The committee investigating the January 6 storming of the US Capitol is recommending criminal charges against former President Donald Trump.
They include conspiracy to defraud the United States; obstructing an official proceeding (the certification of Joe Biden‘s election victory); conspiracy to make a false statement and inciting or assisting an insurrection.
The recommendation is mainly symbolic – with the US Justice Department responsible for deciding whether or not to prosecute Mr Trump.
But committee chair, Bernie Thompson, said: “We have every confidence that the work of this committee will help provide the road map to justice.”
A number of recommendations are made in the final report, which accuses Mr Trump of engaging in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the election.
Mr Thompson said “accountability” is the most important focus.
“We will also show that evidence we’ve gathered points to further action beyond the power of this committee or the congress to help ensure accountability in the law,” he said.
More on Donald Trump
Related Topics:
“Accountability that can only be found in the criminal justice system.”
Mr Thompson also criticised Mr Trump for “breaking” faith in the democratic system, telling the committee: “If we are to survive as a nation of laws and democracy, this can never happen again.”
Advertisement
Describing Mr Trump’s behaviour on the day of the riots, vice chair Liz Cheney said: “In addition to being unlawful… this was an utter moral failure and a clear dereliction of duty.
“Evidence of this can be seen in the testimony of President Trump’s own White House counsel and several other White House witnesses.
“No man who would behave that way, at that moment in time, can ever serve in any position of authority in our nation again.
“He is unfit for any office.”
Ms Cheney said the committee’s work is only at the beginning, describing it as an “initial step” in addressing Mr Trump’s “efforts to remain in office illegally”.
Prosecutors are now considering the implications of the conduct described in the committee’s report, Ms Cheney added.
Trump’s daughter ‘not forthcoming’
Mr Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, a White House advisor during her father’s tenure, apparently knew more than she was prepared to divulge, the committee believes.
The executive summary of the report said Ms Trump was “not as forthcoming” as other aides, including then-White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, about the former President’s conduct.
The committee accused her of showing a “lack of full recollection of certain issues”.
Portions of former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany’s testimony “seemed evasive” and did not seem as forthright as other press office staff, the committee said.
Ex-Trump advisor, Hope Hicks, was also accused of not being forthcoming when grilled about whether she told the president he needed to encourage supporters to be peaceful.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
1:55
The inquiry into the Capitol riots heard a phone call where Trump threatened Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger
‘A big scam’
Mr Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, claimed voting machines had flipped votes to President Biden.
However, the committee report alleges that Mr Giuliani admitted during his deposition: “I do not think the machines stole the election”.
Other Trump lawyers and supporters invoked their Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination when asked to show proof they found the election was stolen.
The committee panel said: “Not one of them provided evidence raising genuine questions about the election outcome.
“In short, it was a big scam”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2:47
The hearing into the 6 January Capitol riot has been given extraordinary new details of Donald Trump’s mindset during the events
Trump ‘tried to contact witnesses’
The committee said it was aware of “multiple efforts” by Mr Trump to contact unnamed witnesses during the probe, with the Department of Justice made aware of at least one incident.
Some witnesses were also described as “unnecessarily combative” while testifying, with some failing to be credible when pleading ignorance of certain circumstances – in particular those whose jobs or income were linked to Trump-affiliated organisations.
Making an address from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, he said: “America’s comeback starts right now.”
He announced his leadership bid in November despite facing a number of investigations into the riot, which claimed the lives of five people including a police officer.
Russia launched a large drone attack on Kyiv overnight, with Volodymyr Zelenskyy warning the attack shows his capital needs better air defences.
Ukraine’s air defence units shot down 50 of 73 Russian drones launched, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries as a result of the attacks.
Russia has used more than 800 guided aerial bombs and around 460 attack drones in the past week.
Warning that Ukraine needs to improve its air defences, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: “An air alert has been sounded almost daily across Ukraine this week”.
“Ukraine is not a testing ground for weapons. Ukraine is a sovereign and independent state.
“But Russia still continues its efforts to kill our people, spread fear and panic, and weaken us.”
Russia did not comment on the attack.
More on Russia
Related Topics:
It comes as Russian media reported that Colonel General Gennady Anashkin, the commander of the country’s southern military district, had been removed from his role over allegedly providing misleading reports about his troops’ progress.
While Russian forces have advanced at the fastest rate in Ukraine since the start of the invasion, forces have been much slower around Siversk and the eastern region of Donetsk.
Russian forces have reportedly captured a British man while he was fighting for Ukraine.
In a widely circulated video posted on Sunday, the man says his name is James Scott Rhys Anderson, aged 22.
He says he is a former British Army soldier who signed up to fight for Ukraine’s International Legion after his job.
He is dressed in army fatigues and speaks with an English accent as he says to camera: “I was in the British Army before, from 2019 to 2023, 22 Signal Regiment.”
He tells the camera he was “just a private”, “a signalman” in “One Signal Brigade, 22 Signal Regiment, 252 Squadron”.
“When I left… got fired from my job, I applied on the International Legion webpage. I had just lost everything. I just lost my job,” he said.
“My dad was away in prison, I see it on the TV,” he added, shaking his head. “It was a stupid idea.”
In a second video, he is shown with his hands tied and at one point, with tape over his eyes.
He describes how he had travelled to Ukraine from Britain, saying: “I flew to Krakow, Poland, from London Luton. Bus from there to Medyka in Poland, on the Ukraine border.”
Russian state news agency Tass reported that a military source said a “UK mercenary” had been “taken prisoner in the Kursk area” of Russia.
The UK Foreign Office said it was “supporting the family of a British man following reports of his detention”.
The Ministry of Defence has declined to comment at this stage.
The body of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi who went missing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been found, Israel has said.
Zvi Kogan, the Chabad representative in the UAE,went missing on Thursday.
A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s office on Sunday said the 28-year-old rabbi was murdered, calling it a “heinous antisemitic terror incident”.
“The state of Israel will act with all means to seek justice with the criminals responsible for his death,” it said.
The Emirati government gave no immediate acknowledgment that Mr Kogan had been found dead. Its interior ministry has described the rabbi as being “missing and out of contact”.
“Specialised authorities immediately began search and investigation operations upon receiving the report,” the interior ministry said.
Mr Kogan lived in the UAE with his wife Rivky, who is a US citizen. He ran a Kosher grocery store in Dubai, which has been the target of online protests by pro-Palestinian supporters.
The Chabad Lubavitch movement, a prominent and highly observant branch of Orthodox Judaism, said Mr Kogan was last seen in Dubai.
Israeli authorities reissued their recommendation against all non-essential travel to the UAE and said visitors currently there should minimise movement and remain in secure areas.
The rabbi’s disappearance comes as Iran has threatened to retaliate against Israel after the two countries traded fire in October.
While the Israeli statement on Mr Kogan did not mention Iran, Iranian intelligence services have previously carried out kidnappings in the UAE.
The UAE diplomatically recognised Israel in 2020. Since then, synagogues and businesses catering to kosher diners have been set up for the burgeoning Jewish community but the unrest in the Middle East has sparked deep anger in the country.