The committee examined excerpts from eyewitness testimony, court documents, previously unseen emails and other materials, to argue that Trump timidly courted these militants and saw them as his troops on the ground, to pressure Congress to repeal them. him the 2020 elections.
“All of these efforts would converge and explode on Jan. 6,” said Maryland Democrat Rep. Jamie Raskin, a member of the committee that chaired parts of Tuesday’s hearing, during his opening statements.
Here are some of the findings from Tuesday’s hearing.
The panel highlights Trump’s “call to arms” tweet
The panel repeatedly highlighted a December 2020 Trump tweet, which they said was a galvanizing call to arms that motivated his supporters to come to Washington and disrupt the power transition.
The tweet claimed it was “statistically impossible to have lost the 2020 election” and said there would be a “big protest in DC on January 6.” Trump infamously added, “Be there, it will be wild!”
Florida Rep. Stephanie Murphy, who led part of the hearing, said the publication was “a call to action and, in some cases, a call to arms, for many of the party’s most loyal supporters.” President Trump, ”citing comments from many. of the rebels and far-right extremists, who said they had been inspired by the tweet.
After the tweet, pro-Trump groups rescheduled the protests scheduled for the end of January and changed the date to January 6, according to the committee. “Stop the Steal” leader Ali Alexander quickly registered the WildProtest.com website and used the site as a protest information center.
Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones promoted Trump’s tweet and urged people to go to DC. Jim Watkins, the administrator of 8kun, an online forum that is home to the QAnon conspiracy, told the House panel that he decided to go to Washington on Jan. 6 after Trump’s tweet.
“There will be a red wedding on January 6,” a person identified as Salty Cracker said in another clip, referring to a massacre on the TV show “Game of Thrones.”
Details have been uncovered for planning Trump’s “unexpected” call to leave the Capitol
The committee on Tuesday presented evidence showing how Trump’s call to his supporters to march to the Capitol on Jan. 6 had been planned in advance.
The committee showed a draft tweet, which Trump did not send, asking him to march to the Capitol. “I will make a great speech at 10:00 on January 6 in the Ellipse (south of the White House). Please arrive early, massive crowds are expected. Then head to the Capitol. Stop the robbery! ! ” says the draft tweet. The tweet, which the committee obtained from the National Archives, includes a stamp that reads “The president has seen.”
In addition, the committee displayed a text message it obtained from event organizer Kylie Jane Kremer to right-wing businessman Mike Lindell saying the president would tell his supporters “unexpectedly” to leave for another stage. outside the Supreme Court building, which is behind the Capitol.
“You can’t talk about the march either because I will have problems with the national park service and all the agencies, but POTUS will only ask for it“ unexpectedly, ”Kremer wrote.
Katrina Pierson, who also helped organize the rally, wrote in an email to her fellow organizers on Jan. 2: “POTUS ‘expectations are to have something intimate on the ellipse and ask everyone to leave. in the capital “.
Alexander, another organizer, sent a text message on January 5, 2021, which was obtained by the committee: “Tomorrow: Ellipse and then capital of the United States. Trump is supposed to order us to the capitol at the end of his speech. , but we’ll see. “
The role of Republican lawmakers in Trump’s electoral scheme was once again highlighted
Tuesday’s hearing once again focused on the role Republican members of Congress played in aiding Trump’s efforts to try to overturn the 2020 election.
The committee’s presentation pointed to a December 21, 2020 meeting where Trump met with Republican members to discuss efforts to oppose the Jan. 6 congressional election, citing White House records to list the 10 members and elected members who attended the meeting.
In previous hearings, the committee has highlighted how members of Congress tried to help Trump provide evidence of election fraud and connect the White House with a Justice Department official who supported Trump’s baseless allegations of fraud. In addition, the panel provided new evidence showing how several members of Congress asked Trump for pardons after Jan. 6.
Murphy noted that the December 2020 meeting took place several days before Trump told top Justice Department officials that he wanted them to publicly announce that the election was illegitimate and “leave the rest to me and Republican congressmen.” .
