January 6 chair says Trump ‘broke the faith’ of US elections in final session

Bennie Thompson, the chair of the January 6 panel holding its final session, says Donald Trump “broke the faith” of US elections.

The Mississippi Democrat announced in his opening statements that the panel has approved the release of deposition materials.

He said: “He lost the 2020 election and knew it. But he chose to try to stay in office through a multi-part scheme to overturn the results and block the transfer of power.”

Mr Thompson’s comments came shortly before the panel was due to vote on the referral to the justice department for criminal charges against Trump.

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