The congressional panel investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the United States Capitol on Thursday recommended that former United States President Donald Trump should be barred from public office because of his role in inciting that day’s insurrection, CNN reported.

The House of Representatives Select Committee released its final report, which runs into more than 800 pages, late on Thursday. It accused Trump of “multi-part conspiracy” to thwart the will of the people and subvert democracy after the 2020 presidential election that he had lost.

While the results were being certified, hundreds of people forced their way into the Capitol complex in Washington DC through windows and doors. Five persons, including a police officer, had died and several other sustained injuries. Over 960 people have been accused of criminal offences in relation to the attack.

Over eight chapters, the committee has compiled evidence based on more than 1,000 witness interviews and a million documents to argue that Trump actively worked to “transmit false Electoral College ballots to Congress and the National Archives” despite concerns among his lawyers that such a move could be unlawful.

On Monday, the committee, comprising seven Democrats and two Republicans, urged the US Department of Justice to prosecute Trump on charges of inciting an insurrection, obstructing an official proceeding, conspiring to defraud the US government and making false statements.

The nine-member panel in its report made public on Thursday concluded: “The central cause of January 6th was one man, former President Donald Trump, who many others followed. None of the events of January 6th would have happened without him.”

Bennie Thompson, the Democratic chairman of the select committee, wrote that it had once been “unimaginable” to think that the president of the United States would incite a mob to march on the Capitol.

On the morning of January 6, 2021, the former president, while addressing a large crowd of supporters at a rally, had made unsubstantiated claims of massive voter fraud and told them to “fight like hell”.

Trump, according to the House select committee, did little to stop his supporters when they resorted to violence and stormed the Capitol.

In the foreword to the report, Thompson said: “Our country has come too far to allow a defeated president to turn himself into a successful tyrant by upending our democratic institutions, fomenting violence, and, as I saw it, opening the door to those in our country whose hatred and bigotry threaten equality and justice for all Americans.”

Thursday’s report came at a time when Trump is seeking a second term as president, and is also facing multiple federal inquiries.