US Congressional Committee Recommends 'Ban on Trump's Reelection'... "Specifies Responsibility for January 6 Incident"

Full Final Report Released... WP "Low Feasibility"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] The House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot last year has recommended in its final report that former President Donald Trump be permanently barred from holding public office again. While Congress is not obligated to follow the committee's recommendation, it is expected to deal a blow to Trump's future political moves, as he has already declared his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election.

According to the Washington Post (WP) and others, the committee released the full text of the final report on the 22nd (local time). The 845-page report released that day encompasses evidence collected over the 18-month investigation period and more than 1,000 interviews.

In the report's conclusion, the committee listed 11 recommendations to prevent similar incidents from recurring, including a proposal to consider permanently barring former President Trump and others involved in the incident from holding public office under the 14th Amendment. The 14th Amendment stipulates that anyone involved in insurrection or aiding enemies of the Constitution cannot hold public office.

Specifically, it stated, "Unless two-thirds of the members of Congress vote to remove such restrictions under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, the committee believes that those who swore to uphold the Constitution and engaged in the January 6 insurrection should be appropriately disqualified and barred from holding government positions at the federal, state, private, or military levels."

The report clearly assigned responsibility for the January 6 incident solely to former President Trump, stating that without him, none of the events (the Capitol riot) would have occurred.

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

The report also revealed that Trump's close aides discussed plans to march supporters to the Capitol on December 29, 2020, a week before the incident, and that Trump indicated an intention to pardon the main perpetrators the day after the event.

Committee Chair Bennie Thompson emphasized in the report's preface, "We cannot tolerate a president who lost an election attempting to overthrow democracy, inciting violence, and threatening equality and justice for all Americans with hatred and prejudice."

Other recommendations include significantly strengthening federal law enforcement investigations into white nationalist and violent anti-government groups, and designating the joint session of Congress that certifies the presidential election results as a "national special security event."

The committee also recommended election law reforms to prevent the "electoral vote switching" attempted by former President Trump immediately after the 2020 presidential election, specifying that the vice president does not have the authority to reject electoral vote results submitted by each state.

The full report was released just four days after a 154-page summary recommended pursuing criminal charges against former President Trump.

The committee's recommendations are not legally binding, so it is uncertain whether they will be implemented. WP reported that many Republicans who took control of the House in the last midterm elections are working to find flaws and mistakes in the committee's investigation process, making it unlikely that most recommendations, except for some like election law reform, will be enacted.

Upon the release of the full report, former President Trump immediately issued a statement on his social media platform Truth Social, calling it a "witch hunt," and said, "The report created by a highly partisan committee deliberately failed to mention my use of the words 'peaceful and patriotic' or that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi failed to prove election fraud, which was the reason for the protest."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.