On December 19, 2020, then-President Donald Trump tweeted one of his many baseless claims about the presidential election, claiming it was “statistically impossible” for him to lose to Joe Biden and warning supporters of a protest in Washington in the coming weeks.
“Major protest in D.C. Jan. 6,” Trump tweeted at the time. “Be there, it’s going to be wild!”
That tweet will serve as an invitation to far-right militia groups such as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, as well as other violent extremists who were part of the pro-Trump mob that took over the US Capitol in an attempt to block Biden’s certification from the Electoral College win, said the on Sunday, members of the House Select Committee investigating the riot.
The effect of that tweet — and other messages from Trump and his allies — will be examined this week when the committee resumes its public hearings. Tuesday’s session will focus on Trump’s ties to these far-right and political extremist groups.
“People are going to hear the story of that tweet, and then the explosive effect it had in Trump’s world, and particularly among domestic violent extremist groups, the most dangerous political extremists in the country at this time,” Congressman Jamie B. Raskin (D-Md.) said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”
Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), who is scheduled to lead the hearing with Raskin on Tuesday, said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that the Dec. 19 tweet was a “siren call” to those groups that on 6 January will be a “last stand” to keep Trump in power.
Trump has already mounted a broad and ongoing pressure campaign — on Vice President Mike Pence, the Justice Department and state election officials — to help overturn the election results, she added, and his tweet amounted to a call for those violent groups to provide “ additional support” until Jan. 6.
Committee members also confirmed Sunday that they had received a letter from a lawyer for former Trump chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon indicating that Bannon would drop his request for executive secrecy and testify at a public hearing. Last year, Bannon was charged with contempt of Congress after he refused to comply with the committee’s subpoena.
Bannon can still assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, and he can insist on conditions, such as testifying on live television rather than in camera, that committee members may not want to agree to.
Raskin said Sunday that the committee would be “very interested” in hearing from Bannon, but indicated that his initial testimony was unlikely to be made public.
Tuesday’s hearing will be the committee’s first since Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, gave bombshell testimony about Trump’s rage and inaction on the day of the Capitol attack. Hutchinson testified on June 28 that Trump knew some of his supporters were armed but urged them to march on the Capitol anyway, and that Trump told Meadows to talk to some of his aides who had ties to far-right militia groups.
Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified June 28 about President Donald Trump’s actions surrounding the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. (Video: JM Rieger/The Washington Post, Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) said Sunday that it would be a “logical conclusion” that Trump knew the crowd that day included members of these violent extremist groups.
“We’re going to connect the dots during these hearings between these groups and those who are trying in government circles to overturn the election,” Lofgren said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “So we think this story unfolds in a way that is very serious and quite credible.”
Raskin, Murphy and Lofgren indicated that testimony from former White House counsel Pat Cipollone would be released during the hearing. In a closed-door hearing Friday, Cipollone testified before the committee for eight hours, providing information that “corroborates key elements of Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony,” committee spokesman Tim Mulvey said in a statement Sunday.
Hutchinson testified that Cipollone tried to prevent Trump from traveling to the Capitol on Jan. 6 with supporters, fearing criminal liability, and told her “something like, ‘Please make sure we don’t go up to the Capitol , Cassidy . Keep in touch with me. We will be charged with every crime imaginable if we make this move.”
Visual: Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony
There was a lot of information from Cipollone’s testimony that “fits into this bigger puzzle” the committee is putting together, Murphy said Sunday.
“The general message we gather from all these witnesses is that the president knew he had lost the election, or that his advisers told him he had lost the election, and that he was looking for ways he could retain power and remain president despite the fact that the democratic will of the American people was that President Biden be the next elected,” she said.
Former White House counsel Pat Cipollone arrived on Capitol Hill on July 8 for closed-door testimony before the special committee on January 6. (Video: The Washington Post)
The next hearing will also focus on the “core significance” of the Dec. 18, 2020 meeting of Trump allies, which was held at the Willard Hotel in downtown Washington, according to Raskin.
During that meeting, a group of outside lawyers including Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani — dubbed “Team Crazy” by some in the Trump White House — discussed attempts to overturn the election results. Potential steps include confiscating voting machines across the country, Raskin told “Face the Nation.”
“But against that ‘Team Crazy’ was an internal group of lawyers who basically wanted (Trump) at that point to admit that he lost the election and were much more willing to accept the reality of his defeat at that point,” Raskin said .
Twitter banned Trump from its platform after the Capitol attack, citing the risk of further violence.
Jacqueline Alemany and Isaac Stanley-Becker contributed to this report.
The January 6 Uprising
The House Special Committee investigating the January 6, 2021 riot held a series of high-profile hearings in June. To the commission the next public hearing is scheduled for July 12.
Congressional Hearings: The House Committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol held a series of hearings to share its findings with the US public. The sixth hearing included explosive testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide.
Will there be a fee? The committee could press charges against former President Donald Trump for his role in the attack, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said in an interview.
What we know about what Trump did on January 6: New details emerged when Hutchinson testified before the commission and shared what she saw and heard on January 6.
The Rebellion: On January 6, 2021, a pro-Trump mob stormed the US Capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 election results. Five people died that day or shortly thereafter, and 140 police officers were attacked.
Inside the siege: During the riot, rioters came dangerously close to breaking into the building’s inner sanctums while lawmakers were still inside, including former Vice President Mike Pence. The Washington Post examined text messages, photos and videos to create a video timeline of what happened on January 6.
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