– A video of the rampage
For its first public session in early June, the commission hit hard by broadcasting unpublished images of raging protesters ransacking Congress in full certification of the electoral result.
These images provided a minute-by-minute account of the riot that sought to overturn the 2020 presidential outcome, won by Mr Trump’s Democratic rival, current President Joe Biden.
It showed the demonstrators, goaded by members of the far-right Proud Boys militia, forcing police resistance, then the officers desperately trying to contain the crowd climbing the scaffolding and throwing chairs.
– An explosive testimony
Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide, portrayed to elected officials a Donald Trump unable to accept defeat and ready to do anything to stay in power.
During one of the most striking testimonies of these hearings, the 26-year-old young woman revealed that on January 6, the Republican had tried to take the wheel of the presidential car from an agent of his protection service to go to the Capitol.
“I’m the fucking president, get me to the Capitol right now,” he reportedly said.
Ms. Hutchinson also assured that Donald Trump knew that some of his supporters were heavily armed.
And when the Justice Secretary said he hadn’t found enough fraud to invalidate Joe Biden’s victory, the billionaire threw ketchup on a wall in the White House, she claimed.
– A “crazy” meeting at the White House
One evening in December 2020, what elected official Jamie Raskin called “the craziest meeting of the Trump presidency” was held at the White House.
The Republican was in consultation with three outside advisers offering him implausible plans to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election.
Pat Cipollone, the White House legal adviser, unhappy to see who was attending the meeting, had rushed to the Oval Office.
There followed a long “heated confrontation”, punctuated by insults and shouting, according to Mr. Raskin.
– Liz Cheney, unlikely darling
Of the two Republican members of the commission, Liz Cheney, an elected Republican from Wyoming and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, drew attention.
Joining the head of this chosen group has cost her dearly: she is now a pariah in her state and in her camp. The elected 55-year-old, however, has become an unlikely darling for some Democrats.
During the hearings, Liz Cheney accused Donald Trump of having “summoned the crowd, assembled the crowd and lit the fuse for this attack”.
She dealt some of the hardest blows to the billionaire, saying for example that he tried to contact a commission witness.
– Hold Trump accountable
Donald Trump’s role – and his possible responsibility – was at the heart of the committee’s discussions.
At the latest hearing on Thursday, its chairman said he had “opened the way to disorder and corruption”.
Donald Trump “tried to destroy our democratic institutions”, judged Bennie Thompson, calling for those responsible for the chaos in Congress “to answer for their actions in court”.
Eventually, the conclusions of the group of elected officials could include a recommendation concerning the opening of legal proceedings against the former president.
