During the eighth hearing on the Jan. 6 riots, the committee was told that the former president aimed to stop or delay Congressional certification of Joe Biden’s election victory by not intervening. Thousands of his supporters stormed Congress during riots last year, smashing windows, forcing open doors and intimidating politicians. The riot left five people dead, including a police officer, and injured more than 100 police officers. Rep. Liz Cheney said the only thing that helped Mr Trump’s cause was the “angry armed mob” he “sent to Capitol Hill”. He added that Trump chose not to respond to calls from Republican lawmakers to step in and stop the violence for hours after the riots began. “He refused to do what every American president should,” he said. The committee was told that his daughter Ivanka Trump and former chief of staff Mark Meadows were among those who urged him to strongly condemn the events. His son, Donald Trump Jr., also appealed to his dad to do something, telling Meadows: “He needs to condemn this as soon as possible. “The one you go to the layers. They’ll try to destroy his entire legacy on it if it gets worse.” Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 1:15 Dramatic footage of riots in the Capitol Time frame of 187 minutes Congressman Adam Kinzinger, one of two Republicans on the committee, said Trump had “resisted” the tweet that the protesters should be peaceful, with a former deputy White House press secretary saying he only agreed to do so after the daughter suggested he use the phrase. Sarah Matthews said his tweet “didn’t go far enough” and Trump initially “didn’t want to include any kind of peace reference” in it.
Analysis by US correspondent Sally Lockwood
This hearing was a stunning insight into President Trump’s mindset during those hours of violence on Capitol Hill. What did he do? This is the question at the heart of this commission’s inquiry. We now know that he was watching the riot unfold on television from a dining room in the West Wing and refused to withdraw the mob. Secret Service radio recordings sound panicked. A White House official described how staff members feared for their lives and called family members to say goodbye. The committee also revealed the large number of text messages sent to Chief of Staff Mark Meadows urging him to stop the violence – from Fox News hosts, fellow Republicans, his son Donald Jr. Everyone close to him appealed to him to do something. He wasn’t listening to anyone. It took him more than three hours before he agreed to tell the rioters to go home. His former deputy press secretary’s testimony revealed that it was his daughter Ivanka who finally got the former president to agree to some compromise language. Then, a day later, more evidence showing the president’s continued denial. Excerpts from a video message he recorded on January 7 were shown to the committee. He is not prepared to say “the election is over”. How likely is it that the evidence presented to this committee will lead to Donald Trump facing criminal charges? It is uncertain. A key question is the question of intent. Donald Trump never told this mob to storm the Capitol, he never told them to bring guns. We have no testimony for this. But there may be evidence when the hearings resume in September that link Donald Trump – or those in his circle – more closely to the attack on the US Capitol. The hearing was intended to show a “minute-by-minute” account of Mr Trump’s actions during the attack on the Capitol building – a time frame of 187 minutes. Starting at 1.10pm, when Trump finished his speech inciting the riots, it ended at 4.17pm. when he released his now infamous video on Twitter telling his supporters to “go home in peace.” Image: Adam Kinzinger At 1:25 p.m., just 15 minutes after concluding his speech, Mr. Trump went to the private dining room outside the Oval Office, where he stayed until about 4:00 p.m. Rep. Elaine Luria explained how she watched the chaos unfold on television, saying she refused to do anything because of his “selfish desire to stay in power.” He said witnesses told the committee he was sitting in his “usual spot” at the head of the table facing the TV on the wall, which was showing Fox News. The hearing noted that despite calls for action, Mr Trump instead sent a series of tweets, including one sharing a link to his speech and another referring to Vice President Mike Pence. Image: President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence “They’re pouring gasoline on the fire” In the tweet, he said Pence “lacked the courage to do what needed to be done to protect” the US. Footage played at the hearing showed much of the anger was focused on Mr Pence, with protesters calling for him to be hanged, calling him a traitor and saying he had “screwed” the American people. Shortly after the tweet was sent, the committee said the incident had been escalated, but Mr Trump continued to make calls to delay Mr Biden’s confirmation to Congress as president. A witness who appeared at the hearing, former deputy White House press secretary Sarah Matthews, described the tweet as “pouring gasoline on the fire.” Image: Sarah Matthews On Secret Service radio played to the committee, officers can be heard expressing concerns about Mr. Pence’s safe exit from the building. Read more: ‘I’m the surprise president’: White House aide describes Trump’s fury Surprising testimony may help committee resonate with public Trump pressed officials to say election was rigged “Starts kicking in Capitol windows. VP is pulled. Decision in next 2-3 minutes or… VP may be stuck in Capitol,” the security logs read. “If we lose any more time, we may lose the ability to leave,” one agent said. “If we’re going to leave, we have to do it now.” Sharing images from the White House call log, the committee said they show Trump made no calls while the violence ensued. Video of Trump’s message revealed Just after 4 p.m. The committee heard that a script had been written for him to read, but he decided to “go off the cuff”. An excerpt of his message, played at the hearing, showed Trump wanted to claim that the majority of supporters were acting “peacefully” on Capitol Hill. “I urge all my supporters to do exactly as the 99.9% have already done – express their passions and opinions peacefully,” he said. In another clip, which showed a message recorded the next day, the former president still refuses to say “the election is over,” asking only to say that Congress had certified the result. In his closing remarks, Mr. Kinzinger described Trump’s behavior as a “supreme violation of his oath of office” and “dishonorable” to America’s democracy. “It’s a blot on our history,” he added. The hearing could be the last this summer, with another round taking place in September.
