Representative Auchincloss: Trump Must Never Again Hold Public Office

The finding that Donald Trump was “the central cause of January 6th” by the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol as of Monday, December 19, 2022, has elicited a statement from Congressman Jake Auchincloss (D, MA-04) who responds, “Donald Trump tried to be the ‘finisher’ of our democracy. He must never again hold public office."

The Select Committee, consisting of representatives of U.S. Congress, on Monday released a 100 plus page document containing 762 footnotes that is titled, Introductory Material to the Final Report of the Select Committee, ("Introductory Materials" or "IM"). In it,  the Select Committee describes voluminous evidence from nine public hearings with 86 witnesses - the majority of whom were Republicans and 30 of whom invoked the Fifth Amendment to avoid self-incrimination. 

The Select Committee describes testimonies from which it shows or concludes that, among other things, it appears that Donald Trump:

• Knew that allegations of widespread fraud affecting results of the 2020 election were false (IM at 4 & 8-21);

• Didn’t want people to know that he had lost the 2020 election (IM at 16-21);

• "[P]urposely disseminated false allegations of fraud related to the 2020 Presidential election in order to aid his effort to overturn the election and for purposes of soliciting contributions" (IM at 8-21 and Finding #1);

• Proceeded to work with others to prepare false Trump electoral slates for seven states that Joe Biden had won (IM at 30-32);

• Pressured state officials and legislators to change the results of elections in their states (IM at 30 and Finding #5);

• Pressured Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes” in that state (IM at 32-33);

• Pressured former Vice President Mike Pence to prevent Congress from counting some state electoral votes for Joe Biden (IM at 23-28).

The Select Committee finds that Mr. Trump advanced “a multi-part conspiracy to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 Presidential election” (IM at 29-30 and Finding #12)

“The bipartisan January 6th Committee has affirmed, via thorough and transparent fact-finding, that Donald Trump committed insurrection,” says Congressman Auchincloss. “The Department of Justice should prosecute him. Congress should enact the Electoral Count Act Reform to prevent another constitutional crisis,” stated the representative.

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Here's a timeline summarizing the process of getting to this point (IM at 100-101):

• May 18, 2021: House passes legislation to establish a National Commission to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capital Complex. Voting in favor of the legislation are 35 Republicans and 271 Democrats. Voting against the legislation are 175 Republicans. IM at 100.

• June 30, 2021: House votes on H. Res. 503 to establish a 13 member Select Committee to investigate the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol. There are 222 Yea votes (inclusive of 2 republicans - Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger). The Nays are 190.

• July 1, 2021: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi names 8 initial members to the Select Committee. Only Rep. Liz Cheney is a Republican.

• July 17, 2021: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy proposes 5 additional Republican members: Rep. Jim Jordan, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee; Rep. Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota, House Energy and Commerce Committee; Rep. Troy Nehls, House Transportation & Infrastructure and Veterans’ Affairs Committees; Rep. Jim Banks, Armed Services, Veterans’ Affairs and Education and Labor Committees; and Rep. Rodney Davis, Ranking Member of the Committee on House Administration. IM at 100-101.

• On July 21, 2021: Speaker Pelosi rejects Mr. McCarthy's appointment of Rep. Banks for his personally being involved in January 6th which makes him a subject of the investigation. She also rejects the appointment of Rep. Jordan who has made public statements indicating he has already reached his own conclusions and is not likely to cooperate with the committee. Speaker Pelosi informs Leader McCarthy that she will accept his remaining three appointments. She asks Leader McCarthy for 2 alternatives to Rep. Banks and Rep. Jordan. McCarthy removes all five of his appointments from consideration.

• July 25, 2021: Speaker Pelosi appoints Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger to the committee. IM at 101.

The full list of members of Congress who participated on the Select Committee are Rep. Bennie Thompson (Chair); Majority Committee Members Rep. Zoe Lofgren, Rep. Adam Schiff, Rep. Pete Aguilar, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Rep. Elaine Luria; and Minority Committee Members Rep. Liz Cheney and Rep. Adam Kizinger.

Read the Select Committee's report, yourself. Click here.

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