US: Probe panel summons Trump in Capitol attack

The US Congressional committee probing the attack on Capitol Hill has summoned former US President Donald Trump to testify on last year’s January 6 violence. 

“BREAKING: The Select Committee unanimously votes to subpoena Donald J. Trump, former President of the United States, to provide evidence as part of the committee’s investigation,” the January 6th Committee tweeted on Thursday after its ninth hearing. 

The Hill reported that at the latest hearing, the committee released new details about the former US president’s plans to claim victory in the US election. They also probed his refusal to accept defeat in the face of evidence. 

“Trump’s claims were not supported by sufficient evidence of fraud or irregularities. In fact, they were baseless, as judges repeatedly recognized. 

“In none of these 62 cases was Trump able to establish any viable claims of fraud sufficient to overturn the election results,” the Committee said in another tweet. 

Representative Liz Cheney, the vice chair of the committee, said the panel is obligated to seek answers directly from the man who set this all in motion. 

“So, this afternoon, I am offering this resolution that the Committee direct the Chairman to issue a subpoena for relevant documents and testimony under oath from Donald John Trump in connection with the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol,” Cheney said in her remarks, a copy of which was posted on her website. 

Earlier, investigators held eight public hearings in June and July as part of the inquiry, which Trump, a Republican, has denounced as a political “witch hunt” launched by Democrats. On January 6, last year, thousands of individuals mostly Trump’s supporters  stormed the Capitol in Washington, DC, and disrupted a joint session of Congress to affirm the 2020 presidential election results.

This incident is considered one of the worst attacks on the U.S. Congress in more than 200 years and led to Trump’s second impeachment by the House of Representatives shortly before his term officially ended.