President Joe Biden is expected to blame former President Donald Trump for the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol in a speech on Thursday, marking the first anniversary of the insurrection.
In remarks to be given from the Capitol’s National Statuary Hall, Biden will also blast Trump for continuing to make false statements over the past year “Are we going to be a nation that lives not by the light of the truth but in the shadow of lies?” he is expected to say, according to excerpts released by the White House.
Vice President Kamala Harris is also scheduled to speak.
A year ago, Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in an effort to stop the transfer of power to the new president. The ex-president, who canceled remarks planned for Thursday, has continued to falsely claim that the election was “stolen.”
Previewing the speech, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, “I would expect that President Biden will lay out the significance of what happened at the Capitol and the singular responsibility President Trump has for the chaos and carnage that we saw.”
A day before the anniversary, Attorney General Merrick Garland vowed to hold accountable anyone who was responsible for last year’s insurrection, whether they were physically there or not.
Read: Merrick Garland vows prosecutions ‘at any level’ over Jan. 6 Capitol attack
In a speech to Justice Department employees, Garland said prosecutors remained “committed to holding all January 6th perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law.”
A House panel investigating the insurrection, meanwhile, is preparing to go public, reportedly planning televised hearings and reports that will bring their findings out into the open.
Now read: House Jan. 6 committee prepares to go public as findings mount
Opinion: Civil war in the United States is far more likely than you think. In fact, it may have already begun.
Trump said in a statement on Tuesday that he would be discussing his grievances at a rally he has planned in Arizona later this month.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
