WASHINGTON, Jan 6 (Reuters) – Five years after the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, Democrats in Congress accused Republicans of a “whitewash” of history while President Donald Trump delivered an upbeat speech to Republican lawmakers that made little mention of the riot by his supporters.
The contrasting events laid bare the balance of power in Washington. Democrats sought to revive memories of the attack, in which thousands of Trump supporters sent lawmakers scrambling for their lives in an unsuccessful attempt to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election.
Trump, meanwhile, delivered jokes and danced to his signature song, “YMCA,” at an iconic performing arts venue in Washington named for former President John F. Kennedy, which his administration has now renamed the “Trump-Kennedy Center.”
In an 82-minute speech to House Republicans, he briefly mentioned the riot, criticizing a congressional investigation and news coverage of the attack. Trump’s White House unveiled a website that blamed Capitol Police for turning a “peaceful demonstration into chaos.”
Later on Tuesday, roughly 150 Trump supporters traded insults with counter-protesters as they marched to the Capitol, where they sang the national anthem and other songs to commemorate the event.
The march was organized by Enrique Tarrio, a former leader of the far-right Proud Boys group who was sentenced to 24 years in prison after being found guilty of helping to plan the attack. Tarrio was one of more than 1,500 January 6 participants who were pardoned by Trump when he returned to the White House last year.
Trump faced broad bipartisan criticism following the January 6 attack and the House impeached him for a second time, though the Republican-controlled Senate failed to convict him. Trump also faced a federal criminal prosecution, which was derailed by the Supreme Court.
The attack came after months of baseless claims by Trump that the 2020 election had been stolen from him.
Roughly 140 police officers were injured and four people died during the attack, including a Trump supporter who was shot dead by police. One police officer, who was attacked by protesters, died the following day. Four other police officers subsequently died by suicide.
Democrats warned that the threats to election integrity and the rule of law posed by Trump have not receded.
“Donald Trump and far-right extremists in Congress have repeatedly attempted to rewrite history and whitewash the horrific events of January 6. We will not let that happen,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said at a forum to mark the anniversary of the attack.
The Trump administration has sought states’ voter registration lists, leading to fears the information could be misused. Trump has urged states to abandon mail-in ballots and has hinted at running for a third presidential term in 2028, which would violate the U.S. Constitution.
Trump warned that Democrats could impeach him for a third time if they win control of the House in the November congressional elections.
Some Republicans blamed far-left activists for the attack, without any evidence, and party lawmakers set up a new committee to “uncover the full truth” from that day.
“True accountability requires focusing on facts, not selective storytelling for partisan gain,” the chairman of the subcommittee, Barry Loudermilk, said ahead of the Democrats’ hearing.
Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin, a leader of the impeachment effort and the subsequent investigation into the attack, accused Republicans of doing “exactly nothing” to mark its fifth anniversary.
“The people who tried to destroy our constitutional order will be remembered as fascist traitors to their own country,” he said.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan, Nolan D. McCaskill and Bo Erickson; editing by Andy Sullivan, Lincoln Feast and Alistair Bell)
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