Donald Trump’s closest campaign advisers, senior government officials and even his family were dismantling their false claims about the 2020 election fraud before January 6, but the defeated president was “disengaging from reality “and clung to quirky theories to stay in power, according to the committee. the investigation into the attack on the Capitol has been reported.
Son-in-law Jared Kushner tried to distance Trump from lawyer Rudy Giuliani and his theories about election fraud that advisers believed were untrue. Trump would have nothing.
Campaign Director Bill Stepien on the left watches President Donald Trump speak at his campaign headquarters on Election Day, November 3, 2020. (AP)
The round trip was maintained in the following months. Former Justice Department official Richard Donoghue recalled breaking down one statement after another – from a truck loaded with ballots in Pennsylvania to a missing ballot suitcase in Georgia – and told Trump “much of the information you receive is false “.
“It was deviating from reality,” said former Attorney General William Barr, who called the allegations of vote fraud “bull …”, “fake” and “idiot,” and then resigned. “I didn’t want to be a part of it,” he said.
Witnesses appeared before the House committee as the panel focused on the “big lie,” Trump’s false allegations of election fraud that spurred the efforts of the defeated Republican president to overturn the 2020 election and go causing a crowd of his supporters to besiege the United States Capitol. .
The panel also provided new information on how Trump’s fundraising machine raised about $ 250 million ($ 360 million) after the November election to continue fighting, mostly with small U.S. dollar donations. . A request for cash came out 30 minutes before the January 6, 2021 uprising.
A video of former President Donald Trump speaking is shown as the House select committee investigates the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. (AP)
“Not only was there a big lie, there was the big scam,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat.
Presidential Representative Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, opened the hearing Monday by saying Trump “betrayed the confidence of the American people” and “tried to stay in office when people rejected him.” .
Stepien was supposed to be a key witness, but he suddenly stopped appearing live because his wife came in part. The campaign manager is still close to Trump and had been summoned to appear.
But the panel moved forward after a morning brawl, showing previously recorded testimonies from the former campaign director and others close to the president as Trump clung to repeated false claims about the election, though the closest they told him theories of ballot theft or manipulated voting. the machines were not true.
Stepien and senior adviser Jason Miller described how the festive mood in the White House changed on election night when Fox News announced that Trump had lost his state of Arizona to Joe Biden. and aides worked to advise Trump on what to do next.
Chris Stirewalt, a former political editor of Fox News, goes so far as to testify as the select committee of the House investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol continues to reveal its findings. (AP)
But he ignored his advice and chose to listen to Giuliani, who was described as intoxicated by several witnesses. Giuliani issued a general denial on Monday, dismissing “all falsehoods” he said were said about him.
“My belief, my recommendation was to say that the votes were still being counted, it’s too early to say, too early to convene the race,” Stepien said in the recorded testimony.
But Trump “thought I was wrong. He told me.”
And Barr, who also testified at last week’s grand hearing, said Trump was “as crazy as I’ve ever seen him” when the attorney general explained that the Justice Department would not take sides in the election.
President Thompson and Rep. Vice President Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican, led the hearing after last week’s high-profile session drew nearly 20 million Americans to see its findings.
From left to right, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, Florida Democrat, California Democrat Pete Aguilar, California Democrat Adam Schiff, California Democrat Zoe Lofgren, California Democrat, President Bennie Thompson, Democrat , Vice President Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., Representative Jamie Raskin, D-Md., And Representative Elaine Luria, D-Va. (AP)
For the past year, the committee has been investigating the most violent attack on the Capitol since the 1812 war to make sure this assault never happens again. Lawmakers hope to show that Trump’s effort to overturn Biden’s election victory posed a serious threat to democracy.
Monday’s hearing also featured live witnesses, including Chris Stirewalt, a former Fox News Channel political editor who declared on election night that Biden was winning Arizona.
Former Atlanta U.S. attorney general BJay Pak also appeared, abruptly resigning after Trump pressured Georgia state officials to overturn his defeat.
Trump wanted to dismiss Pak as disloyal, but Pak withdrew after Trump’s call for Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn Biden’s victory was made public. in the state.
President Donald Trump gestures when he arrives to speak at a rally in Washington on January 6, 2021. (AP)
The panel also heard from Washington election lawyer Benjamin Ginsberg, who discussed the rules of election campaign challenges.
Former Philadelphia City Commissioner Al Schmidt, the only Republican on the city’s election board, told the panel, regardless of how “fantastic” some of the claims Trump and his team made were investigated. city officials.
He talked about facing threats after Trump criticized him in a tweet.
While pondering another career in the White House, Trump insists the committee’s investigation is a “witch hunt.”
Last week he said that January 6 “represented the largest movement in the history of our country.”
Nine people were killed in the riot and its aftermath, including a Trump supporter who was shot dead by police. More than 800 people have been arrested during the siege, and members of two extremist groups have been charged with few sedition charges for their role in leading the charge at the Capitol.
Deputy Liz Cheney out of the courtroom on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP)
Additional evidence will be presented at this week’s hearings focusing on Trump’s decision to ignore the outcome of the election and the failed court cases against him, and to ask supporters in Washington on Jan. 6 to overturn the Biden’s victory, as Congress had to certify the election. University results.
The committee has said that most of the interviewees in the investigation volunteer, although some have requested citations to appear in public. Stepien is now one of the top campaign advisers to Trump-backed House candidate Harriet Hageman, who is challenging Cheney in the Wyoming Republican primary.
Lawmakers indicated that perhaps his most important audience throughout the hearings could be Attorney General Merrick Garland, who must decide whether his department can and should prosecute Trump. They left no doubt as to their own opinion as to whether the evidence is sufficient to continue.
“Once the evidence has been accumulated by the Department of Justice, it must make a decision on whether it can prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt the guilt of the president or anyone else,” said Adam Schiff, a panel member. and California Democrat.
Riots, violence and deaths after the assault on the Capitol
“But they have to investigate if there’s credible evidence, which I think is.”
No president or former president has ever been charged. Garland has not said whether he would be willing to prosecute.