Hours after former President Donald Trump was charged Tuesday with crimes related to the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, Sen. Lisa Murkowski said the evidence is strong that he helped launch the attack.
Murkowski was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump after the House indicted him the second time. Here is her statement:
In early 2021, I voted to impeach former President Trump based on clear evidence that he attempted to overturn the 2020 election after losing it.
Additional evidence presented since then, including by the January 6 Commission, has only reinforced that the former President played a key role in instigating the riots, resulting in physical violence and desecration of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Today, the former President has been indicted on four criminal counts. Like all Americans, he is innocent until proven guilty and will have his day in court. As that process begins, I encourage everyone to read the indictment, to understand the very serious allegations being made in this case.
Sen. Dan Sullivan did not issue a press release or a social media statement about the indictment.
“Senator Sullivan is on Marine Corps Reserve duty this week and is unavailable for comment at this time,” his office spokesman said.
Rep. Mary Peltola called the charges serious and said the riot was a threat to the country. She declined to comment more specifically about the case against Trump, saying that she did not want to create a perception of partisanship.
This story was updated with the response from Sen. Sullivan’s office.
Liz Ruskin is the Washington, D.C., correspondent at Alaska Public Media. Reach her at lruskin@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Liz here.
