In the United States, on January 6, supporters of Donald Trump invaded the Washington Capitol with the aim of disrupting the certification of Joe Biden's victory in the presidential election.

Attack on the Capitol: "From the outset, the Republicans wanted to sabotage the commission of inquiry"

US President Donald Trump in his speech just before the assault on Capitol Hill on January 6.

AP - Evan Vucci

Text by: Clémence Pénard

5 mins

In the United States, on January 6, supporters of Donald Trump invaded the Washington Capitol in an attempt to disrupt the certification of Joe Biden's victory in the presidential election.

An assault that claimed the lives of five people.

More than six months later, a parliamentary committee began an investigation on July 27.

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Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic president of the House of Representatives, promised that this commission would allow to "discover the truth", but the Republicans, them, consider it biased.

Françoise Coste, professor at the University of Toulouse 2 and specialist in the American right and the Republican party returns to the

parliamentary commission of inquiry

which must investigate the attack on the Capitol on January 6.

RFI: For Kevin McCarthy, the leader of the Republicans in the House of Representatives, this commission is not "credible".

Why do Republicans think this commission is biased from the start?

Françoise Coste:

For the moment, two Republicans are on this commission of inquiry.

They were chosen by Democrat Nancy Pelosi, and not proposed by their own party.

Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney are two Republicans with a special profile: they have broken with their party.

After January 6, they explicitly questioned

Donald Trump

and in the House, they were part of the dozen elected Republicans who voted to remove him.

This was not enough, of course, but symbolically, it was a very strong gesture.

For Republicans, and they are not politically wrong, the commission will not be bipartisan.

This is why, until the end of the work of this commission, until the publication of the report, the Republicans will say that it is unacceptable, that we must not listen to this commission.

But, have the Republicans themselves given this commission a real chance?

Among the Republican elected officials they had proposed, rejected by Nancy Pelosi, there were two ardent supporters of Donald Trump, who had even relayed conspiracy theories concerning the attack ...

First, Nancy Pelosi had initially proposed an independent commission of inquiry, without Republicans or Democrats, only experts. But the Republicans refused it. From the outset, it was clear that the Republicans wanted to sabotage the commission of inquiry. How to sabotage it from the inside? By proposing members whose candidacy is unacceptable: Jim Banks and Jim Jordan, very close to Trump. There is a very good chance that they will both be called as witnesses by the commission of inquiry. However, by definition, one cannot be judge and party, and it is for this reason that Nancy Pelosi rejected these two names. Republicans knew she would say no. It was therefore premeditated so that they could then attack Nancy Pelosi, denounce manipulation by the Democrats;explain that this commission was against Trump and against the Republicans. The reason the Republicans gave this commission no chance is because they know full well that any honest commission of inquiry will find Donald Trump responsible [in the murderous events on Capitol Hill].

In your opinion, what can this commission give in the long term, what is its goal?

The most interesting thing to look forward to is not the political conclusions of this commission because, as we know in advance, the Republicans will reject them. But this commission can ultimately offer a clear, minute-by-minute explanation of what happened, thus understanding how we came close to a coup. This is of interest for historians, but also for the population, so that they realize how close we have come to disaster and that it is Donald Trump who bears the responsibility and no one else. The interest of the commission, it is also in a way to mark the beginning of the presidential campaign for 2024. We have the impression that it is very far, but if the commission carries out its work, the hope Democrats is to prevent Trump from running for re-election.The Democrats will not have succeeded in removing him at the end of January, but perhaps they will succeed in implicating him, on facts so shocking, that he will not be able to stand again in 2024.

Attack on the Capitol: "From the outset, the Republicans wanted to sabotage the commission of inquiry"

Attack on the Capitol: "From the outset, the Republicans wanted to sabotage the commission of inquiry"

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