The House select committee tasked with investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol released its final report late Thursday, drawing from hundreds of witness interviews and a vast trove of documentary evidence to make the case that former President Donald Trump was the primary cause of the deadly insurrection and the failed attempt to overthrow the government.
“In the committee’s hearings, we presented evidence of what ultimately became a multi-part plan to overturn the 2020 presidential election,” reads the panel’s report, which spans nearly 850 pages. “That evidence has led to an overriding and straightforward conclusion: the central cause of January 6th was one man, former President Donald Trump, whom many others followed. None of the events of January 6th would have happened without him.”
As part of its recommendations for congressional action, the committee’s report echoes growing calls for lawmakers to consider barring Trump from ever holding public office again, noting that “those who took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution and then, on January 6th, engaged in insurrection can appropriately be disqualified” under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
The report caps off an 18-month investigation that Trump and his top associates — who spent months lying about the 2020 election and peddling false claims of fraud — attempted to impede at every step. The January 6 panel released documents Thursday detailing former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony that Trump’s allies pressured her not to cooperate with the committee.
But despite the obstruction, the committee used its subpoena power to obtain copious witness interviews, statements, and documents — including a draft executive order that would have instructed the Pentagon to seize state voting machines — to build its argument that Trump was ultimately responsible for the events of January 6, a case it laid out in detail over the course of 10 public hearings.
“Without any evidentiary basis and contrary to state and federal law, Donald Trump unlawfully pressured state officials and legislators to change the results of the election in their states,” the committee’s report states. “Donald Trump oversaw an effort to obtain and transmit false electoral certificates to Congress and the National Archives. Donald Trump pressured members of Congress to object to valid slates of electors from several states. Donald Trump purposely verified false information filed in federal court.”
And “based on false allegations that the election was stolen, Donald Trump summoned tens of thousands of supporters to Washington for January 6th,” the report continues. “Although these supporters were angry and some were armed, Donald Trump instructed them to march to the Capitol on January 6th to ‘take back’ their country. Each of these actions by Donald Trump was taken in support of a multi-part conspiracy to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election.”
The panel released its final report as well as supplementary witness interview transcripts days after it recommended that the U.S. Justice Department pursue criminal charges against Trump for inciting insurrection, obstructing Congress, and engaging in a conspiracy to defraud the United States. The DOJ is currently conducting a criminal investigation into the twice-impeached former president, who is running for the White House again in 2024.
House Republicans, many of whom backed Trump’s coup attempt, are expected to shut down the January 6 committee once they take control of the chamber next month.
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