WASHINGTON (AP) – A day after former US President Donald Trump won his second Senate impeachment trial, bipartisan support appeared to be growing for an independent 9/11 type commission in the deadly US Capitol insurrection .
The riot investigations were already planned, with Senate hearings scheduled later this month at the Senate Rules Committee. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, asked retired Army Lieutenant General Russel Honoré to lead an immediate review of the Capitol security process.
Lawmakers from both parties, speaking on Sunday’s news programs, signaled that further investigations are likely.
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The Senate verdict on Saturday, with its majority of 57-43 falling 10 votes less than the two-thirds needed to convict Trump, has hardly ended the debate over the former president’s culpability for the January 6 attack.
“There must be a thorough investigation into what happened,” said Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, one of seven Republicans who voted to condemn Trump. “What was known, who knew and when they knew, all of this, because it builds the foundation so that it never happens again.”
Cassidy said he was “trying to hold President Trump accountable” and added that, as Americans hear all the facts, “more people will move to where I was.” He was censored by his state party after the vote.
US Senator Bill Cassidy, Republican-Louisiana, walks on Capitol Hill after the Senate acquitted former President Donald Trump in his second Senate impeachment trial at the US Capitol in Washington, February 13, 2021. (Greg Nash / Pool via AP)
An independent commission similar to the one that investigated the September 11, 2001 attacks would likely require legislation. This would take the investigation a step further, offering a definitive accounting of events supported by the government. Pelosi expressed support for such a commission, emphasizing that the members who participate in it would be key. Still, such a panel would pose risks of widening party divisions or overshadowing President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda.
“There is even more evidence that the American people need and deserve to hear, and a 9/11 commission is a way to ensure that the Capitol continues,” said Sen. Chris Coons, Democrat-Delaware, a Biden ally. “And that we made it clear how responsible and abject a violator of his constitutional oath President Trump really was.”
House prosecutors who defended Trump’s conviction of inciting the rebellion said on Sunday that they had proved their case. They also protested Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell and others who they said were “trying to do both” by declaring the ex-president innocent, but at the same time criticizing him.
A close ally of Trump, Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, voted for absolution, but acknowledged that Trump had some blame for the Capitol siege that killed five people, including a policeman, and interrupted lawmakers’ certification of the victory of Biden at the White House. Graham said he hopes to campaign with Trump in the 2022 election, when Republicans hope to regain a majority in Congress.
“His behavior after the election was overblown,” said Graham. “We need a 9/11 commission to find out what happened and make sure it never happens again.”
Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican-South Carolina, puts on a face mask on the fifth day of the second impeachment trial of former US President Donald Trump, at the Capitol in Washington, February 13, 2021. (Stefani Reynolds / Pool via AP )
The Senate acquitted Trump of an “incitement to insurrection” charge after House prosecutors exposed the case that he was a “chief instigator” who sparked a crowd for stoking a months-long campaign to publicize debunked conspiracy theories and false violent rhetoric that 2020 the election was stolen from him.
Trump’s lawyers responded that Trump’s words were not intended to incite violence and that impeachment was nothing more than a “witch hunt” designed to prevent him from serving in office again.
The conviction count was the most bipartisan in American history, but it let Trump declare victory and signal a political revival while a bitterly divided Republican Party argued about its direction and its place in the party.
The Republicans who joined Cassidy in the vote to condemn were Sens. Richard Burr of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.
“It is frustrating, but the founders knew what they were doing and that is why we live with the system we have,” said Democrat Del. Stacey Plaskett, attorney general for the Virgin Islands, on the verdict, describing it as “painful.” . ”She added:“ But, listen, we didn’t need any more witnesses. We needed more senators with thorns. “
McConnell told Republican senators, just before the vote, that he would vote to absolve Trump. In a forceful speech after the vote, the Kentucky Republican said the president was “practically and morally responsible for causing the events of that day”, but that the Senate’s hands were tied to do anything about it because Trump was out of office . The Senate, in a previous vote, considered the constitutional judgment.
Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, Republican-Kentucky, returns to the chamber while the Senate voted to consider hearing witnesses at the impeachment trial of former US President Donald Trump at the Capitol in Washington, February 13, 2021 J. Scott Applewhite / AP)
“It was powerful to hear the 57 culprits and then it was intriguing to hear and see Mitch McConnell get up and say ‘innocent’ and then, minutes later, get up again and say he was guilty of everything,” said Rep. Madeleine Dean, Democrat -Pensilvânia. “History will remember that statement of speaking from both sides of the mouth,” she said.
Dean also supported the idea of an impartial investigation commission “not guided by politics, but full of people who would face the courage of their conviction”.
The House’s chief impeachment manager, Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, called the trial “a dramatic success in historical terms” in gaining unprecedented support from Republican senators. He said the verdict does not match the reality of the strength of the evidence.
“We successfully sued him and sentenced him to the court of public opinion and the court of history,” he said. Pointing to McConnell and other Republican senators who criticized Trump but voted for absolution, Raskin said: “They are trying both.”
Raskin and Plaskett defended the last-minute reversal of the House staff not to call a witness, Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, a Washington Republican. They acknowledged that they knew they could lose some Republican Party votes for condemnation if they extended the trial much longer.
Beutler’s statement on Friday that Trump rejected an appeal by Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy to cancel the protesters was finally included in the trial record.
“I think what we did was get what we wanted, which was her statement, what she said, and we recorded it,” said Plaskett.
Cassidy and Dean spoke on ABC’s “This Week”, Graham appeared on Fox News Sunday, Raskin on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and Plaskett appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union”.