7:30 am Meadows has been texting Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican who supported Trump’s efforts to overturn the election, according to texts obtained by CNN. Meadows tells Jordan “I’ve been pushing for this,” responding to a text Jordan sent the night before, which advocated for Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the election while he presides over Congressional certification of the Electoral College results. Meadows also tells Jordan that he’s “not sure it’s going to happen.”
9:24 am Trump spoke to Jordan on the phone for about 10 minutes, according to White House call logs obtained by The Washington Post.
9:52 am Trump spoke with senior adviser Stephen Miller for 26 minutes, according to White House call logs obtained by The Washington Post.
Before 10 am
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Tony Ornato informs Trump that authorities at the Ellipse, where Trump was scheduled to hold a rally, encountered attendees with weapons including handguns, rifles, bear spray and spears, according to Hutchinson’s testimony.
Around 10:15 am Hutchinson and Ornato inform Meadows of armed members of the crowd forming at the Ellipse, according to Hutchinson’s testimony. Hutchinson told lawmakers that Meadows had little reaction when she told him about reports of guns in the crowd.
10:47 am Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani begins his speech at the Ellipse rally, urging lawmakers to overturn the election and telling the crowd, “let’s fight a trial.” Giuliani shares the floor with another right-wing lawyer, John Eastman, the architect of a Trump-backed plan for Pence to overturn the results while presiding over that day’s joint session of Congress, where lawmakers certify the winner of the election College.
Before 12 noon Trump tells his staff to “take off the magic,” referring to the metal detectors in the security line for the Ellipse rally, because the rally attendees “weren’t here to hurt me,” according to Hutchinson’s testimony. Trump wanted to increase the size of the crowd, Hutchinson said.
12 pm Trump begins his speech at the Ellipse, where he repeats many of his campaign lies and publicly pressures Pence to follow Eastman’s legally dubious plan.
Around 1 p.m The pro-Trump rioters — including members of the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group — have broken through the first set of barricades outside the Capitol and are beginning to rush toward the building. Senior White House officials, including Meadows, were quickly alerted by US intelligence that police lines were crumbling on Capitol Hill, according to Hutchinson’s testimony.
1:10 p.m
As he ends his speech at the Ellipse, Trump calls on his supporters to “walk down Pennsylvania Avenue” and march on the Capitol. He also tells the crowd that he will march with them. Around the same time, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California and a Trump ally, called Hutchinson and angrily told her not to let Trump go to Capitol Hill, according to Hutchinson’s testimony.
1:19 pm Trump is back in the White House. During the brief return from the Ellipse, Trump becomes enraged and demands to be taken to the Capitol, but members of his security team refuse to take him there, according to Hutchinson, who testified that she was told about the exchange by Ornato and another. member of Trump’s security department.
Around 2 p.m The Capitol goes into lockdown as some of the first rioters breach the building. Back at the White House, White House Counsel Cipollone tells Meadows that Trump must take action to stop the insurgency and that “something has to be done or people will die,” according to Hutchinson’s testimony.
2:13 pm The Senate adjourns amid debate over a GOP challenge to Biden’s electoral votes from Arizona.
2:14 pm In one of the riot’s most infamous scenes, QAnon supporter Doug Jensen threatens US Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman, who shrewdly removes Jensen from the nearby Senate floor.
Around 2:15 p.m At the White House, Cipollone again tells Meadows that Trump needs to step in. Meadows responds by saying Trump “doesn’t want to do anything” about the riot and that Trump agrees with the rioters who called for Pence to be hanged, according to Hutchinson’s testimony.
2:24 pm Trump lashes out at Pence in a tweet, criticizing Pence for refusing to implement his illegal plan to overturn the election while presiding over a joint session of Congress.
2:28 pm Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, Republican of Georgia and a pro-Trump conspiracy theorist, tells Meadows in a text message that he should “tell the President to calm people down,” according to messages obtained by CNN.
2:30 p.m US Capitol Police begin evacuating lawmakers from the House and Senate, and the Secret Service evacuates Pence from the Senate floor, where he was presiding.
2:32 pm Fox News host Laura Ingraham, who promoted many of Trump’s campaign lies, is texting Meadows that “the president needs to tell the people on Capitol Hill to go home,” according to messages obtained by CNN.
