The Special Committee to investigate the events of January 6, 2021, met in their second hearing on June 9, 2022. The prior hearing occurred on July 27, 2021.
In the interim, the Committee spoke with thousands of people, including people from the Trump White House, rioters, police officers, and more, all with the intent of shedding light on what happened that day, why the Capitol Building was so poorly defended, and how much involvement former President Trump had in the events of that day.
Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) sounded a somber and terrifying note in his opening remarks.
“January 6 was the culmination of an attempted coup, a brazen attempt, as one rioter put it shortly after January 6, to overthrow that government,” Thompson said. “The conspiracy to thwart the will of the people is not over.”
The Committee laid out Trump's seven-point plan to stop the transfer of power and retain the Presidency in the face of a clear victory by Joe Biden.
Lawfare Blog, a legal blog and commentary website, listed it in detail:
- “Trump attempted to convince Americans that significant levels of fraud had stolen the election from him despite knowing that he had, in fact, lost the 2020 election;
- “Trump planned to remove and replace the attorney general and other Justice Department officials as part of an effort to pressure the department to spread his allegations of election fraud;
- "Trump worked "to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to refuse to count electoral votes on January 6";
- “Trump tried to convince state lawmakers and election officials to alter election results;
- "Trump's lawyers and other members of the President's team directed Republicans in multiple states to produce fake electoral slates and send those slates to Congress and the National Archives;
- “Trump assembled a destructive group of rioters in Washington and sent them to the U.S. Capitol; and
- “Trump ignored requests to speak out against the violence in real time and failed to act quickly to stop the attack and tell his supporters to depart the Capitol.”
The first hearing, which can be seen unedited here on C-Span on YouTube, showed never before seen footage of the events of that day, including a video that had been delivered taken by rioters, news outlets, and more.
Trump was told he lost.
Multiple sources that President Trump had relied on for years told him in no uncertain terms that he had lost the election. A campaign top aide, Matt Oczkowski, informed the President that he was going to lose. A Trump campaign lawyer, Alex Cannon, told the White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows that there was no widespread fraud. Jason Miller, a senior adviser, told the Committee in an interview that several sources were in the White House telling the President that he had lost.
Most stunningly for many, then-Attorney General Bill Barr, a staunch Trump ally and supporter, said, "I made it clear that I did not agree with the idea of saying the election was stolen and putting out this stuff, which I told the President was bullshit."
Ivanka Trump, in now famous footage, said that she had accepted Barr's assessment prior to January 6.
Jared Kushner, the President's son-in-law and senior advisor said that his primary concern at the time was to get as many Presidential pardons signed as possible. It has since been revealed that dozens of members of Congress and people in the Trump White House sought pardons for their efforts to overturn the election. The Committee pointed out that one wouldn't look for a pardon prior to being charged unless one knew they'd done something illegal.
Capitol Police
Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards, who was injured in a fight with members of the Proud Boys, said, "Literal blood, sweat and tears were shed that day defending the building,"
The National Guard Story
Part of the narrative from the White House team that was defending the President for his actions on the 6th was that Trump had helped by calling in the National Guard.
In truth, it was Vice-President Mike Pence, whose hanging had been chanted for by rioters, who called up the Guard. Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller had stated this publicly on the 6th.
Much of the hearing was filled with difficult-to-watch physical attacks on the American democratic institution and the Capitol Building itself, an international symbol of American might and justice.
Bob Peryea
National Correspondent
The Kentucky Daily