Trump ‘deeply unnerved’ as Capitol attack inquiry closes in: Report

Former US President Donald Trump appears deeply unnerved by the sprawling inquiry into the January 6 assault on Capitol Hill, as the House select committee is investigating whether he is guilty of a crime, according to a report.

Trump, who was impeached and later acquitted for inciting the post-election insurrection, is anxious by the prospect of being implicated in the inquiry that in recent weeks has increasingly tightened the net around his inner circle. 

The former president has recently complained more about the investigation to his associates, demanding to know why his former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, divulged so much information about the attack to the select committee, and why dozens of other aides have chosen to cooperate with the inquiry, the Guardian reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The select committee last Monday voted unanimously to advance a referral of Meadows to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution. That makes Meadows the second Trump ally to be sanctioned by the Democrat-controlled House for defying a subpoena, after Steve Bannon, the former White House’s chief strategist, was held in contempt in October.

Trump has also been angry with aides who have invoked the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution-- which protects against self-incrimination-- in depositions, telling associates that doing so will only make them look weak and complicit in a crime.

Capitol attack House committee votes to hold Mark Meadows in contempt

Mark Meadows becomes the second Trump ally to be sanctioned by the Democrat-controlled House for defying a subpoena.

The former Republican president is upset with the negative media coverage he is receiving on the issue and has laid into House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy for being too incompetent to get Republicans on the select committee to defend him.

Trump’s fury reflects the kind of expletives he once directed at the Russia investigation and the special counsel inquiry when he was president.

But the former president appears more anxious about the unfolding investigation into whether he and his top aides unlawfully conspired to overturn the 2020 election.

As a joint session of Congress was certifying Joe Biden’s victory on January 6, thousands of Trump supporters, encouraged by his calls for a march on Capitol, launched a raid against the Capitol building and ransacked the offices of lawmakers. Five people died as a result of the riot.

In speeches and tweets between the November 3 election and January 6, Trump made a litany of grievances against the electoral process, including unfounded claims about how the election had been stolen from him through massive fraud.

The House select committee is investigating whether Trump committed a crime in connection with the deadly Capitol attack. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, one of two Republicans sitting on the panel, said on Sunday he was not “yet” ready to declare Trump guilty, but that the committee is looking into the likelihood that he is.

“Nobody is above the law,” the Illinois congressman told CNN. “And if the president knowingly allowed what happened on 6 January to happen, and, in fact, was giddy about it, and that violates a criminal statute, he needs to be held accountable for that.”

The committee has issued dozens of subpoenas in recent weeks, some to close Trump aides.

Kinzinger said he had no qualms about investigating how Trump incited his supporters to try to overturn his election defeat. “He’s not a king,” he said, “Former presidents, they aren’t former kings.”

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