Obstruction, pressure, lies, silence, flawed memories: the parliamentary commission on the January 6 assault on the Capitol encountered many obstacles in its investigations. The summary of his extraordinary work, published Monday, December 19, offers a striking insight into these difficulties. They also reflect the limits of such a commission, without real coercive power.
Donald Trump did everything to thwart the investigations. He tried to prevent the communication of documents relating to his presidency, which are in the National Archives. But the Supreme Court authorized this transmission.
About 30 witnesses, including key figures such as former national security adviser Michael Flynn, remained silent before the commission, in the name of their right not to incriminate themselves. The head of the presidential administration, Mark Meadows, refused to appear citing executive privilege, an unwritten principle of confidentiality of his dealings with the president. The Justice Department did not prosecute Mark Meadows for this fact, fueling speculation that he might be cooperating secretly with federal investigators.
“The commission is aware of multiple efforts by Donald Trump to contact witnesses”also underlines the summary, specifying that the Ministry of Justice was seized “of at least one” of these cases. The commission gave some details about one of the witnesses, X. He decided to separate from his lawyer, after learning that the latter was paid by a political financing structure placed at the service of Donald Trump. This lawyer had pointed out to him that it was possible to feign memory loss on certain questions. Then he insisted that the witness not mention a point very unfavorable to the former Republican president.
On several occasions, X received calls from relatives of Donald Trump, exerting clear pressure. “They told me, as long as I play collectively, they will know that I am in the right team. I do what it takes. I protect who I have to protect”, X explained to the commission. Finally, as his appearance approached, the witness was promised a very lucrative job, which subsequently did not materialize.
Four elected House members refused to appear
Among the former White House team, the commission highlights the important testimony of the two leading attorneys, chief legal counsel Pat Cipollone and Eric Herschmann. On the other hand, other members are criticized, such as the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, for their selective memories. In the case of Anthony Ornato, deputy head of the administration in charge of presidential travel, the problem would rather come from incoherent answers compared to the other testimonies collected. The latter, for example, claimed that he was not aware of Donald Trump’s desire to go to the Capitol with the demonstrators.
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