'It's as much on them for not doing something' at the time: Democrat points to Trump's enablers

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack and the attempt to overthrow Congress has spent three public hearings focusing primarily on former President Donald Trump. Members of the Committee have sought to connect the dots to the laws that Trump violated and could be charged with.

However, speaking to Raw Story, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) said that those enabling Trump were just as culpable.

"I think that Trump surrounded himself with people who were willing to do his bidding," she explained. "He surrounded himself with people who weren't willing to challenge him and anyone who was willing to challenge him got thrown out."

She noted that there were some people who knew that Trump was awful and thought that they could control him, but for many, they could have done something.

"I think it's as much on them for not speaking out, for not doing something when we could all see that this is who he was and allowed him to be empowered to go in this direction," she explained.

She also called out those who resigned during this time, but who were unwilling to come forward. For example, former Attorney General Bill Barr has been willing to speak under a subpoena and in his book. But prior to that, the only comment he made was ahead of quitting, saying that the 2020 election was a secure one. At no point did he come forward to speak out against Trump in wake of his tenure or after the Jan. 6 attack.

The same can be said for former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. At the time, behind closed doors, the billionaire claims she considered invoking the 25th Amendment and have Trump removed from the presidency. At the time, however, she was mum on Trump's 2020 election lies. In fact, it took DeVos a year before she came forward to begin talking about her concerns.

'When we were doing the impeachment trial they needed to be speaking then too," said Jayapal of the Trump officials.

She went on to say that what is really necessary is "for the Department of Justice to prosecute Trump and anyone who was a part of this."

With additional reporting from Matt Laslo.