Capitol Riot Panel Blames Trump for 1/6 ‘Attempted Coup’

(File Photo/AP Photo/John Raoux)
By LISA MASCARO, MARY CLARE JALONICK and FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — A House panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol has firmly laid blame on Donald Trump. In Thursday’s prime-time hearing, lawmakers said the siege was no accident but an “attempted coup” and a direct result of the defeated president’s effort to overturn the 2020 election. Rep. Bennie Thompson, the Democrat from Mississippi, said the attack put America’s “constitutional democracy at risk.” Thursday’s hearing showed new video and other evidence from the deadly Capitol assault. The panel also detailed the chilling backstory as defeated President Donald Trump tried to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory. Live testimony included a police officer who was pummeled in the riot and a documentary filmmaker tracking extremist Proud Boys leading the melee.