Investigation Shows The Fragility of U.S. Democracy
January 3, 2023—As a new Congress begins to take shape in Washington, the House Select Committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol completed its work.
At its core, the committee upheld its purpose of defending democracy in the United States. A key tenet of democracy is free and fair elections. In the 2020 presidential elections, the country nearly lost in fulfilling that promise to the people. Former President Donald Trump used every means possible—including a violent attack on the legislature—to hold onto power.
As the truth came to light, the evidence showed the fragility of the republic itself and the key tenets of democracy it relies upon to function.
The Jan. 6 Committee’s Work
During the course of its work over a year and a half, the committee held 10 hearings or business meetings. It investigated the January 6, 2021 insurrection and the events leading up to it.
The committee produced a final 845-page report. Also, it made publically available a massive amount of material, proposed legislation, and made criminal referrals to a Special Counsel in the U.S. Justice Department for President Trump and John Eastman, a conservative attorney. The referral for Trump includes the following violations of law:
- Obstruction of an official proceeding;
- Conspiracy to defraud the United States;
- Conspiracy to make a false statement;
- Incitement of an insurrection; and
- other conspiracies.
Furthermore, the committee referred four House members—Reps. Kevin McCarthy, Jim Jordan, Scott Perry, and Andy Biggs—to the House Ethics Committee for not complying with subpoenas requesting testimony.
To date, the Justice Department has charged close to 900 individuals, of which nearly 500 were convicted or pled guilty, according to the department. DOJ’s investigations are ongoing.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2023 Patti Mohr