Trump contested the results of the elections he lost in 60 lawsuits and lost them all. “He lost in the courts, just like he did in the voting booths,” Thompson said. For ordinary Americans, it ends there, but “for Donald Trump, it started there.”
The commission showed fragments of interviews with Trump’s closest associates, in which they said they had told him that he had lost the election and that there was no evidence of electoral fraud. Former Chief Prosecutor Bill Barr said he told Trump his claims were “bullshit.” Despite this, Trump continued to insist that he lost wrongly.
Republican committee member Liz Cheney spoke of a “clever plan” by the then president to change the election results. She emphasized that the impetus for the storm was a tweet from him, in which he called on his supporters to come to Washington. “It will get wild,” Trump wrote.
Extremist Militia
The commission also showed fragments of interrogations of members of the extremist militias Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. These groups played a prominent role in the riots. Testimonials show that the leaders met on the eve of the storming in a parking garage in Washington. “Trump has only asked me two things: vote for him and come on January 6,” a member of the Proud Boys told the committee.
The first public hearing began Thursday at 8 p.m. local time and was broadcast live by major news channels. The committee, made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans, chose the time to get the attention of as many Americans as possible. More hearings will be held in the coming weeks, where witnesses will be heard and investigative results presented.
Four people were killed in the storming of the Capitol on the day itself, one of whom was shot and killed by police. Four police officers involved in the defense of the complex later committed suicide. More than a hundred people were injured. A policewoman who herself was injured told the committee on Thursday evening that she “slipped on the blood.”