US CAPITOL ATTACK: Senate considers another panel to probe Trump 

By Henry Ojelu with agency report

Donald Trump’s  acquittal  in a Senate impeachment trial on a charge of “incitement of insurrection” for his role in the United States Capitol violence does not spell an end to possible accountability – or legal troubles – for the former president.

Trump’s actions and words leading up to the deadly January 6 violence, in which rioters stormed the seat of the US legislature as Congress met to certify the election victory of President Joe Biden, garnered more bipartisan support for conviction than any previous Senate impeachment trial.

Legislators from both parties have since increasingly called for Congress to set up an independent commission, like that  created  after the 9/11 attacks.

Notably, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, long considered one of Trump’s closest allies, suggested such a commission is needed “to find out what happened and make sure it never happens again”.

“His behaviour after the election was over the top,” Graham, who voted to acquit Trump, told Fox News on Sunday.

Legislators from both parties have since increasingly called for Congress to set up an independent commission, like that  created  after the 9/11 attacks.

Notably, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, long considered one of Trump’s closest allies, suggested such a commission is needed “to find out what happened and make sure it never happens again”.

“His behaviour after the election was over the top,” Graham, who voted to acquit Trump, told Fox News on Sunday.

An independent commission, which would need to be created through legislation, could determine “what was known, who knew it and when they knew, all that, because that builds the basis so this never happens again”, while removing the tinge of partisan politics, Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, who voted to convict Trump and has since been censured by the party in Louisiana, told ABC News.

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had already floated such a commission to colleagues before Trump’s acquittal, with several prominent Democrats in the Senate renewing the push in the wake of the trial.

In an interview with ABC News, Democrat Representative Madeleine Dean called for “an impartial commission, not guided by politics, filled with people who would stand up to the courage of their conviction”.

The ranking Democrats and Republicans of two Senate committees – the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the Rules Committee – had previously announced plans to probe the incident.

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In the House, where several committees are probing the violence, Pelosi has also asked retired army Lieutenant General Russel Honore to lead an immediate review of the Capitol’s security process.

Trump could also face more imposing trouble in any criminal cases filed against him as local and federal authorities continue to probe the violence, as well as civil cases filed by those affected by the riot.

As a private citizen, Trump is no longer protected from legal liability, as he was when in office, and could be charged with inciting the riot. Such a federal charge would need prosecutors to prove that Trump knew his words and actions would lead to violence – a high standard established in a 1969 Supreme Court ruling that overturned the conviction of a Ku Klux Klan leader.

The attorney general of District of Columbia has also said his office was looking into whether Trump violated a local law that prohibits statements that motivate people to violence. The charge is a misdemeanour that carries a maximum of six months in jail.

Vanguard News Nigeria

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