January 6 committee releases report into Capitol riot investigation

A long-awaited final report into the shocking January 6 US Capitol riot has finally been released - and it’s more bad news for Donald Trump.

In this file photo taken on January 6, 2021, Trump supporters battle with police and security forces as they storm the US Capitol building in Washington, DC. Picture: Roberto Schmidt/AFP

The House select committee investigating last year’s January 6 Capitol riot released its long-anticipated final report on Thursday night (local time).

The report, nearly 18 months in the making, is based on the information gleaned from the more than 1000 interviews conducted by the panel, as well as the emails, text messages, and phone records obtained by investigators over the course of their investigation.

Among the findings of the 845-page report, the panel estimates that former President Donald Trump and his allies engaged in some 200 acts targeting state legislators or state and local election officials attempting to overturn the 2020 election results, the New York Post reports.

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In this file photo taken on January 6, 2021, Trump supporters battle with police and security forces as they storm the US Capitol building in Washington, DC. Picture: Roberto Schmidt/AFP

“The Select Committee estimates that in the two months between the November election and the January 6th insurrection, President 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,” the report notes.

One of the three forwards in the final report was penned by outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who thanked committee Chairman Bennie Thompson and Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney for their “road map for justice”.

The House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot released its long-awaited final report. Picture: Al Drago/POOL/AFP

“We owe a debt of gratitude to Chairman Bennie Thompson, Vice Chair Liz Cheney, the patriotic Members of Congress and dedicated staff — who devoted themselves to this investigation, to uncovering the truth and to writing a report that is a ‘Road map for Justice’,” Pelosi writes.

The report is divided into eight chapters, with some titled The big lie, I just want to find 11,780 votes, Be there, will be wild! and A coup in search of a legal theory.

Earlier this week, the panel voted to recommend that the Justice Department pursue criminal charges against Trump over his role in the attack and his efforts to up-end the 2020 election. Picture: Saul Loeb/AFP

Earlier this week, the panel voted to recommend that the Justice Department pursue criminal charges against Mr Trump over his role in the attack and his efforts to up-end the 2020 election.

In the committee’s executive summary, it had evidence of possible charges of conspiring to injure or impede an officer and seditious conspiracy.

Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, said that he has “every confidence that the work of this committee will help provide a road map to justice, and that the agencies and institutions responsible for ensuring justice under the law will use the information we’ve provided to aid in their work.”

Special counsel Jack Smith is leading the Justice Department’s investigations related to Trump, including both his post-election actions and classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago resort earlier this year.

This article originally appeared in the New York Post and was reproduced with permission