“I have seen the impact his words have on his followers. They really hang on every word and every tweet he says,” he said.
“And so I think at that point when he tweeted about Mike Pence, that was him pouring gasoline on the fire and making it a lot worse.”
Pottinger also resigned that day, telling the committee: “I was upset and concerned to see that the president was attacking Vice President Pence for doing his constitutional duty. So the tweet seemed to me to be the opposite of what we really needed in that moment, which was a de-escalation”.
As Trump urged his supporters to go home shortly after 4 p.m. on January 6, two pipe bombs had been found at locations near the Capitol, including where Vice President-elect Kamala Harris was holding a meeting, the committee found.
Hours of “hand-to-hand combat” had ensued between rioters and several law enforcement officers, members of Congress had to be temporarily evacuated, and one rioter was shot while trying to infiltrate the chamber.
But instead of calling law enforcement or national security agencies to help, Trump called Republican senators in a last-ditch effort to get them to deal with the election.
Supporters of Donald Trump gathered in front of the US Capitol ahead of the January 6 uprising. The committee has heard that Trump “summoned the mob.” Credit: AP
The committee also played chilling new audio from Secret Service agents assigned to Pence on the day. They could be heard on the radio saying they feared for their lives.
According to an anonymous security official, whose voice was disguised for his interview with the panel, some were also calling family members to say goodbye, not knowing whether they would return from the Capitol.
“It was chaos,” he told the commission.
Video clips were also played of interviews with former Trump White House officials, including former national security adviser Keith Kellogg and former White House counsel Pat Cipollone, who were asked about the conduct of Trump while the Capitol building was being attacked.
All of them stated that they did not see Trump make any attempt to stop the rioters calling officials such as the Secretary of Defense, the US Attorney General, or Homeland Security.
Among those urging Trump to end the violence were his children Ivanka Trump and Don jnr, Fox News anchors Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham and Republican members of Congress. Pat Cipollone told the committee he expressed his “very strong” opinion that something needed to be done.
“I said, you know, people need to be told: There needs to be a public announcement, quick, that they need to get out of the Capitol,” Cipollone told the committee.
“What happened in the Capitol cannot be justified in any way, shape or form. It was wrong and it was tragic,” he added. “It was a terrible day for this country.”
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It wasn’t until 4:03 p.m. that Trump finally relented and recorded a video in the White House Rose Garden, urging his supporters to go home.
But the committee revealed that the video he eventually posted on Twitter, in which he told his fans he loved them and that they were “very special”, was in fact an “off-script” version of the statement he had suggested by your staff.
The scripted version of the statement read, in part: “I am asking you to leave the Capitol Hill region NOW and return home in a peaceful manner.”
The committee also played another video statement Trump made on Jan. 7 to criticize the violence, in which he tells his daughter Ivanka and courtroom staff: “I don’t mean that the elections”.
The culmination was the eighth and final public hearing before the committee returned in September to present more evidence.
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It remains unclear whether the committee’s work could lead to criminal charges against the former president. Although he has provided what he believes is sufficient evidence of a conspiracy to defraud the American people or possible obstruction, it is up to Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Department of Justice whether to file charges.
However, committee chairman Bennie Thompson, speaking via video link after testing positive for COVID-19, said there was “no doubt there was a coordinated effort” by of Trump to illegally subvert the election in an attempt to stay in power, and as such, he should be held accountable.
“If there is no accountability by January 6 for all parties to this scheme, I fear we will not overcome the ongoing threat to our democracy. There must be harsh consequences,” he said.
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