Trump slams 'kangaroo court' probing his Capitol riot inaction
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Mr Donald Trump lashed out overnight at the panel investigating the US Capitol riot, calling it a "kangaroo court", trashing its vice-chair Liz Cheney as a "sanctimonious loser" and reiterating his lie about the 2020 election being stolen.
Hours after lawmakers wound up a forensic condemnation of his inaction during the Jan 6, 2021 insurrection, his social media posts confirmed he was closely following the hearing on how he ignored pleas to order his supporters to go home.
"I had an election rigged and stolen from me, and our country. The USA is going to hell. Am I supposed to be happy?"
Mr Trump blared on his Twitter-like platform Truth Social, as he accused the panel of being "corrupt and highly partisan".
Ms Cheney, daughter of former vice-president Dick Cheney, has been made a pariah by her own party for severely criticising Mr Trump, but she pressed ahead at Thursday night's hearing.
"Every American must consider this," she said. "Can a president who was willing to make the choices Donald Trump made during the violence of Jan 6 ever be trusted with any position of authority in our great nation again?"
Mr Trump, 76, who has been twice impeached, is mulling another White House run in 2024, pondered why lawmakers did not ask the Secret Service to confirm accusations that Mr Trump tried to wrestle for control of his limousine as he sought to join the mob storming the Capitol.
"Because they know the answer, and don't like it. A kangaroo court!"
He also attacked top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell as a "disloyal sleaze bag" after the committee aired footage never seen before of Mr McConnell working to clear the Capitol so Congress could certifying Democrat Joe Biden's election victory.
After administration witnesses testified that Mr Trump did not contact any city or federal officials to quell the violence, he sought to pin the blame on his political nemesis, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
He also charged that "Liz Cheney is a sanctimonious loser," after the Republican congresswoman painted Trump as unpatriotic and dangerous for repeating his election fraud lie.
Across eight hearings, the committee built a case that Mr Trump helped orchestrate the deadly riot, refused for hours to urge his supporters to go home and is no longer fit to hold office.
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