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  5. Justice Department must hold the perpetrators of Trump's 'attempted coup' on Jan. 6 accountable, top democracy watchdog says

Justice Department must hold the perpetrators of Trump's 'attempted coup' on Jan. 6 accountable, top democracy watchdog says

John Haltiwanger   

Justice Department must hold the perpetrators of Trump's 'attempted coup' on Jan. 6 accountable, top democracy watchdog says
  • Freedom House, a democracy watchdog, is urging the Justice Dept. to prosecute the perpetrators of Jan. 6.
  • "The president and his allies knowingly perpetuated the lie of a stolen election," the organization's president said.

Freedom House, a leading democracy watchdog based in the US, is calling for the perpetrators of the "attempted coup" on January 6, 2021 to be prosecuted by the Justice Department.

In a statement reacting to a series of eight hearings held by the House select committee investigating January 6, Freedom House president Michael J. Abramowitz said, "Over the past six weeks, the hearings of the select committee have presented convincing evidence that President Trump led an attempted coup d'état following his 2020 election loss. The president and his allies knowingly perpetuated the lie of a stolen election — a lie that still holds sway over nearly four in 10 Americans."

Trump and his allies "knowingly encouraged a violent mob to storm the US Capitol in a last-ditch attempt to stop the peaceful transfer of power," Abramowitz said, describing January 6 as the "culmination of a coup attempt" that "nearly succeeded."

"For decades, Freedom House has tracked cases of authoritarian leaders who defrauded their people and resorted to violence when they failed to earn public support, often justifying their actions with the claim that they were protecting democracy. In other cases, we have seen that even a failed coup attempt can mortally wound a democratic system," the statement went on to say, before adding that it's "vital" for the Justice Department to "hold the perpetrators of January 6 to account, and that lawmakers strengthen our democratic institutions against future attacks."

The January 6 committee does not have the authority to charge anyone with a crime, but has sought to lay out in intricate detail how Trump and those close with him attempted to subvert democracy in the US. Trump and his Republican allies have countered by attacking the bipartisan panel's legality and accusing it of partisanship.

The committee could share evidence with the Justice Department, which is conducting its own inquiry into January 6, and submit criminal referrals.

The hearings have ramped up pressure on Attorney General Merrick Garland over Justice's inquiry into January 6. Garland this week said that the inquiry "is the most important investigation that the Justice Department has ever entered into."

"We have to get this right," he added.

The latest January 6 hearing, which took place on Thursday, outlined how Trump sat by and watched the riot unfold on TV after riling up his supporters in an incendiary speech littered with falsehoods. As he observed the mayhem from the safety of the White House dining room, Trump ignored pleas to step up and call for calm.

"There needs to be accountability, accountability under the law, accountability to the American people," Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, chair of the committee, said Thursday. "If there's no accountability for January 6, for every part of this scheme, I fear we will not overcome the growing threat to our democracy."

Similarly, Rep. Liz Cheney, one of two Republicans on the January 6 committee, in her closing remarks on Thursday presented Trump as an inherent threat to America's democracy.

"Every American must consider this: Can a president who is willing to make the choices Donald Trump made during the violence of January 6th ever be trusted with any position of authority in our great nation again?" Cheney said.

The Wyoming Republican has been ostracized by the GOP for refusing to embrace Trump's effort to overturn the election.

Prominent political scientists and experts on authoritarianism have also sounded the alarm about the state of US democracy during and after the Trump presidency, particularly in the wake of the efforts to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power that culminated on January 6.

Fiona Hill, who served as the top Russia expert on the National Security Council during the Trump administration, recently told Insider that Trump's false claims about the 2020 election — including the bogus assertion that it was "stolen" from him — are a "recipe for communal violence." The US could end up in a state of "civil conflict," she warned, echoing assessments from other scholars.

"Right now it has to be said that the Republican party, the congressional Republican party, so it seems, so it would appear, is hellbent on undermining democracy to exert minority rule," Hill said. "We're in a mess."

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