A Congressional Call to Prosecute Trump

[0] From New York Times, I'm Michael Barrow.

[1] This is a daily.

[2] Today.

[3] The Congressional Committee investigating the January 6th attack on the U .S. Capitol has recommended that former President Donald Trump be charged with four crimes, including insurrection.

[4] My colleague, Luke Broadwater, was in the room as it happened.

[5] It's Tuesday, December 20th.

[6] So, Luke, this long, strange journey is now over.

[7] The January 6th Committee has just finished its 11th and final public meeting and really finished this historic project of investigating what happened before and on that very dark day.

[8] And I know that you have tucked yourself into a little phone booth inside the Capitol, which I know can be very loud, so thank you for being willing to talk to us from there.

[9] So I'm curious, since you just walked out of the room where this last meeting was held, what is your reaction to it?

[10] Well, I think every step of the way, the January 6th Committee has been a history -making congressional investigation.

[11] If you look at how deep and why their investigation went, it's pretty unprecedented in the annals of American democracy.

[12] They interviewed more than a thousand witnesses.

[13] They obtained more than a million documents.

[14] They issued easily more than 100 subpoenas.

[15] And so as I'm watching this, I'm seeing a congressional committee go where Congress has not gone before.

[16] Most congressional investigations end with a report, maybe some legislative recommendations.

[17] They don't end with lawmakers sitting up at a dais telling the Justice Department what crimes a former president committed and how he should be investigated.

[18] Okay, so tell us exactly how it is they go about.

[19] doing that last piece of history -making.

[20] What happens in this final meeting?

[21] Unlike the committee's previous hearings this summer, which were quite lengthy and full of detailed evidence, this meeting on Monday was designed to be efficient.

[22] A quorum being present, the Select Committee to investigate the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol will be in order.

[23] The purpose of this meeting was to remind the American people, people of the important points along the way at which Donald Trump and his allies attempted to overturn the election.

[24] And so Benny Thompson, the chairman of the committee, a Democrat from Mississippi, opens the hearing and laid out sort of the broad principles that were at play here.

[25] To cast a vote in the United States is an act of faith and hope.

[26] When we drop that ballot in the ballot box, we expect the people named on the ballot are going to uphold that end of the deal.

[27] About the importance of a president admitting when he lost and turning over the reins of government to the person who beat him.

[28] Those who come up short ultimately accept the results and abide by the rule of law.

[29] That faith in our system is the foundation of American democracy.

[30] If the faith is broken, so is our democracy.

[31] Donald Trump broke that faith.

[32] Donald Trump refused to admit he lost.

[33] But he chose to try to stay in office through a multi -part scheme to overturn the results and block the transfer of power.

[34] And for that, Chairman Thompson said, he needs to be held accountable.

[35] If we are to survive as a nation of laws and democracy, this can never happen again.

[36] How do we stop it?

[37] There's one factor, I believe, is most important in preventing another January 6th, accountability.

[38] Right, I remember thinking when he used that word accountability, he's hinting at not just what's to come, but why it must come, why this committee will be recommending criminal charges.

[39] Right, this whole hearing was laying the groundwork, laying the argument for what the panel planned to do at the end.

[40] and that was issuing the criminal referrals.

[41] And so what Chairman Thompson is doing here is he's reminding the public, once again, of exactly what Donald Trump did.

[42] And he starts to utilize the rest of the committee.

[43] I especially want to thank and acknowledge our vice chair to lay out this case.

[44] He kicks the mic to Liz Cheney, the vice chairwoman from Wyoming, who...

[45] Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for your...