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- A former ambassador under Donald Trump said the former president was "absolutely" responsible for the Capitol riot.
- Scott Brown, a former GOP senator, said Trump's major achievements are "by the wayside now".
- "I think his presidency was diminished as a result of this," they said.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
A former GOP senator and member of Donald Trump's administration on Sunday said the former president was "absolutely" responsible for the fatal January 6 attack on the Capitol building, when hundreds of Trump's supporters violently stormed the Capitol.
"Absolutely, I mean he bears responsibility," former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown told CNN Sunday, who served as ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa between 2017 and 2020.
"I think his presidency was diminished as a result of this, and I think he's paying a price. He's been impeached twice – he was impeached for those actions," Brown said.
Brown, who was a senator until 2013, said that many of Trump's achievements, including his actions against China, are "by the wayside now" due to the events of January 6.
He was speaking after the House voted Wednesday to establish a bipartisan investigation into the events of January 6 at the Capitol.
Brown said he supported an investigation, saying it was "imperative to find out what role everybody played, and figure out why" the events happened.
"You look at what happened on 9/11 when we were attacked by foreign terrorists and we wanted to find out immediately - where was the breakdown, what happened, and why," he said, per CNN's report.
"Well, this is no different. They weren't tourists. They weren't visiting just to have fun."
The bill to establish a commission, H.R. 3233, will establish a 10-member commission that will produce a final report on the Capitol attack by the end of the year.
The report will detail "findings regarding the facts and causes of the attack and propose solutions to prevent similar events.
Only 35 House Republicans voted for the bill last week, however, many of whom had been critical of Trump's role before and during the riot on January 6.