January 6 hearing: Majority of US believes Donald Trump should be charged over riots

The result of the latest poll at the halfway point of the January 6 Congressional committee hearings, suggests they are having an impact on public opinion.

An image of former President Donald Trump is displayed during the third hearing of the US House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 riots. Picture: AFP.

More than half of Americans say Donald Trump should be charged with a crime over his role in the January 6th riot on Capitol Hill, according to a new poll that suggests the Congressional committee charged with investigating the traumatic day might be having an impact on public opinion.

At the halfway point of six public and televised hearings into the January 6th riots, which have accused the former president of instigating and encouraging the riot, 58 per cent of Americans said the former president “should be charged with a crime” according to an ABC News/IPSOS poll, up from 52 per cent in a separate poll in April.

The poll, conducted after the third public hearing that aired last Thursday (Friday AEST), found three quarters of respondents believed Mr Trump bore some blame for the historic riot, which saw hundreds of pro-Trump supporters storm the Capitol building, demanding then vice-president Mike Pence overturn the 2020 election.

“Partisanship appears to be the largest driver behind these sentiments, with almost all Democrats believing Trump is responsible versus fewer than a quarter of Republicans,” IPSOS said in a statement, noting 91 per cent of Democrats said Mr Trump was culpable compared with 19 per cent of Republicans.

A third of Americans, according to the poll of 545 voters, said they had watched the hearings “closely”, while 37 per cent said they had paid little attention. “Sixty per cent believe the committee is conducting a fair and impartial investigation,” IPSOS said.

The hearings, which have included testimony from Ivanka Trump, her husband Jared Kushner, former White House staff and Mr Trump’s former Attorney General William Barr, have suggested the former President knew he had lost the election yet put pressure on Mr Pence to disavow the result based on crackpot constitutional advice.

Legal analysts say Mr Trump, who is widely believed to be considering a running for the Republican nomination for president in 2024, could face two criminal charges: conspiring to defraud the United States, and separately, obstructing an official proceeding.

Larry Sabato, an American political scientist at the University of Virginia, said the hearings were unlikely to influence Mr Trump’s intentions and could even embolden him. “I can see him doing it to seek revenge, and we don’t know the effect yet on the Justice department and other officials,” he told The Australian.

The committee has appeared divided on whether to recommend criminal charges against the former president, which only President Biden’s Attorney-General Merrick Garland can ultimately decide.

Adam Kinzinger, one of two Republicans on the nine-member committee, said on Sunday Monday (AEST) that at he thought the committee was “presenting before the American people certainly would rise to a level of criminal involvement by a president and definitely failure of the oath.”

Adam Schiff, a Democrat committee member, told CNN on Sunday (Monday AEST) that a subpoena for Mr Pence was “certainly a possibility”, adding, “we’re not excluding anyone or anything at this point”.

Chairman of the Committee, however, Bernie Thompson, had earlier cast doubt on such a move. “We‘re going to tell the facts. If the Department of Justice looks at it, and assume that there’s something that needs further review, I’m sure they’ll do it,“ he said earlier.

The fourth public hearing will screen Tuesday 1pm EST, and including testimony from Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state whom former president Trump asked to “find 11,780 votes” in the wake of the November 2020 presidential poll.

Mr Pence, who is believed to be considered a 2024 presidential tilt of his own, has so far resisted calls to appear before the committee.