The committee investigating the U.S. Capitol riots on January 6, 2021 says that American democracy was “dangerously close to catastrophe.”
Donald Trump’s closest advisers also considered his latest efforts to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to reject the state voter count and cancel the 2020 election as “crazy,” “crazy,” and even susceptible to ‘incite riots.
These are the key moments of the last hearing.
But first, who is John Eastman?
He’s emerging as a key figure in the committee’s research, so let’s keep you posted on who he is.
John Eastman (left) talks to Trump supporters as he stands alongside Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani on January 6, 2021. (Reuters / Jim Bourg)
John Eastman was the Conservative lawyer who advised the Trump campaign.
He defended the theory that Mike Pence could stop the certification of the vote in Congress because the then vice president had to chair the joint session of the January 6 Congress to certify the election of Joe Biden.
Eastman had argued that Mr. Pence could reject the results of certain states if he believed they were illegitimate, giving Republicans in those states a chance to declare Mr. Trump the winner despite the actual vote count.
Mr. Trump took Mr. Eastman’s very unusual plan to challenge the historic precedent of the Electoral Count Act and began to put pressure on Mr. Pence in public and in private.
Mr. Eastman was summoned by the Capitol riot committee, but repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment rights during his interview. He has also asked to prevent the panel from obtaining his communications during this time.
Trump advisers thought his plan was “crazy” and warned of street riots
The committee reproduced the videotaped testimony of Eric Herschmann, a lawyer who advises Trump, expressing his disbelief at Mr. Eastman’s theory that a vice president could cancel an election.
“Are you out of your mind? Mr. Herschmann recalled asking Mr. Eastman in the recorded testimony.
“Are you going to turn around and tell more than 78 million people in this country that your theory is that you’re going to invalidate their votes?” He said.
“You’re going to cause riots in the streets.”
Herschmann said Eastman said with contempt “words with the effect: ‘There has been violence in our country’s history to protect democracy or protect the Republic.'”
A text message from Sean Hannity of Fox News to Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on the January 6 plan said, “I’m very worried about the next 48 hours.”
Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller said those around Trump called him “crazy.”
Greg Jacob said even John Eastman did not seem to believe his own wild theories. (ABC News: Cameron Schwarz)
Greg Jacob, Pence’s attorney, said the main proponent of this theory, Attorney John Eastman, admitted to Trump two days before the attack that his plan to have Pence stop the proceedings would violate the law. .
Mr Jacob said even Mr Eastman did not seem to believe his own savage theories.
“He said,‘ Absolutely, Al Gore didn’t have a basis for doing that in 2000. Kamala Harris shouldn’t be able to do it in 2024, but I think you should do it today, ’” Mr. Gore explained. Jacob from a conversation with Mr. Eastman.
Retired Federal Judge Michael Luttig described John Eastman’s plan as “wrong at every step.” (ABC News: Cameron Schwarz)
The committee has said the plan was illegal and a federal judge has said it is “more likely than not” that Trump has committed crimes in his attempt to stop certification.
Retired Federal Judge Michael Luttig called Mr. Eastman’s plan, his former legal secretary, “wrong at every step” and said “I would have put my body on the road before I let the vice president cancel the 2020 elections “. “
The mutineers were less than 40 feet from Mike Pence
When the rioters broke in, Mr. Pence quickly evacuated his seat of Senate presidency.
California Rep. Pete Aguilar, a committee Democrat, told Mr. Jacob that Mr. Pence and other politicians were at one point just 40 feet from the mutineers.
Mr Jacob, who was with Pence at the time, said they had “heard the noise” of the violent mob as they evacuated, but he did not know that the rioters were so close.
The committee also showed never-before-seen photos of Mr. Pence after he was evacuated to a safe place on the Capitol, including a photo of him reading one of Mr. Trump’s tweets.
Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to search, up and down arrows for volume. These are the unseen photos that were shown to Mike Pence’s committee after he was evacuated to a safe place on the Capitol.
In a video played by the committee, a Trump supporter said he had heard reports that Mr. Pence had “yielded” and that if he did, they would drag “politicians down the streets.”
Jacob said Secret Service agents wanted the building evacuated, but Pence refused to get in the car.
“The vice president didn’t want to take any chances” that the world would see him leave the Capitol, Jacob said.
That pressure, the committee says, put Mr. Pence in danger immediately after the rioters marched on the Capitol and called for his death.
“Donald Trump turned the mob against him,” said Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, who is also chairman of the panel.
Pence “did his duty” by challenging Trump
Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to search, up and down arrows for volume. “We’re Lucky for Mr. Pence’s Courage” – January 6 Committee Chairman Democrat Bennie Thompson
In a video testimony, former Pence chief of staff Marc Short said the vice president told Trump “many times” that Pence disagreed with the scheme.
But Trump kept up the pressure anyway.
Mr. Pence did not yield. Mr. They call on the next president in the early hours of the next morning, after the resumption of the session of Congress and the dismissal of the mutineers.
Nine-member panel politicians and witnesses testifying at the hearing described Mr. Pence’s decision as avoiding a constitutional crisis.
The chairman of the panel, Bennie Thompson, opened the last hearing by repeating Mr. Pence’s words that “there was almost no more anti-American idea” than the one asked of the vice president: to reject the vote.
“Our democracy came dangerously close to catastrophe,” Thompson said.
By rejecting Trump’s demands, Pence “fulfilled his duty,” said the panel’s vice president, Republican Rep. Liz Cheney.
The wife of a Supreme Court judge could be invited to speak
Thompson, the head of the congressional committee, said he believed Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Judge Clarence Thomas, should be invited to speak with the panel.
The Washington Post reported Wednesday that the committee had obtained emails between Thomas and Eastman.
The emails showed that Ms. Thomas’ efforts to cancel the election were broader than previously known, the Post said.
Virginia Thomas’ political involvement has raised questions about whether her husband should withdraw from the Capitol riot-related cases. (AP: Susan Walsh)
“It simply came to our notice then [Ms Thomas] to come and talk, ”the commission chairman said.
Virginia Thomas is active in conservative political circles and said she attended a rally Trump held before the Capitol riots.
At the rally, Mr. Trump made a fiery speech repeating his baseless allegations that his election defeat was due to widespread fraud and urged his supporters to march toward Congress.
Ms. Thomas’s political involvement has raised questions about whether her husband should withdraw from cases involving Trump and the Capitol riots.
In January, her husband was the only dissenting voice when the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s request to block the release of White House records requested by the Jan. 6 committee.
Ms Thomas told the Daily Caller she “can’t wait to clear up misconceptions”.
Trump is asking networks to give him “equal” coverage.
Hours before the last hearing, Mr. Trump went to his own social media platform, Social Truth, to demand that all major networks provide him with “equal time” so that he can reiterate his denied claims about election fraud. .
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“It’s a unilateral and very partisan witch hunt, like we’ve never seen in Congress before,” he wrote.
“Therefore, I ask for EQUAL TIME to explain the massive voter fraud and the violation of the security of the Dem!”
“Equality of time means sitting your lying ass in a witness chair,” Congressman Eric Swalwell said on Twitter.
“We’ll wait.”
ABC / children
Posted 2 hours, 2 hours ago, Friday, June 17, 2022 at 1:49 AM, updated 44 minutes ago, 44 minutes ago, Friday, June 17, 2022 at 3:06 AM