The committee also played the audio Tuesday of comments from Arizona Republican Rep. Debbie Lesko. In an audio on Jan. 5, 2021, Lesko called on congressional leaders to “work out a security plan for members,” and raised concerns about what would happen on Jan. 6. New York Times reporters Alex Burns and Jonathan Martin got the audio for their book “This Will Not Pass” and it aired on CNN last month.
“I’m really worried about that, because we have someone who knows how many hundreds of thousands of people will come here. We have Antifa. We also have, frankly, Trump supporters, who really believe we’re going to cancel the election. And when that. it doesn’t happen, it most likely won’t happen, they will go crazy, ”Lesko said.
The interview with Cipollone plays a key role in Tuesday’s hearing
Tuesday’s hearing was the select committee’s first opportunity to show video clips of former Trump White House attorney Pat Cipollone, who was interviewed by the committee in a video statement Friday.
Cipollone’s testimony added a loud voice to the hearts of former Trump aides who have testified before the committee who told the president there was no substantial evidence that the election had been stolen from him.
Video clips of Trump’s former aides, which have been played throughout the Jan. 6 hearings, have helped the committee illustrate how those around Trump did not believe his unfounded claims about the election, despite which continued to move forward with efforts to try to annul the elections until 6 January.
The committee issued a subpoena to ultimately obtain Cipollone’s video testimony last week after he was called at a previous hearing for refusing to sit in a deposition. The committee played 14 clips from Cipollone’s key eight-hour interview last week, which highlighted the growing divide between Trump and his top legal adviser.
In clips reproduced Tuesday, Cipollone said then-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told him that in November 2020 Trump would finally agree to make a graceful exit, that he believed Trump should give in, and that he argued the proposal for the government federal. seizing voting machines was a “terrible idea.”
“That’s not how we do things in the United States. There’s no legal authority to do that,” Cipollone said. “There’s a way to stand in the election. You know, that happens all the time. But the idea that the federal government can come in and seize the election machines – I don’t understand why it should even to tell you why this is a bad idea for the country. It is a terrible idea. “
There were numerous clips from Cipollone’s interview played out on Tuesday, but he could play an even bigger role in next week’s audience which is expected to focus on what was happening inside the west wing as he produced the attack on the Capitol on 6 January.
Eyewitnesses lament his right-wing radicalization
The two eyewitnesses at Tuesday’s hearing described how they were radicalized by right-wing groups and Trump himself, and how he destroyed their lives and continues to pose a threat to American society.
Jason Van Tatenhove, a former national spokesman for the Oath Keepers, described the “radicalization” he witnessed with the group and said the country was “lucky” that there was no more bloodshed on Jan. 6, when four riot police and a police officer. death. Later, other police officers committed suicide.
“I’ll admit that at one point I was also swept away,” Van Tatenhove said of his time with the Oath Keepers. “There were a lot of red flags, and I probably should have broken them before I did.”
Stephen Ayers, a convicted Capitol mutineer who broke into the building on Jan. 6, returned to Capitol Hill on Tuesday as a cooperating witness. He explained how he was “angry” at Trump’s speech and never planned to go to the Capitol, but “followed what (Trump) said” during his speech at Ellipse.
He said that because of January 6 he lost his job, sold his house and was a convicted felon.
“It changed my life, not for the better, definitely not for the better,” he said. He added that he no longer believes Trump’s lies about the 2020 election, but warned that there are millions of people still doing so, which poses a threat to future elections.
“It could end up the same path we are now,” Ayers said. “I felt like I had the horse words put in. Take them out and make sure you take a step back and see what happens before it’s too late.”
Six witnesses detail the “baffled” oval office meeting in December 2020
The committee revealed during Tuesday’s hearing the testimony of six participants at an Oval Office meeting on December 18, 2020 that turned into chaos when Trump’s allies clashed with the Oval’s lawyers. White House for various plans to cancel the presidential election, with Trump watching.
Raskin said the Dec. 18 meeting was “of great importance because President Trump was able to watch closely for several hours how his White House attorney and other White House attorneys destroyed allegations of unfounded facts. and the ridiculous legal arguments offered by Sidney Powell, Mike Flynn and others. “
The committee played the video of their interviews with six witnesses who took part in the warm-up …