For more than three hours on January 6, 2021, Donald Trump rejected pleas from his top aides, lawyers and family members to stop a riot by his supporters at the US Capitol, instead watching the attack unfold on Fox News as he sat in his house. dining room outside the Oval Office. In its final session this summer, a congressional committee investigating the insurgency heard testimony from former White House staff and security officials who outlined Mr. Trump’s inaction in vivid detail. He also called for Mr Trump and associates who conspired to subvert the 2020 election to face criminal charges. The Justice Department so far appears to have distanced itself from the former president’s investigation. “He recklessly opened a path of lawlessness and corruption,” said Benny Thompson, chairman of the commission. “There has to be accountability under the law, accountability to the American people, accountability at every level … all the way up to the Oval Office.” Bipartisan group of US senators proposes changes to election law after Capitol riot In a lunchtime speech at the Ellipse, a park near the White House, Mr Trump urged his supporters to go to Capitol Hill and “fight like hell”, promising to join them. Within minutes of arriving at the White House, the president was informed that the rioters had breached the police line. He immediately retired to the dining room and turned on the television. According to several witnesses, including then-White House adviser Pat Cipollone and Keith Kellogg, a national security official, Mr. Trump did not try to call for backup from the National Guard, the FBI, the Justice Department or Homeland Security, yet and as the police in the Capitol were destroyed and beaten and the mob stormed the building. The rioters went after politicians, with their anger particularly focused on Mike Pence, Mr Trump’s vice president who had refused his demands to throw out the election result. In a video, the hearing showed a group of rioters shooting smoke at police outside the Senate chamber, moments before Mr Pence was evacuated meters away as his bodyguards carried him to safety. A White House security official described radio broadcasts by members of Mr. Pence’s security from inside the Capitol as the rioters broke through. Secret Service members were “starting to fear for their lives,” said the security official, whose identity was withheld by the commission. “There were a lot of voices, a lot of very personal calls over the radio.” It was, the official said, “disturbing.” “There were calls to say goodbye to family members, so on and so forth.” Those tasked with keeping Mr Pence safe “thought it was going to get really bad”. Despite the White House being informed of the violence on Capitol Hill, Mr Trump tweeted that Mr Pence “lacked the courage to do what needed to be done to protect our country and our Constitution”. Two of his staff, who testified in person to the commission, said the tweet prompted them to resign. “I just didn’t want to be associated with the events that were unfolding on Capitol Hill,” said Matthew Pottinger, Mr. Trump’s deputy national security adviser. Added Sarah Matthews, the deputy White House press secretary: “I remember thinking that it would be bad for him to tweet that because he basically gave these people the green light, telling them that what they did on the Capitol steps and the entry into the Capitol was all right, because they were justified in their anger.” Former National Security Council member Matthew Pottinger and former White House deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews are sworn in. DOUG MILLS/AFP/Getty Images Mr. Trump continued to call on senators even as rioters approached chambers inside the Capitol. Among them was Tommy Tuberville, one of the president’s strongest supporters. Mr Tuberville was inside the Capitol at the time as security prepared those inside to evacuate. “I’ve got to hang up on you, I’ve got to go,” Mr Tamperville recalled telling the president. Mr. Cipollone told the committee that he, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Ivanka Trump, Mr. Trump’s daughter and top adviser, pleaded with the president to withdraw his supporters. “I’ve been pretty clear that there needs to be an immediate and strong statement that people need to get out of the Capitol now,” Mr. Cipollone said. “There needs to be a public announcement quickly.” Cassidy Hutchinson, another aide, said Meadows told Cipollone that day that Trump “thinks it deserves” to hang Mike and that the rioters did nothing wrong. Demands for Mr. Trump’s intervention flooded Mr. Meadows from Republicans in Congress, current and former White House officials, members of the media and friends. Text messages released by the committee showed that Donald Trump Jr. urged Mr. Trump to denounce what was happening “as soon as possible” or risk “his entire legacy.” Fox News personality Brian Kilmeade pleaded: “Please put him on TV. Destroying everything you’ve accomplished.” But Mr Trump refused to make a statement ending the riots. Instead, he asked for a list of Republican senators so he could continue calling them and pressuring them to overturn the election, Mr. Trump’s spokeswoman at the time, Kayleigh McEnany, said in a videotaped deposition. At one point, after his daughter intervened, Mr Trump posted a tweet telling his supporters to “keep calm!” but did not condemn the ongoing rebellion. Instead, Mr. Trump “told Mark Meadows that the rioters did the right thing,” said Adam Kinzinger, a Republican congressman on the committee. Just after 4pm, 187 minutes after the mob descended on the Capitol, Mr Trump recorded a video in the White House Rose Garden asking the rioters to “go home in peace”. In the message, she also told them “we love you, you are very special.” Liz Cheney, the committee’s vice chair, said the committee will continue its investigations in the coming weeks and plans more hearings in the fall. Our Morning Update and Afternoon Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.
