Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria of Virginia posted the new video on Twitter on Monday. The video includes clips of interviews with Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and others who say they believed Trump was due to make a statement on Jan. 7.
“We felt it was important to call for further de-escalation,” said Kushner, who helped write the draft of the Jan. 7 speech.
The video shows the draft with the lines crossed out. Trump’s daughter Ivanka, in an interview with the committee, identified the document’s handwriting as her father’s. On the draft, a line was crossed out that said those who break the law “belong in jail” and someone hand-wrote “will pay.”
According to the committee, other lines that have been crossed out read: “I direct the Department of Justice to prosecute all lawbreakers to the fullest extent of the law. We must send a clear message not with mercy but with JUSTICE. Consequences legal. It must be fast and firm.”
The other crossed out line referred to the rioters who stormed the Capitol: “I want it to be very clear that you do not represent me.”
Asked why Trump wanted the lines cut, Kushner said, “I don’t know.”
Trump’s former White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, told the committee: “In my view, I had to express very clearly that the people who committed violent acts, came into the Capitol, did what they did , they had to be prosecuted and they had to be arrested.”
Trump’s former director of presidential staff, John McEntee, testified before the committee that Kushner had told him to help “push it” if Trump asked about the Jan. 7 speech.
“He knew, because I’m always with him, that, ‘Hey, if he’s asking you for your opinion, you know, try to push it. That will help freshen everything up,” McEntee said.
McEntee said he understood Trump’s reluctance to give the speech because “someone has to tell me to push it.”
Former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson said she understood that people around Trump believed he needed to make a statement on Jan. 7, 2021, to avoid invoking the 25th Amendment.
“From what I understood at the time, and from what the reports were coming in, there was a lot of concern that the 25th Amendment could be invoked, and there were concerns about what would happen in the Senate if the 25th was invoked.” Hutchinson testified before the committee.
In addition to those who felt Trump needed to do more to condemn the violence that occurred on Jan. 6, Hutchinson said some people in the White House were worried about what would happen to Trump in the final 15 days of his presidency if you did Not making a statement, and therefore needed this speech “as a cover”.