[Global Times Special Correspondent in the United States Yang Zheng Global Times Special Correspondent Wang Miao] After spending nearly a year, conducting more than 1,000 interviews, and reviewing 140,000 documents on the day of the attack, the United States is responsible for investigating January 6, 2021. The House Select Committee on the riots on Capitol Hill held a hearing on the evening of the 21st.
CNN said on the 22nd that the evidence presented at the hearing showed that then-president Trump did not act in the 187 minutes when the violence occurred.
On January 6, 2021, thousands of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to prevent Congress from confirming Biden's election as President of the United States.
"The President is happily watching TV"
The investigative committee consists of nine members of the House of Representatives, including seven Democrats and two Republicans.
The hearing, the eighth hearing held by the committee, was led by Rep. Elaine Luria.
Luria had said earlier this week that the committee would review all of Trump's activities "minute by minute" during the three-hour afternoon on Jan. 6.
By showing videos of White House aides' testimony and live questioning of several key witnesses, the hearing was designed to show that Trump did nothing to stop the violence during the hours that day.
Luria told the media that Trump, as president, has a responsibility to act, but "he didn't do it", "but went to a restaurant outside the Oval Office of the White House and watched two and a half hours of Fox News".
Another committee member, Republican Rep. Kim Singer, said in an interview with CBS that during the unrest, "President (Trump) was doing nothing but watching TV happily."
Luria also said Trump did not call during the Jan. 6 unrest, confirmed in multiple investigations of senior U.S. law enforcement officials, military leaders, Vice President Pence's staff and Washington, D.C. government officials. Law enforcement or military leaders issue orders or offer assistance.
Former government officials key witnesses
The two key witnesses who gave testimony were former White House press secretary Matthews and former deputy national security adviser Paul Bomin.
The pair announced their resignations on the day of the riots in protest at Trump's indifference to the riots.
Matthews provided details of observations on the day of the riots, including Trump's tweet at 2:24 p.m., accusing Vice President Pence of refusing to deny Biden's victory.
Matthews believed that the tweet was actually a "green light" for the rioters to storm the Capitol, "I see the impact of his (Trump's) words on his supporters", "They followed every (Trump) Words and every tweet." Matthews called January 6 "one of the darkest days in American history."
Pomming said in video testimony that he felt Trump's tweet was "adding fuel to the fire" and refused to deliver a message of peace to the mob.
Pomming acknowledged that Trump's tweet was a key factor in his decision to resign. "As soon as I read that tweet, I knew I was leaving."
Trump accused of moral responsibility
The video played at the hearing also included Trump's daughter, Ivanka, who was then a White House adviser. She admitted that many people, including herself, asked Trump to publicly call on the rioters who stormed the Capitol to stop. However, these recommendations have been conspicuously ignored.
Former White House counsel Cipollone also mentioned in testimony earlier this month that Trump opposed taking action to persuade or disperse the mob.
"Al Jazeera" said on the 22nd that the US Republican Senate leader McConnell believes that Trump "has a practical and moral responsibility" for the rioters storming the Capitol.
McConnell said, "The people who stormed the Capitol believed they were doing what the president wanted and directed." It wasn't until after 4 p.m. that day that Trump issued a statement asking the rioters to leave the Capitol, but he still Glorify mob motives in statement.
Agence France-Presse said on the 21st that the chairman of the committee, Thompson, said that Trump's behavior on the day of the riots "bladed a path of lawlessness and corruption", "at the cost of democracy."
Thompson said that in the past month and a half, the committee has painted Trump's "everything" in an attempt to overturn the election result, including lying and intimidation, "he broke his (presidential) oath." Thompson said it will be held accountable. Go all the way, "up to the top of the Oval Office."