A presidential tweet that some saw as a “call to arms.” An “unexpected” meeting at the White House. Violent extremists plan to storm Capitol Hill as President Donald Trump pushes lies about election fraud. In the seventh hearing, the Jan. 6 House panel showed further evidence that Trump was repeatedly told that his fraud claims were false — but that he continued to press them anyway. At the same time, he reached out to the widest possible audience on Twitter, calling on his supporters, some of them violent, in Washington on January 6, 2021, not just to protest but to “go wild” as Congress certified President Joe Biden’s victory.
“CALL TO ACTION, CALL TO ARMS”
A key focus of the hearing was Trump’s Dec. 19 tweet about a “big protest” at the upcoming joint session of Congress: “Be there, it’s going to be wild!” Florida Rep. Stephanie Murphy, a Democrat on the panel, said the tweet was “used as a call to action and in some cases a call to arms.” He said the president “asked for support” as he argued that Vice President Mike Pence and other Republicans lacked the courage to try to block Biden’s certification as he presided over the joint session. The tweet “electrified and emboldened” Trump supporters, said Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, another member of the Democratic committee, particularly “the dangerous extremists in the Oath Keepers, the Proud Boys and other far-right racist and white nationalist groups that are corrupting for a battle. “ The commission showed a montage of videos and social media posts after the tweet as supporters reacted and planned trips to Washington, some of which used violent rhetoric and talked about police killings.
A SESSION ABSOLUTE
The committee compiled video clips from interviews to describe a chaotic Dec. 18 meeting, hours before Trump’s tweet, almost minute by minute. Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who testified live before the panel two weeks ago, called the meeting between White House aides and informal advisers pushing the fraud allegations “backfired” in a message that night to another aide of Trump. Other aides described “yelling” and profanity at the meeting as advisers floated wild theories of voter fraud without evidence to back them up and as White House lawyers pushed back aggressively. The videos included testimony from attorney Sidney Powell, who had advanced some of the wildest theories, including hacked voting machines and hacked thermostats that she somehow connected to the false claims of fraud. White House counsel Eric Hersman, one of the aides who pushed back, said the theories were “crazy” and “got to the point where the outcry was completely, completely out.” Aides described a chaotic six-hour back-and-forth, beginning with Trump speaking to a group of informal advisers without White House aides present. Both Pat Cipollone, the White House counsel, and Powell said in interviews that Cipollone was quick to break up the meeting. Powell quipped that she thought Cipollone set a new “land speed record” by getting there. Cipollone, who joined the committee for a private interview last week under subpoena, said he did not believe the group was giving Trump good advice and said he and other White House lawyers were simply asking them, “where is the evidence ; But they didn’t get good answers, he said. Hours later, at 1:42 a.m., Trump sent out a tweet calling for supporters to come to Washington on January 6.
A REBELLION AND FORMER OATH KEEPING
Two witnesses were in the hearing room to testify – a rioter who pleaded guilty to entering the Capitol and a former Sworn Officer who described his experiences with the group. Stephen Ayres, who pleaded guilty last month to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct and is scheduled to be sentenced in September, said he was in Washington on Jan. 6 at Trump’s behest and left Capitol Hill when Trump — after several hours – told them in a tweet to leave. “We were basically following what the president said,” Ayres said. He said his arrest less than a month later “changed my life, not for the better,” and he’s angry that he was hanging on Trump’s every word and that some people are still doing that. Asked by Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney if he still believes the election was stolen, Ayers said, “Not so much now.” Jason Van Tatenhove, a former ally of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes who left the group years before the uprising, said the group is a “violent militia”. “I think we should stop mincing words and speak only truths and what was going to happen was an armed revolution,” he said. “I mean, people died that day. That could have been the spark that started a new civil war.” Rhodes and other members of the Oath Keepers, along with another far-right group, the Proud Boys, have been charged with conspiracy-mongering in the most serious cases the Justice Department has brought so far in the Jan. 6 attack.
INSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE
The committee revealed that Trump had been planning for days to have his supporters march on Capitol Hill — and that he would be joining them. The panel showed a draft tweet, undated and never sent, that said “Please arrive early, large crowds expected. After the march to Capitol Hill. Stop the theft!” And they showed texts and email exchanges between White House planners and aides about a secret plan for the march. “This is just between us, we have a runoff at the Supreme Court” after Trump’s rally, one of the rally’s organizers, Kylie Kramer, wrote to a Trump confidant. “POTUS will make us march there/the Capitol.” People will try to “sabotage” it if they find out, he said. Murphy said the president’s call to march at his rally “was not a spontaneous call to action, but rather a deliberate strategy that the president had decided in advance.” Hutchinson’s testimony last month also focused on Trump’s desire to march with protesters and his anger at security officials who wouldn’t let him go. The committee reviewed Trump’s speech at the rally that morning and some of his ads for Vice President Mike Pence that were not in the original drafts of the speech. In the end, he would mention the vice president eight times, telling the crowd that he hoped Pence would “do the right thing” and try to block Biden’s confirmation in the joint session of Congress.
IGNORING STAFF ADVICE AND TIPS
As they have done at several hearings, lawmakers on the committee showed video testimony from White House aides who said they did not believe there was widespread fraud in the election and had told the president so. Several aides said they were convinced Biden’s victory was a done deal after states certified voters on Dec. 14 and after dozens of Trump campaign lawsuits failed in court. Ivanka Trump, the former president’s daughter, said she believed the election was over after Dec. 14 and “probably before.” Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said she was planning for life after the White House at that point. Eugene Scalia, Trump’s labor secretary, said he told the president in a call that it was time to say Biden won. And then there were regrets. In a text exchange revealed by the panel, former Trump campaign aide Brad Parscale wrote to aide Katrina Pearson: “This week I feel guilty for helping him win” and “If I were Trump and knew that my rhetoric was killing someone.” “It wasn’t the rhetoric,” Pierson replied. “Katrina,” wrote Parscale, who still participates in a weekly strategy chat with Trump aides. “Yes, it was.”
WITNESS VIOLATION?
At the end of the hearing, Cheney revealed some new information: Trump had tried to call a prospective witness, and the committee had notified the Justice Department about the call. The witness did not answer the call, according to Cheney. He did not identify the witness, but said it was someone the public has yet to hear from. The committee has previously said that people in Trump’s orbit have contacted witnesses in ways that could reflect or at least create the appearance of improper influence. —— Associated Press writers Alanna Durkin Richer, Michael Kunzelman, Jill Colvin, Amanda Seitz and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
