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Jan. 6 report recommends Congress ban Trump from running again

Key updates
Report offers rich picture of run-up to insurrection
Many close observers of the Jan. 6 committee...
Trump asked DOJ officials to seize voting machines
On Dec. 19, the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection wrapped proceedings and made criminal referrals for former president Donald Trump. (Video: Blair Guild/The Washington Post)
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Updated December 23, 2022 at 6:42 a.m. EST|Published December 22, 2022 at 9:52 p.m. EST

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol released its final 845-page report Thursday, the culmination of an exhaustive 18-month investigation into the violent insurrection and President Donald Trump’s role inciting it.

The report finds that Trump actively inspired his supporters to commit violence in his name as he attempted to remain in office despite losing the 2020 election. It comes nearly two years after a pro-Trump mob of supporters stormed the Capitol to stop the counting of votes for election winner Joe Biden, and follows a unanimous vote by the committee Monday to refer Trump to the Justice Department for criminal investigation.

The report, released as Trump begins his bid for reelection, recommends that Congress consider banning the former president from holding office again, citing the 14th Amendment, which bars those who have “engaged in an insurrection” or offered “aid and comfort to the enemies” of the Constitution. It also details how ahead of the Jan. 6 attack, red flags about potential deadly violence were ignored. The committee behind the report will disband within days.

Report offers rich picture of run-up to insurrection
Many close observers of the Jan. 6 committee...
Trump asked DOJ officials to seize voting machines

Here’s what to know

  • “The central cause of January 6th was one man,” the report’s authors wrote, adding that “none of the events … would have happened without” Trump. The president’s advisers first discussed the Jan. 6 march on Dec. 29, offering evidence that the march was premeditated.
  • The committee found that Trump tried contacting more than 190 GOP state lawmakers in Arizona, Georgia and Michigan in a campaign to convince them to overturn the election results.
  • Virginia “Ginni” Thomas — a conservative activist who believed the election was stolen, and the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas — is not mentioned in the report despite interviewing with the committee in September.
  • The panel also voted to refer four Republican lawmakers, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), to the House Ethics Committee for failing to comply with the investigative committee’s subpoenas.
  • Read the report in full here.
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Here's what to know:

“The central cause of January 6th was one man,” the report’s authors wrote, adding that “none of the events … would have happened without” Trump. The president’s advisers first discussed the Jan. 6 march on Dec. 29, offering evidence that the march was premeditated.
The committee found that Trump tried contacting more than 190 GOP state lawmakers in Arizona, Georgia and Michigan in a campaign to convince them to overturn the election results.
Virginia “Ginni” Thomas — a conservative activist who believed the election was stolen, and the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas — is not mentioned in the report despite interviewing with the committee in September.
The panel also voted to refer four Republican lawmakers, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), to the House Ethics Committee for failing to comply with the investigative committee’s subpoenas.
Read the report in full here.

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The Jan. 6 insurrection

The report: The Jan. 6 committee released its final report, marking the culmination of an 18-month investigation into the violent insurrection. Read The Post’s analysis about the committee’s new findings and conclusions.

The final hearing: The House committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol held its final public meeting where members referred four criminal charges against former president Donald Trump and others to the Justice Department. Here’s what the criminal referrals mean.

The riot: On Jan. 6, 2021, a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 election results. Five people died on that day or in the immediate aftermath, and 140 police officers were assaulted.

Inside the siege: During the rampage, rioters came perilously close to penetrating the inner sanctums of the building while lawmakers were still there, including former vice president Mike Pence. The Washington Post examined text messages, photos and videos to create a video timeline of what happened on Jan. 6. Here’s what we know about what Trump did on Jan. 6.

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