2:35 pm Trump’s former acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvey, texts Meadows saying Trump “has to stop this, now” and offers to help, according to messages obtained by CNN. 2:38 pm Trump tweets that rioters should “remain peaceful,” but stops short of telling them to leave Capitol Hill. 2:39 pm Some of the first Capitol windows are smashed by Dominic Pezzola, an alleged Proud Boy who has been charged with rioting conspiracy. (He has pleaded not guilty to charges related to the attack.) More pro-Trump rioters flood the Capitol building after scaling barricades, fighting police and climbing inauguration scaffolding. Around 2:40 p.m A group of Oath Keepers — a far-right extremist group — weaves through crowds of rioters in military-style formation and enters the Capitol building. Several members of the group have been charged with conspiracy to riot.
2:44 pm Rioter supporter Ashli ​​Babbitt is fatally shot by a police officer while trying to break into the president’s lobby, which is adjacent to the House floor, while lawmakers were evacuating. At the same time, Rep. Barry Loudermilk, a Georgia Republican who supported overturning Biden’s victory in his state, wrote to Meadows that “it’s pretty bad up here on the Hill,” according to messages obtained by CNN. Around 2:45 p.m Pro-Trump rioters storm the Senate floor and storm House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office.
2:53 pm Donald Trump Jr. texts Meadows: “She needs to convict (sic) this shit. ASAP. Police tweet is not enough,” according to messages obtained by CNN. Meadows replies, “I’m pushing it hard. I agree.” Just before 3 in the afternoon Trump speaks on the phone with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who pleads with Trump to withdraw the mob, but Trump sides with the rioters, telling McCarthy that they seem more interested in the election results than him, according to CNN. reference.
Around 3 p.m White House aides are drafting a statement for Trump’s release that would condemn the violence and “unlawful” actions of the rioters, according to Hutchinson’s testimony. The statement was never made public.
3:09 pm Trump’s former chief of staff, Reince Priebus, texted Meadows, “TELL THEM TO GO HOME!!!,” according to messages obtained by CNN.
3:13 pm Trump tweets that his supporters on Capitol Hill should “remain peaceful,” but still stops short of telling them to leave the facility. At the same time, Trump’s former health secretary Tom Price is texting Meadows saying, “POTUS should come on the air and blow this off,” according to messages obtained by CNN. 3:15 p.m Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and senior adviser, called the rioters “patriots” in a tweet and told them the “violence must stop,” but stopped short of saying they should leave the Capitol. 3:31 pm Fox News host Sean Hannity, who promoted many of Trump’s campaign lies, writes to Meadows: “He can make a statement. I saw the tweet. Ask people to leave the capital peacefully,” according to messages obtained by CNN. Meadows replies, “on it.”
4:05 pm Trump Jr. texts Meadows: “We need an oval address. He needs to lead now. He’s gone too far and he’s out of control,” according to messages obtained by CNN. Minutes later, Trump Jr. sends another message saying, “Now Biden is beating us to the punch.”
4:15 pm Biden delivers a televised speech, calling the attack on the Capitol “bordering on insurgency” and calling on Trump to tell his supporters to “end this siege.”
4:17 pm Trump posts a video on Twitter in which he tells rioters “you need to go home now,” but praises them and repeats the lie that fueled the attack itself — that the 2020 election was stolen.
6:01 p.m Trump tweeted that “these are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously and violently stripped away by great patriots.” Around 8 p.m US Capitol Police announce that the Capitol building is safe. the Senate reconvenes and Pence returns to the courtroom saying, “To those who wreaked havoc in our capital today, you did not win.” Sen. Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the House, calls the day’s events a “failed insurgency.” 8:39 pm Trump spoke on the phone with Giuliani for nine minutes, according to White House call logs obtained by The Washington Post.
9:02 pm Parliament meets again.
10:11 pm The Senate is voting to throw out an objection raised by GOP lawmakers to the counting of Arizona’s electoral votes, which were awarded to Biden for winning the popular vote in that state.
10:19 pm Trump speaks with former White House general Steve Bannon for seven minutes,…