Jan. 6 committee chair: Capitol riot an ‘attempted coup’
The first primetime hearing from the House committee investing the Jan. 6 Capitol attack[ABC News]
WASHINGTON (AP) – A House panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol has firmly laid blame on Donald Trump. In Thursday’s prime-time hearing, lawmakers said the siege was no accident but an “attempted coup” and a direct result of the defeated president’s effort to overturn the 2020 election.
The chairman of the committee opened a prime-time hearing declaring the attack an “attempted coup.” Rep. Bennie Thompson, the Democrat from Mississippi, said the attack put America’s “constitutional democracy at risk.”
RELATED STORY: Hearings guide: What to know as the Jan. 6 panel goes public
Thursday’s hearing showed new video and other evidence from the deadly Capitol assault.
The panel also detailed the chilling backstory as defeated President Donald Trump tried to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
RELATED STORY: Jan. 6 Capitol attack committee goes prime time with probe
Live testimony included a police officer who was pummeled in the riot and a documentary filmmaker tracking extremist Proud Boys leading the melee.