes, but building a court case is a little more difficult.
The nine-member committee summarized the findings of its 18-month investigation at its most recent meeting on Monday, where committee vice chair Republican Liz Cheney declared Trump “unfit for office.”
The panel proposed that the Justice Department indict Trump on four counts: obstructing an official process, conspiring to defraud the United States, misrepresenting the government, and inciting insurrection.
According to congressmen, Trump spent months lying to supporters that the 2020 election was stolen from him, incited a mob to storm the Washington Capitol on January 6, 2021, and did nothing to stem the violence of that attack , which claimed five lives.
Legal analysts conceded that the case presented by the House Committee is compelling, but warned there are stricter rules that limit prosecutors in a criminal trial.
“There are a number of federal rules of evidence that control what testimony a jury may hear,” former US Attorney Joyce Vance wrote in an analysis of the committee’s work.
The Justice Department “should carefully review the evidence … to determine whether the admissible evidence is sufficient,” he added.
Biased
Trump never gave his detailed version of events. All he said was that he was going on a witch hunt.
Analysts say the committee’s statement is biased and doesn’t address Trump’s possible lines of defense.
Until then, Vice President Mike Pence, whom Trump mercilessly attacked for refusing to help him reverse the election result, is defending the former president. Pence argues that being misled by a lawyer is not a crime.
“Perhaps crucially, Trump has tended to be evasive — handing over tasks to subordinates, avoiding confrontation, avoiding emails — so obtaining admissible evidence may be more difficult than committee supporters expected .” Kevin O’Brien, a former deputy US attorney general, told AFP.
US President Donald Trump put pressure on Vice President Mike Pence © Scott Olson / Getty Images North America/AFP/Files
O’Brien expects Attorney General Merrick Garland to proceed cautiously and doesn’t think an indictment will come “anytime soon.”
Gerard Filitti, adviser to think tank The Lawfare Project, says a hung jury would be the most likely outcome if Trump’s case goes to trial, as many Americans believe the election was genuinely stolen from him.
“The Justice Department is unlikely to press charges unless they are confident of a conviction,” he told AFP. “And more detailed evidence is needed as to what Trump knew and how much he knew about the committee’s publications,” he added.
“It’s enough”
Committee Chair Bennie Thompson has acknowledged the difference in the burden of proof between a congressional and criminal investigation and described what the panel has produced as a “road map” for the prosecution of Trump.
On the other hand, prosecutors could use powers Congress does not have to enforce subpoenas and obtain evidence that legislatures could not.
Cheney revealed at a hearing that Trump attempted to speak to a witness during the investigation, but witness tampering is not among the charges lawmakers have submitted to the Justice Department for consideration.
Another panel member, Zoe Lofgren, said a witness was represented by a Trump-affiliated attorney who suggested his client might say he couldn’t remember what investigators asked him.
Lofgren said the witness received a lucrative job offer just before her testimony date.
“The witness believed it was an attempt to influence her testimony. We fear these efforts may have been a ploy to prevent the commission from finding out the truth,” Lofgren said.
The committee also targeted White House officials, including Trump’s daughter Ivanka, whose testimony was “not entirely forthright.”
Map of the US capital Washington with the location of the Capitol that supporters of President Donald Trump tried to take in January 2021 © / AFP
Impeachment of Trump would be viewed by nearly half of Americans as “ill-conceived” and “deeply divisive,” political scientist Aron Solomon observed.
“However, I believe the DOJ will proceed with the indictments because there are enough of them,” he said, adding that the department “would face challenging questions if it decides not to move forward.”
© 2022 AFP