A "coordinated attack" against democracy, a "medieval battle": elected officials and witnesses underlined on Tuesday the gravity of the assault on the Capitol, at the opening of the work of a parliamentary commission of inquiry causing heated controversy in Washington.

The coup by supporters of Donald Trump aimed to derail American democracy, immediately ruled the elected Democrat Bennie Thompson, who heads this work.

By forcing the entry of the Capitol at the time when the elected officials certified the victory of Democrat Joe Biden in the presidential election, they "wanted to derail the peaceful transition of power", he added, referring to a "coordinated plan of attack ".

However, today, some are trying to "cover up or confuse" the facts, noted his Republican colleague Liz Cheney, rare critics of Donald Trump within the Grand Old Party, who agreed to sit on this commission.

"No member of Congress should try (...) to rewrite what happened that day," Liz Cheney said in an implicit criticism of her colleagues who are leading a crusade to protect the former president.

Police officers testify to the violence of the assault 

With great emotion, several uniformed police officers then recalled the physical and verbal violence of the attack, a scene that deeply shocked America and the world.

"It looked like a medieval battle. We fought hand to hand, inch by inch to prevent the invasion," said Aquilino Gonell.

"I thought I was going to die like this," he said, wiping away tears.

Another policeman, Michael Fanone, who suffered cardiac arrest and head trauma in the assault, said he was "caught, beaten" and "called a traitor" by protesters.

Clapping his fist on the table, he denounced the "indifference" of some to the trauma of the police.

The commission, which will have the power to demand documents and summon witnesses, has been the subject of a political standoff that weighs on its credibility.

In January, the officials of the two parties had all condemned the attack on the Capitol, the Republican leader in the House Kevin McCarthy going so far as to mention the part of "responsibility" of Donald Trump, who had harangued the crowd with his allegations unfounded of "electoral fraud" a few moments earlier.

But the former president, still very popular among part of the population, quickly reaffirmed his hold on the party, which allowed him to be acquitted in February after a trial in Congress for "incitement to insurrection".

His refusal to question any question then prompted the Republicans, who have a blocking minority in the Senate, to torpedo the creation of an independent commission of inquiry made up of experts appointed by the two parties, like the one put in charge. place after the September 11 attacks.

The current judicial investigations - more than 550 people have been arrested - and the hearings already carried out in Congress to understand the failings of the intelligence services, the police or the army, are more than enough, they had justified.

The commission, "a sham" according to a tenor of the Republican Party

After this setback, the Democrats moved forward on their own, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in charge.

On June 24, she announced the creation of a "special commission" and said she hopes Kevin McCarthy will appoint "responsible people" to be part of it.

Almost a month later, she rebuked two of the parliamentarians chosen by the Republican official, including the elected Jim Jordan, known for his outrageousness and his absolute loyalty to Donald Trump.

In retaliation, Kevin McCarthy withdrew the other members of his party selected to sit on this commission.

Only two Republicans, directly chosen by Nancy Pelosi, agreed to participate: Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, rare voices of the Grand Old Party to openly dare to criticize Donald Trump, whose impeachment they voted for.

The commission is "a sham" and "no one will believe his report," thundered Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday.

Donald Trump for his part considered this commission "highly biased", in a statement Monday, seeming to attribute unfounded part of the responsibility for the events of January 6 to ... Nancy Pelosi.

“Nancy will she investigate herself?” Asked the former Republican president.

With AFP

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