The large number of documents requested on Wednesday by the House committee investigating the January 6 attack shows interest in the former President Trump
The judge declares the court case in the case of embezzlement of Michael Avenatti. Herschel Walker presents documents to run in the Senate in Georgia MOREmental health and whether he was thinking of using the army to stay in power.
In addition to looking for records on members of Trump’s family and a long list of former aides, the group is asking the White House and federal agencies to broadcast any talks about the former president’s removal and whether he planned to enact martial law.
The committee is zeroing the period from election day to inauguration day and wants agencies to deliver “all documents and communications related to the twenty-fifth amendment to the United States Constitution.” , which allows the vice president and most cabinet members to remove the president if they believe he is unfit for office.
Agencies are also asked to relay “all documents and communications related to Donald Trump’s mental stability or physical condition” after Jan. 6, when a crowd of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.
The documents, if provided, could offer new insights into whether former Vice President Pence and members of Trump’s cabinet were considering taking action later numerous reports that administration officials were considering invoking the 25th Amendment during Trump’s last two weeks in office.
During this period, the House passed a symbolic measure encouraging Pence to invoke the amendment. Pence responded at the time by saying he did not believe “this line of action is in the best interest of our nation.”
The House Committee’s line of inquiry investigating Jan. 6 also shows an interest in how long Trump might be willing to go on to stay in power.
A letter to the Pentagon from the House panel seeks any record of “the potential use of military power to prevent or ensure the peaceful transfer of power” between elections and the inauguration and any “possible attempt by President Donald Trump to remain in office after January 20, 2021 “.
Several of the letters call for documents related to marriage law or any analysis of their use.
An application specifically requests from the Department of Defense “all documents and communications related to the possibility of invoking the Insurrection Act, including, among others, documents and communications related to this possibility with respect to the preparation for the events of January 6, 2021 or responding to the attack of January 6, 2021 “.
Martial law would place the military in control of various government functions, while the Insurrection Act of 1807 allows the president to “convene the militia in order to suppress that insurrection.” It has not been used since 1992, when former President George HW Bush invoked it to quell riots after police beat Rodney King.
Experts point out that the insurgency sparked by Trump’s own supporters on Jan. 6 could have been used by the president to invoke the act.
“I think there was some concern that President Trump might be interested in creating some kind of bewilderment just because he said,‘ Ope, I have to use the Insurrection Act. Today I will close all DC. You will not be able to certify the election. “And create enough chaos to create space to change the election,” said Barbara McQuade, who served as a U.S. attorney for the Obama administration.
Trump raised the idea of invoking the Insurrection Act last summer amid protests following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police.
“If a city or state refuses to take the necessary action to defend the lives and property of its residents, then I will deploy the U.S. military and quickly resolve the issue,” Trump told the White House in June. 2020.
Former Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller said two months ago that he was “aware of fears raised by many about the army’s previous use in the June 2020 response to protests near the White House and the fear that the president would invoke the Insurrection Act. politicize the military in an undemocratic way. “
It appears the committee is also looking for any resistance Trump may have faced near the end of his administration, asking numerous agencies for communications “related to defying the president’s orders.”
Beyond military efforts, the investigation seeks to examine the various ways Trump might have tried to use the Department of Justice (DOJ) to promote his false claims about the 2020 election.
The Justice Department is being asked to provide communications with former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, who told lawmakers that Trump was persistent in pressing him to discredit the election, and Jeffrey Clark, another DOJ official who allegedly pushed the department to question the results.
The New York Times has reported that Trump, annoyed by Rosen’s rejections on the electoral front, was considering replacing him with Clark.
The House Committee’s request to the National Archives (which preserves presidential records) calls for “all documents and communications related to efforts, plans or proposals to answer the results of the 2020 presidential election.”
But the request to the DOJ goes beyond that, soliciting information from several officials who threatened to resign while Trump was considering replacing Rosen and asking for information on whether “any other DOJ official” was involved in challenging the validity. of the 2020 elections ”.