WASHINGTON — The congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol began its second listening to Monday — although minus a key witness who withdrew on the final minute due a household emergency.
Whereas the committee’s first listening to final week targeted on the assault itself, Monday’s program will flip its consideration to what was taking place on the different finish of Pennsylvania Ave. within the weeks main as much as the riot as former President Donald Trump used phony proof and outright lies to attempt to overturn the outcomes of the 2020 election, which he misplaced.
“Donald Trump misplaced an election — and knew he misplaced an election — and on account of his loss, determined to wage an assault on our democracy. An assault on the American folks, by making an attempt to rob you of your voice in our democracy,” mentioned Committee Chair Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., in his opening remarks. “In doing so, lit the fuse that led to the horrific violence of Jan. sixth, when a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol, despatched by Donald Trump, to cease the switch of energy.”
The committee was scheduled to listen to from a trusted member of Trump’s internal circle, former marketing campaign supervisor and White Home political director Invoice Stepien. However Stepien’s spouse went into labor shortly earlier than the listening to, so he wasn’t capable of attend.
As a substitute, the committee mentioned Stepien’s lawyer will seem and make a press release on the report. Two sources accustomed to the committee’s plans mentioned they might use video from his deposition.
Stepien stays aligned with the Trump-wing of the GOP and his political consulting agency is presently advising a conservative challenger in Wyoming’s August GOP major trying to oust Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, who has damaged along with her occasion to turn out to be maybe probably the most seen face of the Jan. 6 committee’s work.
Different witnesses will embody former Fox Information political editor Chris Stirewalt, longtime GOP election lawyer Ben Ginsberg, former U.S. Lawyer BJay Pak and former Philadelphia Metropolis Commissioner Al Schmidt.
The committee additionally performed video of recorded testimony from former Trump Lawyer William Barr saying that Trump began making claims of systemic fraud “earlier than there was really any potential of proof.”
“You’ll hear eyewitness testimony that President Trump rejected the recommendation of his marketing campaign consultants on election night time, and as a substitute adopted the course beneficial by an apparently inebriated Rudy Giuliani, to only declare he received, and demand that the vote counting cease — to falsely declare all the pieces was fraudulent,” Cheney mentioned, referring to the previous New York Metropolis Mayor and Trump adviser. “He falsely informed the American folks that the election was not professional, in his phrases ‘Hundreds of thousands of People believed him.'”
The Home committee is hoping to make use of the collection of high-profile hearings to indicate that Trump knowingly sought to undermine democracy and probably broke the regulation by perpetuating what they name the “Large Lie” that he received the 2020 election, although President Joe Biden received 7 million extra votes.
The primary listening to was held in primetime Thursday and drew about 20 million viewers.
The subsequent listening to is scheduled for Wednesday morning, with a deal with Trump’s makes an attempt to bend the Division of Justice to his will, whereas a fourth listening to this week will deal with Trump’s efforts to strain Vice President Mike Pence towards certifying the outcomes of the election on Jan. 6.
In a convention name with reporters Sunday, a committee aide mentioned the main target of Monday’s two-hour listening to will likely be “the choice by the previous president to disregard the desire of the voters, declare victory on an election that he had misplaced, unfold claims of fraud after which determine to disregard the rulings of the courts when the judgment of the courts didn’t go his method.”
On election night time 2020, Trump obtained conflicting recommendation from aides, the committee aide mentioned. Some informed Trump the numbers confirmed he didn’t have a path to victory, whereas others suggested him to declare victory anyway. Trump, in fact, selected the latter path.
“The election fraud claims had been false. Mr. Trump’s closest advisors knew it. Mr. Trump knew it,” mentioned Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., a committee member who is predicted to play a outstanding function in Monday’s hearings. “The assault on Jan. sixth was a direct and predictable results of Mr. Trump’s choice to make use of false claims of election fraud to overturn the election and cling to energy.”
Posting Sunday on his new social media web site, Reality Social, Trump wrote that the TV rankings for the primary listening to “had been completely terrible.”
“Maybe the reason being that it’s being ‘sponsored’ by Adam “Shifty” Schitt [sp] …” Trump added, in reference to Schiff, D., Calif., who was one of many Home managers throughout Trump’s first impeachment listening to.
Peter Alexander, Vaughn Hillyard, Garrett Haake and Rebecca Shabad contributed.
