Trump news: Rattled Trump lashes out as Jan 6 panel finishes investigation and tax return release looms
Publication of House committee’s Jan 6 report comes as information on former president’s tax returns released earlier in week
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox
Get our free Inside Washington email
The House committee investigating the 6 January 2021 Capitol riot released its final report late on Thursday night, outlining why it has recommended Donald Trump and others face criminal charges over the insurrection.
Over 845 pages, the damning report details how the former president and his allies engaged in at least 200 acts attempting to overturn the 2020 election. The committee calls for him to never be allowed to hold office again.
“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,” the report states.
“None of the events of January 6th would have happened without him.”
Among its other recommendations: swift passage of the Electoral Count Act; a series of disciplinary and criminal referrals; a whole of government strategy to counter violent extremism; and the reform of security arrangements and criminal statutes to include harsher penalties for threats to election workers and the peaceful transfer of power.
The publication of the report caps off another terrible week for Mr Trump that also included a vote by another House committee to release six years’ worth of his tax returns.
Hutchinson told Jan 6 committee Trumpworld lawyer wanted to downplay her role
Cassidy Hutchinson has come forward as the first January 6 committee witness to say that her attorney sought to minimize her testimony before it occurred.
Her revelation comes as the January 6 committee’s members warned this week that they were in contact with the Justice Department as well as prosecutors in Georgia over the effort by Mr Trump’s legal team to dangle possible future employment in the hopes of altering their testimony.
John Bowden reports.
Cassidy Hutchinson tells Jan 6 committee lawyer sought to downplay role
Hutchinson was former aide to White House chief of staff
Hutchinson doubles down on Trump-Secret Service altercation
Cassidy Hutchinson doubled down on her testimony about the Donald Trump-Secret Service altercation in deposition after the bombshell public hearing: “I have no doubts in the conversation I had with Mr Ornato on January 6th. I have no doubts in how I’ve relayed that story privately and publicly.”
She also mentioned additional times in which former White House deputy chief of staf Anthony Ornato mentioned the incident.
Watch: Trump taxes - Committee says IRS failed to conduct ‘mandatory’ audits
Trump tax returns: Committee says IRS failed to conduct ‘mandatory’ audits
The IRS failed to conduct mandatory audits on Donald Trump during his first two years in The White House. That's according to the House Ways and Means Committee, which says revenue did not follow its own guidance. It is mandatory to audit sitting presents, but while Trump filled his taxes for the previous two years in 2017, the IRS did not start to audit the returns until 2019. According to the committee, the IRS began their audit on the same day the panel requested access to Trump's taxes and related audits. Click here to sign up for our newsletters.
Marjorie Taylor Greene turns on Matt Gaetz
More MAGA drama in the House of Representatives, an open feud has erupted between Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene, a supporter of Kevin McCarthy’s bid to be Speaker, and her frequent ally Matt Gaetz.
The controversial Georgia lawmaker torched him in an op-ed for The Daily Caller over his hopes that a consensus candidate would emerge to challenge the GOP leader.
Mr Gaetz and a number of other conservatives are pushing for a Speaker who is further to the right than Mr McCarthy.
John Bowden has the latest.
Marjorie Taylor Greene turns on Matt Gaetz over GOP speaker clash
Republicans have yet to solidify their choice for top House role
Trump lawyers slammed by judge in order denying request to block trust documents from New York AG
A federal judge in Florida has smacked down former president Donald Trump’s request to keep New York State Attorney General Letitia James and her staff from viewing documents related to a trust that holds most of his assets as part of an ongoing fraud lawsuit against him, his family and his eponymous company.
Andrew Feinberg reports.
Judge slams Trump lawyers and denies bid to block trust documents from New York AG
‘This litigation has all the telltale signs of being both vexatious and frivolous’
House passes bill on IRS audits of presidents
The House took action Thursday after disclosures that the IRS never fully reviewed Donald Trump’s tax returns during his presidency, passing a bill that would require audits of any president’s income tax filings. The legislation would turn what had been a long-standing post-Watergate norm into established federal policy.
Read on:
Trump's taxes: House OKs bill on IRS audits of presidents
The House has taken action after disclosures the IRS never full reviewed Donald Trump’s tax returns during his presidency
Cassidy Hutchinson’s Trump-supporting father wouldn’t help her get her own lawyer
Cassidy Hutchinson asked for financial help from her father, a Trump supporter, to get her own lawyer from outside the former president’s orbit, but her father refused to help her, a transcript of her testimony shows.
Gustaf Kilander has the story from the release of her transcripts.
Hutchinson’s pro-Trump father refused to help her get her own lawyer for Jan 6
“It’s probably one thing I regret in all of this, I wish I didn’t stoop to that level, because it was a no, but I begged him to help me”
Here’s what was said by the 34 Trump supporters who pleaded the Fifth in Jan 6 interviews
Gustaf Kilander writes:
While the witnesses in general chose not to go along with the committee’s questioning, the published transcripts reveal the sheer amount of evidence the panel has collected and some new aspects of how the investigators went about their work.
Read on:
What newly-released Jan 6 transcripts show
Transcripts reveal investigators’ tactics and lenghts witnesses went to to avoid providing answers
Journey band members in feud over Donald Trump
Two founding members of the band Journey are in a legal dispute after the keyboardist performed at Donald Trump’s estate.
The band’s guitarist, Neal Schon, has sent a cease and desist letter to his bandmate Jonathan Cane, who performed their songs at America First Policy Institute’s Experience and Gala at Mar-A-Lago last month.
Caine, who is the keyboardist in the band, is married to an advisor to Donald Trump.
Megan Graye reports.
Journey band members in feud over Donald Trump
A cease and desist letter has been sent after keyboardist performed at Trump’s estate last month
Alex Jones was ‘too stressed’ to spell own name in Jan 6 interview, transcript shows
Far-right extremist and Sandy Hook denier Alex Jones claimed he was “too stressed out” to spell his own name during testimony before the January 6 House select committee, according to his interview transcript.
The committee investigating the Capitol riot released a trove of interview transcripts from 34 Donald Trump supporters and allies on Wednesday, ahead of the release of the full report on Thursday.
Rachel Sharp has the story.
Alex Jones claims he is ‘too stressed’ to spell own name in Jan 6 interview
When he testified before the panel, the right-wing conspiracy theorist largely followed the pattern of his right-wing allies to plead the Fifth but at points couldn’t resist speaking – much to his attorney’s despair
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies