Former secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, and House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, have suggested that Donald Trump might have been in contact with Russian president Vladimir Putin on the day of the deadly riots at the US Capitol, and called for a “9/11-type commission” to investigate the events of 6 January.
Speaker Pelosi was in conversation with Ms Clinton for the podcast ‘You and Me Both’ on Monday, when the former secretary of state said she would love to see Mr Trump’s phone to see if he had been talking to Mr Putin on 6 January — the day of the riots.
Ms Pelosi responded by saying “Putin wants to undermine democracy” of America and with Mr Trump “all roads lead to Putin”. She said the Capitol riots were a “gift to Putin” and the people who stormed the building were “Putin puppets.”
“These people, unbeknownst to them, they are Putin puppets. They were doing Putin’s business when they [stormed the Capitol], at the incitement of an insurrection by the president of the United States. So yes, we should have a 9/11 commission, and there is strong support in the Congress to do that,” she added.
House Democrats, led by Ms Pelosi, last week introduced an article of impeachment for inciting insurrection and passed it, making Mr Trump the first and only US president to be impeached twice.
While he is still to face trial at the Senate, Mr Trump condemned the riots through a video message after his social media accounts were banned.
In line with the Democratic leader’s accusation of Mr Putin’s indirect or indirect involvement in the riots, a Pennsylvania care worker was accused of attempting to steal Ms Pelosi’s laptop in order to sell it to Russia, according to an affidavit.
The woman’s former romantic partner stated that "Williams intended to send the computer device to a friend in Russia, who then planned to sell the device to SVR, Russia's foreign intelligence service,” according to the affidavit.
The FBI is investigating the matter and the woman has been charged with entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct.
