A former federal prosecutor said testimonies from Capitol rioters are 'certainly incriminating of Donald Trump'

• A former federal prosecutor said testimonies from Capitol rioters incriminates Donald Trump.
• Several Capitol rioters have testified that they felt compelled to participate last year because of Trump's direction.

A former federal prosecutor believes testimony from Capitol rioters will eventually culminate in a devastating blow to former President Donald Trump.

A jury will hear the testimony and decide that Trump is guilty of inciting the January 6 insurrection last year, former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner said in a video posted to YouTube on Thursday.

"When Donald Trump is indicted," Kirschner said, the prosecutor will use the testimony from the Capitol rioters to "prove to a jury—with witness after witness after witness—that Donald Trump is the reason these people marched on the Capitol and tried to stop the certification of [President] Joe Biden's win."

"Because Donald Trump told them to," Kirschner added. "Not a defense to their conduct, but it's certainly incriminating of Donald Trump. It is certainly evidence that he incited this insurrection. No two ways about that."

Several Capitol rioters have testified in court that they felt compelled to participate last year because of Trump's direction. Dustin Thompson from Ohio, for example, said in a court filing that he'd like to subpoena Trump as a witness.

"It is anticipated that, when called as a witness, Donald J. Trump will testify that he and others orchestrated a carefully crafted plot to call into question the integrity of the 2020 presidential election and the validity of President Biden's victory," Thompson's attorney wrote.

The Capitol riot left five people, including one police officer, dead. Members of the Proud Boys, which is classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, were reportedly present.

Organizers were emboldened by the former president's urges to protest the results of the 2020 election with him, despite Democrat Joe Biden's election victory. While members of Congress were meeting inside the Capitol building day to certify the results, supporters organized a violent mob and stormed the Capitol building.

So far, more than than 800 people have been charged in connection with the insurrection, according to Insider's database. In many cases, the FBI used social-media posts to identify attendees.

In February of last year, insurrectionists scrambled to delete photos and social-media posts proving their participation in the Capitol riot. Some broke their cellphones, scrubbed their social-media accounts, and tried to wipe hard drives that might contain photos and other proof of their involvement.

But others boasted of their involvement, making it easier for the FBI to catch and charge them.