title: “Trump Rejects Calls To End U.S. Capitol Riot Jan. 6 Committee Hearing " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-28” author: “Jay Hunter”
For more than three hours on January 6, 2021, Donald Trump rejected pleas from his top aides, lawyers and family members to stop a riot by his supporters at the US Capitol, instead watching the attack unfold on Fox News as he sat in his house. dining room outside the Oval Office. In its final session this summer, a congressional committee investigating the insurgency heard testimony from former White House staff and security officials who outlined Mr. Trump’s inaction in vivid detail. He also called for Mr Trump and associates who conspired to subvert the 2020 election to face criminal charges. The Justice Department so far appears to have distanced itself from the former president’s investigation. “He recklessly opened a path of lawlessness and corruption,” said Benny Thompson, chairman of the commission. “There has to be accountability under the law, accountability to the American people, accountability at every level … all the way up to the Oval Office.” Bipartisan group of US senators proposes changes to election law after Capitol riot In a lunchtime speech at the Ellipse, a park near the White House, Mr Trump urged his supporters to go to the Capitol and “fight like hell”. Within minutes of arriving at the White House, the president was informed that the rioters had breached the police line. He immediately retired to the dining room and turned on the television. According to several witnesses, including then-White House adviser Pat Cipollone and Keith Kellogg, a national security official, Mr. Trump did not try to call for backup from the National Guard, the FBI, the Justice Department or Homeland Security, yet and as the police in the Capitol were destroyed and beaten and the mob stormed the building. The rioters went after politicians, with their anger particularly focused on Mike Pence, Mr Trump’s vice president who had refused his demands to throw out the election result. In a video, the hearing showed a group of rioters shooting smoke at police outside the Senate chamber, moments before Mr Pence was evacuated meters away as his bodyguards carried him to safety. A White House security official described radio broadcasts by members of Mr. Pence’s security from inside the Capitol as the rioters broke through. Secret Service members were “starting to fear for their lives,” said the security official, whose identity was withheld by the commission. “There were a lot of voices, a lot of very personal calls over the radio.” It was, the official said, “disturbing.” “There were calls to say goodbye to family members, so on and so forth.” Those tasked with keeping Mr Pence safe “thought it was going to get really bad”. Despite the White House being informed of the violence on Capitol Hill, Mr Trump tweeted that Mr Pence “lacked the courage to do what needed to be done to protect our country and our Constitution”. Two of his staff, who testified in person to the commission, said the tweet prompted them to resign. “I just didn’t want to be associated with the events that were unfolding on Capitol Hill,” said Matthew Pottinger, Mr. Trump’s deputy national security adviser. Added Sarah Matthews, the deputy White House press secretary: “I remember thinking that it would be bad for him to tweet that because he basically gave these people the green light, telling them that what they did on the Capitol steps and the entry into the Capitol was all right, because they were justified in their anger.” Former National Security Council member Matthew Pottinger and former White House deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews are sworn in. DOUG MILLS/AFP/Getty Images Mr. Cipollone told the committee that he, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Ivanka Trump, Mr. Trump’s daughter and top adviser, pleaded with the president to withdraw his supporters. “I’ve been pretty clear that there needs to be an immediate and strong statement that people need to get out of the Capitol now,” Mr. Cipollone said. “There