UPDATE - US House Jan. 6 committee releases final report on Capitol riot investigation

ADDS REACTION FROM DONALD TRUMP

WASHINGTON (AA) - The House of Representatives committee probing the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol released its final report Thursday, concluding an 18-month investigation.

The 845-page report was issued three days after the bipartisan committee's nine members voted unanimously to ask the Justice Department to pursue charges against former President Donald Trump for his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election

“The work of the Select Committee underscores that our democratic institutions are only as strong as the commitment of those who are entrusted with their care,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote in the foreword of the report.

The report consists of eight chapters and includes an overview of the evidence developed as well as legislative recommendations and referrals to the US Department of Justice and House Ethics Committee.

The report recommended the Senate to pass the Presidential Electoral Count Act, which the House has already passed.

“The Department of Justice should also take appropriate action to prevent its attorneys from participating in campaign-related activities, or (as described in the report) activities aimed at subverting the rule of law and overturning a lawful election,” the report also suggested.

"The Committee believes that those who took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution and then, on January 6th, engaged in insurrection can appropriately be disqualified and barred from holding government office—whether federal or state, civilian or military—absent at least two-thirds of Congress acting to remove the disability pursuant to Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment," the report said in the recommendations section.

The committee on Wednesday released the transcripts of more than 1,000 interviews from their investigation over the Jan. 6 attack.

Former President Donald Trump commented on the report on his Truth Social network, calling it "highly partisan" and a "political Witch Hunt."

Trump called his supporters to the Capitol on Jan. 6, urging them to march on the federal legislature as lawmakers prepared to carry out their constitutionally-mandated duties of certifying election results.

Five people died as a result of the violence on Jan. 6, and the Capitol itself was badly damaged. Four law enforcement officers died by suicide in the aftermath.

The attack marked the first time the Capitol had been occupied since British forces torched it during the War of 1812.