The US Congress resumed its session on the elections after the assault

The U.S. Congress resumed its session on Wednesday to confirm the result of the November elections, despite the destruction and shock generated by the assault on the Capitol, announced House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat. 

The session, which began in the early afternoon but had to be interrupted due to the storming of the Capitol by supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump, will resume at 8 p.m. (01:00 GMT Thursday), Pelosi said in a letter to the other congressmen.

"A shameful assault on our democracy has been committed today. He was anointed at the highest level of government. However, it cannot deter us from our responsibility to validate Joe Biden's victory," Pelosi wrote.

"That is why ... and after calling the Pentagon, the Department of Justice and the Vice President (Mike Pence), we have decided that we should proceed tonight at the Capitol once it is clear for use," he added.

The Speaker of the House expressed her "great sadness" at what happened and said that the session of Congress "will be part of history, because of the shameful image of the country that has been shown to the world, instigated at the highest level," referring to Trump.

The assault on Congress came as both houses were in session to corroborate Biden's election victory in last November's election. Trump had urged his allies to interfere in that process and his vice president, Mike Pence, to arrogate to himself power not granted by the Constitution, and he harangued his supporters to keep fighting during a morning rally in Washington.

The president's supporters then headed to the Capitol and forced their way into the building, until authorities managed to evict them more than three hours later, vandalizing the site, including Pelosi's office.

The chaos left at least one woman dead, a woman who was shot in the chest at the Capitol, with no one yet knowing who shot her, confirmed the local police.

The session in Congress is usually a mere formality in a normal election year, the aim of which is to corroborate a result -Biden's victory- already confirmed by the Electoral College last December 14.

This time, however, dozens of Trump's allied legislators planned to file objections to the result in several states, something they barely began to do when the assault began.

There is no prospect that the session will change the fact that Biden will become president of the United States on January 20, which is when Trump's term ends, but it is possible that it will continue for hours if the outgoing president's allies insist on presenting their arguments.

US Attorney General calls the assault "intolerable attack

Acting U.S. Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen called the violent assault on Congress by supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump on Wednesday "an intolerable attack" and said the Justice Department has sent "hundreds" of agents to monitor the situation.

Rosen, in office since Attorney General William Barr left office Dec. 23, said in a statement that the violence at the Capitol building "is an intolerable attack on a fundamental institution of our democracy.
 

"From the outset, the Department of Justice has been working closely with the Capitol Police and federal partners from the Department of the Interior, the Department of Homeland Security and the National Guard," as well as local authorities to send "hundreds of federal and FBI, ATF and U.S. Marshal Service agents to assist the Capitol Police.
Rosen ended by pointing out that the situation "is unacceptable and we intend to enforce the laws of our country.