needs to be a public announcement quickly.” Cassidy Hutchinson, another aide, said Meadows told Cipollone that day that Trump “thinks it deserves” to hang Mike and that the rioters did nothing wrong. Demands for Mr. Trump’s intervention flooded Mr. Meadows from Republicans in Congress, current and former White House officials, members of the media and friends. Text messages released by the committee showed that Donald Trump Jr. urged Mr. Trump to denounce what was happening “as soon as possible” or risk “his entire legacy.” Fox News personality Brian Kilmeade pleaded: “Please put him on TV. Destroying everything you’ve accomplished.” But Mr Trump refused to make a statement ending the riots. Instead, he asked for a list of Republican senators so he could continue calling them and pressuring them to overturn the election, Mr. Trump’s spokeswoman at the time, Kayleigh McEnany, said in a videotaped deposition. Among them was Tommy Tuberville, one of the president’s strongest supporters. Mr Tuberville was inside the Capitol at the time as security prepared those inside to evacuate. “I’ve got to hang up on you, I’ve got to go,” Mr Tamperville recalled telling the president. At one point, after his daughter intervened, Mr Trump posted a tweet telling his supporters to “keep calm!” but did not condemn the ongoing rebellion. Just after 4pm, 187 minutes after the mob descended on the Capitol, Mr Trump recorded a video in the White House Rose Garden asking the rioters to “go home in peace”. In the message, she also told them “we love you, you are very special.” The panel revealed that Mr Trump rejected a script for the message, which had him calling on supporters to “express their passions and opinions PEACEFULLY”, and opted to speak on the fly. Conspiracy theorists in Mr. Trump’s circle, meanwhile, made a last-ditch effort to overturn the election that night, as Congress reconvened after the riots to certify Joe Biden’s presidential victory. Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor and Mr. Trump’s outside lawyer, made calls to several Republican members of Congress, including senators Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley and Mr. Temperville, and representative Jim Jordan. In a voice message to Mr. Tuberville, Mr. Giuliani asked Republican senators to stop certifying the vote. Meanwhile, inside the White House, those close to Mr Trump were stunned by his latest message to the crowd. “That bothered me,” Ms Matthews said. This was the equivalent of the president saying “to the people we just watched invade our nation’s Capitol with the intent of subverting our democracy, violently assaulting police officers and chanting vile things like ‘hang Mike Pence’ — ‘we love you, you very special”. .” Ms. Matthews resigned that night. Again the next day, Mr. Trump resisted making a follow-up statement. When he finally did in the evening, he drafted the language that would have accepted the election. “I don’t want to say that the elections are over. I just want to say that Congress ratified the results without saying the election is over, okay?” Mr. Trump said in a statement from the video the committee played. Elsewhere, the president avoided referring to his supporters who “broke the law”: “I can’t say that,” he said. Mr Thompson said the committee would continue its inquiries in the coming weeks and planned to hold more hearings in September. The commission is expected to issue a report, although members have stressed in the past that the Justice Department does not need to wait for them to finish before launching its own criminal investigations. Summarizing the evidence so far, Liz Cheney, the committee’s vice chair, pointed out that almost all of the witnesses were former loyalists of Mr. Trump, who agree with him ideologically. “The case against Donald Trump in these hearings is not being made by witnesses who were his political enemies,” he said. “It is, instead, a series of confessions from Donald Trump’s own appointees, his friends, his own campaign officials.” The Morning Update and Afternoon Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.
