U.S. Representative Danny K. Davis (D-IL 7th District) Monday said he hopes that the Department of Justice (DOJ) not only accepts the January 6th Committee’s recommendations of criminal charges against former President Trump, but adds more to them, thereby becoming what he believes would be “the nail in his political coffin.”
Davis applauded the House Select Committee’s investigation of the January 6th insurrection where four people were killed, and weeks after the riot five police officers who had served at the Capitol on January 6, died. Also, 150 officers from the Capitol Police, the Metropolitan Police Department and local agencies were injured.
The committee, chaired by U.S. Representative Bennie Thompson (D-MS 2nd District), concluded on Monday, December 19, that Trump was allegedly ultimately responsible for the insurrection and graphically laid out a pathway of proof demonstrating that fact.
In the Committee’s conclusion, it states, “That evidence has led to an overriding and straight-forward conclusion: the central cause of January 6th was one man, former President Donald Trump, who many others followed. None of the events of January 6th would have happened without him.”
The committee showed numerous videos and testimonies, including some from Trump’s high-ranking aides and even Trump himself, when he egged on a crowd of supporters suggesting they take things into their own hands, and they stormed the Capitol demanding that Vice President Pence and Congress reject Biden’s victory.
The January 6th Committee’s conclusion included examples of how Trump engaged in “relentless arm-twisting” tactics, including asking Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to find him more than 11,000 votes to change the outcome of the election he lost to Biden.
The committee accused Trump of using the “big lie” that the election was stolen, to raise about $250 million in political contributions to help provoke his supporters to commit violence.
The January 6th Committee referred several recommendations against Trump to the DOJ including committing obstruction of justice of an ongoing official proceeding; conspiracy to defraud the U.S.; conspiracy to make false statements; assisting or aiding an insurrection; conspiring to injure or impede an officer and seditious conspiracy.
In congratulating January 6 Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, Davis said, “He has done an outstanding job of chairing that committee and its efforts. If I had a hero during this period, it would be him.
“The Committee has done very credible work and has painstakingly investigated and reviewed every aspect of January 6th that they possibly could. I think their report and their actions give hope to Americans that justice is still available in our country.
“I think their recommendations to the Department of Justice have merit, and I hope that [the department] will act upon them as quickly as it reasonably can. Great work, great report, accurate recommendations. I believe that our U.S. Department of Justice is in the hands of great leadership and justice will prevail,” Davis told the Chicago Crusader.
When asked if he thought Trump committed a crime, Davis said, “I believe that criminal activity took place and that President Trump is culpable for some of it.”
Asked if Trump could still run for president during the DOJ follow-up investigation, Davis said, “It would be very challenging for Trump to be a candidate under those circumstances because his credibility would have been shot.”
When asked if Trump’s credibility is already shot because of his persistent lie about a stolen election, Davis said, “I think it is shot with a large number of people, but there are still those who are holding on and holding out. This may be the nail in his political coffin, and I hope that it is.”
When contacted, Illinois State Representative LaShawn K. Ford (D-8th) said, “Congress did a thorough, bipartisan investigation although they are making a recommendation to the DOJ, that does not mean that Trump will be charged with crimes, but it does escalate it to the point where the DOJ probably would not have done so.
“Now, the taxpayers have paid and had house briefings on the situation and it has been conclusive that the feds should look into criminal charges. I stand by the Congress [and the] work that they’ve done. It saddens me that we had a civil war in America over the big lie,” said Ford.
“During this time, it is unfortunate that Congress had to do this, but now the DOJ has the evidence in their hands to determine whether Trump was part of the planning. It is important that we get to the bottom of this. The history itself deserves a conclusion,” Ford said.
“Going down in history people died and our democracy was challenged. You can’t have something like that go without having an ending to it, and the only way to put an ending on it is to get to the root of the problem, and hopefully this investigation leads with the DOJ,” Ford stated.
U.S. Representative Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) doubled down on her longtime criticisms of former President Trump, saying his actions around January 6 make him unfit for office. “No man who would behave that way at that moment in time can ever serve in any position of authority in our nation again. He is unfit for any office,” Cheney said.
