Donald Trump engaged in ‘multi-part conspiracy’ to overturn lawful 2020 presidential election result, Jan 6 panel final report states
Donald Trump was engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election, according to a report by US politicians.
The House of Representatives’ January 6 committee has issued its final report, based on interviews of more than 1,000 witnesses, 10 hearings and millions of pages of documents.
Amounting to more than 814 pages, the seven Democrats and two Republicans documented their 18-month investigation into the insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.
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In full: Footage of the January 6 Capitol riot
They concluded that the evidence “has led to an overriding and straightforward conclusion: the central cause of January 6th was one man, former President Donald Trump, whom many others followed.
“None of the events of January 6th would have happened without him.”
The investigation detailed Mr Trump’s actions in the weeks leading to the insurrection and how his campaign to overturn his election defeat influenced those who were involved.
It said that, between Joe Biden’s election victory and the certification of that victory – on the day of the insurrection – Mr Trump or his inner circle “engaged in at least 200 apparent acts of public or private outreach, pressure, or condemnation, targeting either state legislators, or state or local election administrators, to overturn state election results”.
“Knowing that he and his supporters had lost dozens of election lawsuits, and despite his own senior advisers refuting his election fraud claims and urging him to concede his election loss, Donald Trump refused to accept the lawful result of the 2020 election,” the report said.
“Rather than honour his constitutional obligation to ‘take care that the laws be faithfully executed’, President Trump instead plotted to overturn the election outcome.”
The committee said Mr Trump had pressured states, federal officials, politicians and even Mike Pence, his vice-president, in an effort to get what he wanted.
Trump supporters face off with police at the Capitol during the January 6 insurrection
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They said his claims of voter fraud were widely spread on social media, building on the distrust of government he had fostered during his four years as president.
And he did little to stop his followers when they violently took matters into their own hands.
The report found that 187 minutes went by between Mr Trump finishing a speech urging his supporters to march on the Capitol, and his first effort to get the rioters to disperse, which was done while reassuring them: “We love you, you’re very special.”
Several of his staffers pleaded with him to say something stronger, but he did not.
The report also detailed failings by law enforcement and intelligence agencies but it said these did not lead to the insurrection.
People sheltered in the House gallery as protesters tried to break into the chamber. Pic: AP
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The committee’s chairman, Bennie Thompson, said in a foreword to the report: “The president of the United States inciting a mob to march on the Capitol and impede the work of Congress is not a scenario our intelligence and law enforcement communities envisioned for this country.”
The report recommends that Congress create “a mechanism for evaluating” whether to ban people mentioned in the report from future federal or state office.
The panel has also passed its investigation to the Justice Department, recommending the department investigate the former president on four crimes, including aiding an insurrection, but these referrals have no legal standing.
Mr Trump called the report “highly partisan” and a “witch hunt”.
Writing on his Truth Social platform, he said: “The highly partisan Unselect Committee Report purposely fails to mention the failure of Pelosi to heed my recommendation for troops to be used in DC, show the “Peacefully and Patrioticly” words I used, or study the reason for the protest, Election Fraud. WITCH HUNT!”
Former US president Joe Biden has prostate cancer, his office has said.
The statement said Mr Biden, who left the White House in January, is reviewing options for treatment with his physicians.
It read: “Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms.
“On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterised by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone.
“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management.
“The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”
File pic: Reuters
According to Cancer Research UK, a Gleason score of 9 means the cancerous cells “look very abnormal” and the disease is “likely to grow quickly”.
A source familiar with Mr Biden and his family’s thinking has told Sky’s US partner network, NBC News, that the former president is considering “multiple treatment options” – including hormone treatment for the cancer.
They added he is at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, and that as of now, it is unclear where the former president will be treated.
Mr Biden, 82, was the oldest person to ever serve as president, with concerns about his health raised regularly during his campaign for re-election last year.
After a poor debate against Donald Trump in June, he withdrew from the 2024 election and endorsed his vice president Kamala Harris.
In February 2023, he had a skin lesion removed from his chest that was a basal cell carcinoma, a common form of skin cancer.
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A Mexican navy ship has hit the Brooklyn Bridge during a promotional tour in New York City.
The New York Fire Department said authorities were responding to injuries but had no details about how many people might have been hurt or whether they were on the vessel or on the bridge.
Sky’s US partner network NBC News reports that at least three people were seriously injured in the incident.
The Mexican navy said in a post on X that the Cuauhtemoc, an academy training vessel, was damaged in the accident, which has prevented it from continuing its voyage.
Eyewitness video of the collision posted online showed the mast of the ship, which was flying a large Mexican flag, scraping the underneath of the bridge.
Pic: AP
The vessel then drifted toward the edge of the river as onlookers scrambled away from shore.
The Mexican navy said the status of personnel and material was under review by naval and local authorities, which were providing assistance.
The Cuauhtemoc is about 297ft long and 40ft wide, according to the Mexican navy. It sailed for the first time in 1982.
Pic: AP
Each year, it sets out at the end of classes at the naval military school to finish cadets’ training.
It left the Mexican port of Acapulco, on the Pacific coast, on 6 April with 277 people onboard, the navy said at the time.
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One person has died in a bomb explosion near a reproductive health clinic in California, authorities have said.
The incident took place in Palm Springs, a city two hours east of Los Angeles, and is being investigated as a possible car explosion.
The city’s mayor Ron DeHarte said one person died in the blast, adding that the bomb was “either in or near” a vehicle. The deceased’s identity is not known, Palm Springs police said.
Dr Maher Abdallah, who runs the American Reproductive Centers clinic, told the Associated Press his facility was damaged but all staff were safe and accounted for.
The explosion damaged the office space where the practice conducts patient consultations, but the IVF lab and stored embryos were unharmed, he added.
“I really have no clue what happened,” he said. “Thank God today happened to be a day that we have no patients.”
Debris covers the ground after the explosion. Pic: ABC7 Los Angeles/AP
In a statement posted on Facebook the clinic said it was “heartbroken” to learn someone died in the explosion and added: “Our deepest condolences go out to the individuals and families affected.”
It continued: “Our mission has always been to help build families, and in times like these, we are reminded of just how fragile and precious life is.
“In the face of this tragedy, we remain committed to creating hope – because we believe that healing begins with community, compassion, and care.
The clinic will be fully operational on Monday, it added.
“This moment has shaken us – but it has not stopped us. We will continue to serve with strength, love, and the hope that brings new life into the world,” the statement concluded.
Pic: ABC7 Los Angeles/AP
The Palm Springs city government said in a post on Facebook that the explosion happened on North Indian Canyon Drive, near East Tachevah Drive, before 11am local time (6pm GMT).
A burned-out car can be seen in a parking lot behind the building in aerial footage.
The blast caved in the clinic’s roof and blew debris across four lanes of the road.
Another person said he was inside a cannabis dispensary nearby when he felt a massive explosion.
Nima Tabrizi said: “The building just shook, and we go outside and there’s massive cloud smoke.”
Investigators from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are travelling to the scene to help assess what happened.
California governor Gavin Newsom has been briefed on the explosion, his press office said.
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