At the eighth hearing of the commission investigating last year’s Capitol storming, the role played by former President Donald Trump was discussed in depth. Multiple witnesses told Thursday evening that he behaved passively during the nearly three-hour attack. According to them, he gave the green light for the violence.
Based on testimony from some of Trump’s key associates, including his deputy national security adviser and his spokeswoman, the commission accused the president of neglecting his duty to protect Congress. He did nothing to help as he watched the attack on live television.
“This man of unbridled destructive energy could not be moved for 187 minutes on January 6,” President Bennie Thompson said in his opening address. “Not by his aides, not by his allies, not by the violent rioters, or the desperate pleas of those who confronted the mob. He couldn’t be moved.”
Thompson, speaking via video link due to a corona infection, emphasized that the attack on the Capitol must be accountable “all the way to the Oval Office.”
Adam Kinzinger, one of the Republican committee members, went on to say that the president was even satisfied with the violence. He said the crowd achieved President Trump’s goal, so “he chose not to intervene.”
Mike Pence
Another witness, who remained anonymous, said Secret Service agents guarding Vice President Mike Pence were saying goodbye to relatives over the radio because they feared for their safety.
Some Capitol stormers were eagerly looking for him after Trump previously tweeted that Pence had “not had the courage to defend our country and our Constitution.” A makeshift gallows stood outside and protesters expressed their intention to “hang” Pence.
Also read: While democracy faltered, Trump beamed at TV
Matthew Pottinger, Trump’s deputy national security adviser, and Sarah Matthews, the deputy press secretary, both said the tweet added fuel to the fire. “He shouldn’t have,” said Sarah Matthews. “He should have told these people to go home and condemn the violence.”
New hearings will be held in September as new evidence and witnesses continue to pour in, Vice President Liz Cheney said at the start of the meeting. “Doors have been opened, new subpoenas have been issued and the dam is beginning to break.”