Donald Trump will be ordered to give evidence into deadly US Capitol riots after 6 January committee vote
The congressional panel investigating the deadly attack on the US Capitol has voted to subpoena Donald Trump.
It was a unanimous vote and the former president will now be compelled to give evidence to the committee about the events of 6 January 2021 which saw five people killed and hundreds, including many law enforcement officers, injured.
The committee said he is “required to answer for his actions”.
It has been arguing in its hearings so far that Mr Trump was directly involved in the bid to overturn the 2020 US election result after inciting his supporters on the day to storm the Capitol building – the seat of US power in Washington DC.
He denies the accusations, and on Truth Social described the committee as “a total bust”.
Police were forced to use tear gas during the riots, which stunned America – and the world
The panel cannot bring legal charges against Mr Trump, but it can decide to make a criminal referral to the Justice Department, should members choose.
Its series of hearings, which began in June this year, has been trying to establish his exact involvement.
On Thursday, it was told Mr Trump orchestrated a multi-part plan to nullify the election result, and had behaved in a way that was a “staggering betrayal of his oath”.
The vote came as extraordinary new footage emerged of both Republican and Democrat lawmakers huddled in a secure location in the Capitol building as the riot unfolded around them.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is seen in the video telling the group: “There has to be some way we can maintain the sense that there is some security, some confidence, that government can function… and that you can elect the President of the United States.
“We have to get to finish the proceedings.”
She is then left stunned when an aide replies: “Apparently everybody on the floor is putting on their tear gas masks to prepare for a breach.”
Storming the Capitol: How four hours of mayhem unfolded in Washington
On the morning of 6 January, thousands of his supporters – inspired by an incendiary speech he had just given near the White House in which he repeated claims he had been denied a second term due to voter fraud – marched to the Capitol.
It was in session at the time, overseeing the congressional certification of Joe Biden‘s presidential election win.
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Picture: Associated Press
A large group, including armed members of far-right groups like the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers and QAnon, breached barriers at pedestrian entrances to the building’s grounds. Several also entered the Capitol building itself after a mob smashed windows and forced open doors.
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The hearing has been told former president Trump refused to call off the mob
Debunked
Having lost the electoral vote on 3 November 2020 to his Democratic opponent, Mr Trump began to insist the contest had been “rigged,” triggering his opponents to claim a conspiracy against him.
His accusations of voting malpractice have been continually debunked by election authorities.
The former president, a Republican, has so far refused to appear before the committee, which is made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans.
He may reject the subpoena, although he is legally bound to respond positively to it.
Steve Bannon, his former aide, was also subpoenaed to the panel but failed to turn up and has since been convicted of contempt of congress for doing so. He will be sentenced later this month and could be jailed for up to two years.
Steve Bannon (R) with Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner at the White House
Hundreds of witnesses have been interviewed by the panel and more than 50 subpoenaed.
More than 900 people were charged with offences relating to the 6 January insurrection.
Mr Trump has vowed to pardon them if he wins a second term as President, though he has yet to officially announce he is standing for re-election.
Earlier on Thursday, the US Supreme Court rejected Mr Trump’s plea to step into the legal fight over the FBI search of his Florida estate.
He had asked the justices to overturn a lower court ruling and permit an independent arbiter to review the roughly 100 documents with classified markings that were taken in the 8 August search of Mar-a-Lago, but his request was denied.
US
Pam Bondi: Key proponent of Trump’s false 2020 election claims set to head justice department after Gaetz withdrawal
Donald Trump has pledged for years to surround himself with ultra-loyalists who can mould his government to his vision without barriers.
That’s precisely why he picked Matt Gaetz. Now he’s out, Pam Bondi is in and she’s equally loyal.
Gaetz was uniquely unpopular on Capitol Hill but ultra-MAGA and ultra-loyal to the president-elect.
He was chosen by the president-elect to do his bidding inside the Justice Department as attorney general.
Critics called his pick “a red alert moment for democracy” and the man a “gonzo agent of chaos” – language that would surely only affirm Trump’s decision in his own proudly disruptive mind.
Matt Gaetz has withdrawn despite Trump putting him forward for attorney general. Pic: AP
If it wasn’t for the fact that the president-elect is himself a convicted felon, and a man found liable in a civil court of his own sexual offences, the prospect of Gaetz, with all his baggage, making it through the nomination process would have seemed remote.
