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Donald Trump at a rally in Washington on January 6, 2021, the day the Capitol was stormed
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Jacquelyn Martin / dpa
According to media reports, the parliamentary investigative committee into the storming of the US Capitol wants to summon former President Donald Trump.
The panel wants to vote on such a subpoena at a public hearing in the House of Representatives on Thursday, reports the news channels CNN and Fox News as well as the New York Times, among others.
That could lead to legal battles if Trump refuses to obey a subpoena.
After a break of several months, the committee of inquiry held a public meeting on Thursday – probably the last before the congressional elections in November.
Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney of the Republican Party again blamed Trump for the attack on Congress on January 6, 2021.
The evidence presented so far has shown that "the central cause of January 6th was one man - Donald Trump".
The session included video footage of Trump's longtime confidante Roger Stone, a notorious political adviser.
Stone says ahead of the November 2020 presidential election that he doesn't want to wait for all voters to be counted.
"Let's go straight to the violence."
Reference was also made to Stone's links to the extremist groups Oath Keepers and Proud Boys.
Members of these groups were charged with seditious conspiracy after the Capitol storm.
The House of Representatives committee of inquiry had already held eight public hearings in the summer, in which Trump was heavily incriminated.
Another hearing was actually planned for the end of September - but this was postponed due to Hurricane "Ian" and has now been made up for.
It should be the last hearing before the congressional elections on November 8th.
If the Republicans take control of the House of Representatives in the election, as many pollsters are predicting, it would mean the end of the committee of inquiry.
The committee intends to present a report on its work before the end of the year.
Hundreds of radical Trump supporters stormed the Capitol when Democrat Joe Biden's victory in the November 2020 presidential election was to be finally confirmed there.
The storming of the Capitol with five dead and around 140 injured police officers caused horror worldwide and is considered a black day in the history of US democracy.
In the weeks before, Trump had spread the false claim that he had actually won the election and had been deprived of a second term through massive electoral fraud.
Rep. Elaine Luria said Thursday at the committee meeting that Trump spread this "nonsense" even though he knew the allegations were false.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren said Trump planned from the start to declare himself the winner on election night, "no matter what the actual result."
The committee meeting also showed emails and text messages from the Secret Service and other security agencies citing fears of violence and an attack on the Capitol ahead of Jan. 6.
On the day of the attack itself, the Secret Service quickly realized that many Trump supporters who had gathered in Washington were armed.
sak/AP/Reuters