Bay Area congressmen pledge to hold Trump, GOP accountable for insurrection

San Francisco - An impeachment trial is likely to come for President Trump after the Biden inauguration, and Capitol police are also investigating what role Republican members of Congress may have played in providing rioters adavnced access to the building.

Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) is one of 34 Congressional Democrats calling for an investigation into Republicans in Congress who possibly gave tours of the Capitol to Trump supporters a day before the rampage on January 6.

"The only way you can get a tour of the House chamber and statuary hall and other places during this COVID situation is if a member of Congress or their authorized staff leads you on that tour. And so we knew these tours were happening. Some of my colleagues saw people that seemed to be among those that were part of the riots on January 6," Huffman told KTVU Saturday morning.

No specific member of Congress has been publicly named in the investigation.

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Castro Valley) tweeted Monday a screenshot of what he said was a now deleted message from Pete Sessions (R-Texas) as evidence he supported Capitol rioters.

Swalwell is one of nine impeachment managers presenting the case against the president.

"Right now I think the chief instigator, the president, needs to be held accountable," Swalwell told KTVU. 

What does accountability look like once he's already left office?

Rebecca Eissler, assistant professor of political science at San Francisco State University says if Trump is convicted in the impeachment trial by the Senate, that would achieve two paramount goals.

"One goal is to potentially prevent President Trump from ever serving again in public office," Eissler said, "but the other goal is to set out a clear response for future office holders and future leaders that behavior that can incite violence against members of elected office won't be tolerated."