But Donald Trump’s return to the White House suggested anything is possible.
And so, beyond his loyalty, Gaetz was Trump’s test for his foot soldiers on Capitol Hill. How loyal were they? Would they wave through anyone he appointed?
It turns out that Gaetz, and the storm around his private life, was too much for a proportion of them.
At least five Senate Republicans were flatly against Matt Gaetz’s confirmation. We understand that they communicated to other senators and those close to Trump that they were unlikely to be swayed.
They included the Republican old guard like Senator Mitch McConnell.
Beyond the hard “no” senators, there were between 20 and 30 other Republicans who were very uncomfortable about having to vote for Gaetz on the Senate floor.
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Trump pick Matt Gaetz withdraws
The key question is whether Gaetz was Trump’s intentional wild card crazy choice that he knew, deep down, would probably never fly.
Was Gaetz the candidate he had accepted would be vetoed by senators – who would then feel compelled to wave the rest of his nominees through?
Will Pete Hegseth’s alleged sexual impropriety concern them as they consider the suitability of the former Fox News host and army major to run the Department of Defence?
What about Tulsi Gabbard, the candidate Russian state TV calls ‘our girl’, and the appropriateness of her running America’s intelligence agencies?
These are all appointments that the politicians on Capitol Hill must consider and confirm in the weeks ahead.
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We don’t yet know who Trump will choose to direct the FBI.
There are some names being floated which will make the establishment of Washington shudder but then that’s precisely why Trump was elected. He is the disrupter. He said so at every rally, on repeat.
He was quick to pivot to another name to replace Gaetz.
Bondi is the former attorney general of Florida. Professionally she is in a different league to Gaetz. She’s been a tough prosecutor, with a no-nonsense reputation.
She is also among the most loyal of loyalists. Her attachment to Trump stretches way back.
Pam Bondi speaks during a Trump rally in November 2024. Pic: Reuters
I first came across her in Philadelphia in November 2020 when she was among Trump surrogates claiming the election back then had been stolen from them by Joe Biden and the Democrats.
She was a key proponent of the false claims the election had been rigged and Trump was the rightful winner.
The court cases concluding that was all nonsense didn’t seem to convince her.
Now she is poised to head up the Department of Justice as the country’s top law enforcement official.
US
Donald Trump on day one: Pace of change ‘like nothing you’ve seen in history’, warns campaign official
Within hours of taking office, president-elect Donald Trump plans to begin rolling out policies including large-scale deportations, according to his transition team.
Sky News partner network NBC News has spoken with more than half a dozen people familiar with the executive orders that his team plans to enact.
One campaign official said changes are expected at a pace that is “like nothing you’ve seen in history”, to signal a dramatic break from President Joe Biden’s administration.
Mr Trump is preparing on day one to overturn specific policies put in place by Mr Biden. Among the measures, reported by sources close to the transition team, are:
• The speedy and large-scale deportations of illegal immigrants
• Ending travel reimbursement for military members seeking abortion care
• Restricting transgender service members’ access to gender-affirming care
But much of the first day is likely to focus on stopping illegal immigration – the centrepiece of Trump’s candidacy. He is expected to sign up to five executive orders aimed at dealing with that issue alone after he is sworn in on 20 January.
“There will without question be a lot of movement quickly, likely day one, on the immigration front,” a top Trump ally said.
“There will be a push to make a huge early show and assert himself to show his campaign promises were not hollow.”
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Donald Trump ally Matt Gaetz has withdrawn his name from consideration to be the next US attorney general.
But Mr Trump’s campaign pledges also could be difficult to implement.
Deporting people on the scale he wants will be a logistical challenge that could take years. Questions also remain about promised tax cuts.
Meanwhile, his pledge to end the war between Russia and Ukraine in just 24 hours would be near impossible.
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Even so, advisers based at Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort or at nearby offices in West Palm Beach, Florida, are reportedly strategising about ending the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Following his decisive victory on 5 November, the president-elect has moved swiftly to build a cabinet and senior White House team.
As of Thursday, he had selected more than 30 people for senior positions in his administration, compared with just three at a similar point in his 2016 transition.
Stephen Moore, a senior economic adviser in Mr Trump’s campaign, told NBC News: “The thing to realise is Trump is no dummy.
“He knows he’s got two to three years at most to get anything done. And then he becomes a lame duck and we start talking about [the presidential election in] 2028.”
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