- On Thursday – the anniversary of the storm on the Capitol in Washington – former US President Donald Trump should have held a press conference.
- He has now canceled this. A statement said he would speak about it at a rally in Arizona state. This should take place in mid-January.
- Trump was expected to testify at the press conference against the congressional committee investigating the January 6th events.
The committee of inquiry into the storming of the US Capitol had previously asked the conservative TV presenter Sean Hannity, a Trump confidante, to give a voluntary testimony.
The presenter of the channel Fox News communicated around the events a year ago directly with Trump, his then chief of staff Mark Meadows and other top officials. That makes him a witness, said the chairman of the panel, Democratic MP Bennie Thompson and his Republican deputy Liz Cheney.
Respect for freedom of the press
The committee of inquiry has “immense respect” for the freedom of the press, it said. The voluntary and thematically narrowly limited survey should not be about Hannity’s journalistic work, but about his political contacts with the White House at the time.
In the letter to Hannity, the committee also quoted several SMS messages from the well-known television man, which the committee had received through the disclosure of documents and communication content by third parties – for example through information from Meadows.
Legend:
The TV presenter Sean Hannity is said to have had direct contact with ex-President Donald Trump and other top officials during the events a year ago.
Keystone / Archives
Hannity was considered a close confidante of Trump. According to the US media, Trump spoke to the moderator on the phone frequently. Hannity also appeared once at a campaign rally with the Republican.
Biden speaks in the Capitol
Biden wants to comment on the events of the past year in the Capitol on Thursday. The President will address the truth about what happened, not the lies some have spread since then and the danger this poses to the rule of law and our democratic system of government, US Presidential Office spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a preliminary preview to the statements of the President.
Biden will highlight the role of security in the Capitol on Jan. 6. “Thanks to their efforts, our democracy has withstood the attack of a mob, and the will of more than 150 million people who voted in the presidential elections was ultimately recognized by Congress,” said Psaki. Several commemorative events are also planned in Parliament.
The storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021 brings the United States to the brink of a political abyss. The lie of Donald Trump’s stolen election victory erupts in violence. Most of the perpetrators could be identified and charged. But the rift in society continues.
“SRF DOK” shows “Storming the Capitol – An American Trauma” tomorrow Thursday at 8:05 p.m. on SRF 1.