“If we want to survive as a nation of laws and democracy, this can never happen again,” said select committee chair Representative Benny Thompson when the meeting began.
While condemning Trump for calling the crowd to the Capitol nearly two years ago, Thompson also criticized the former president for undermining faith in the democratic system.
Thompson said, “If trust is broken, so is our democracy. Donald Trump has broken that trust.”
Trump has already launched a campaign to seek the Republican nomination for the White House again in 2024.
The task of the Select Committee is one in a series of inquiries into the riots. Five people, including a police officer, died during or shortly after the incident, and over 140 police officers were injured. The Capitol lost millions of dollars.
Representative Liz Cheney, one of the two Republicans on the committee, said, “One of the most embarrassing findings of this committee was that President Trump was sitting in the dining room of the Oval Office, watching the violent riot in the Capitol on television.” ”
