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The select committee of the House investigating the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, gathered evidence that then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told others that then-President Donald Trump indicated his support for hanging Vice President Mike Pence after the rioters stormed. the Capitol that day began singing “Hang Mike Pence!”
Meadows’ comment on Trump’s reaction to his vice president was provided to the committee by at least one witness, according to people familiar with the investigation, but those people did not describe the tone of the comment. They spoke on condition of anonymity to be more honest about a sensitive topic.
The evolution was first reported by the New York Times.
The committee declined to comment. In a statement, Trump said the investigation was “just an extension of the Democratic smear campaign.” A Meadows spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
The House’s Jan. 6 inquiry committee has conducted more than 800 interviews with insurgents and Trump aides. Here is the next one. (Video: Blair Guild / The Washington Post)
Meadows walked in and out of the Oval Office dining room on the day of the attack and in the presence of Trump as the riot unfolded, according to testimony provided to the committee by former White House employees on the west wing. day.
The attack: before, during and after the siege of January 6
The Washington Post previously reported that Trump spoke to those around him about Pence as he watched television as the rioters harass the Capitol. At 2:24 p.m., minutes after the vice president and his family were threatened by the pro-Trump mafia and forced to flee the Senate chamber, Trump tweeted that Pence lacked “courage.”
“Mike Pence did not have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our country and our Constitution, giving states the opportunity to certify a set of corrected facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones that are “He asked them to certify in advance,” Trump’s tweet said. “The US is demanding the truth!”
Cassidy Hutchinson, a former Meadows aide, was asked by the committee about the bill and confirmed it, according to two people familiar with the investigation. Hutchinson sat in several interviews with the committee and provided detailed information about the pre-events and events on January 6, 2021, according to these people and the testimony published in the court documents by the committee.
Key questions continue as the January 6 hearings point
People familiar with the committee’s work said they see Hutchinson, a longtime Meadows aide, as a key witness.
Hutchinson attended several meetings in the White House and had wide access to Meadows, one person said. His lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.
The committee is particularly interested in Meadows’ role in Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, the person said, and has compiled a detailed account of his behavior during that period. Witnesses said Meadows used his fireplace to burn documents, the person close to the committee said.