US lawmakers call for charges against Trump
The panel probing last year's assault on the US Capitol on Monday recommended Donald Trump be charged with crimes including insurrection – raising the stakes in an investigation that could put the former president in jail. The House of Representatives select committee called for the indictment – as well as charges of obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy to defraud the United States – after an 18-month probe into the storming of Congress on January 6, 2021. At least five people died after a mob whipped up by Trump's false claims of a stolen election, and directed to march on Congress by the defeated president, ransacked the seat of US democracy in a thwarted bid to prevent the transfer of power to President Joe Biden. The bipartisan committee voted unanimously to refer the charges to the Justice Department after opening remarks by vice-chair Liz Cheney in which she accused Trump of "a clear dereliction of duty" in failing to immediately attempt to stop the riot and called him "unfit for any office." "No man who would behave that way at that moment in time can ever serve in any position of authority in our nation again," she said. The referrals are seen as largely symbolic, as the panel has no control over charging decisions, which rest with the Justice Department. Jack Smith, a largely independent special prosecutor appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, is leading his own investigation into Trump related to the 2020 election. But the lawmakers' move is nevertheless historic, as Congress has never made a criminal referral against a sitting or former president, and it will add to the clamour among Trump's opponents for criminal charges. It is also a major blow to Trump amid a series of missteps in the weeks since he announced a comeback bid for the White House – including the Republicans' poor midterm election showing in states where the tycoon endorsed candidates. Charges could result in a ban from public office for the 76-year-old, who still wields considerable power in the Republican Party, and even prison time. "To cast a vote in the United States is an act of faith and hope," committee chairman Bennie Thompson said. "That faith in our system is the foundation of American democracy. If the faith is broken, so is our democracy. Donald Trump broke that faith." (AFP)