WASHINGTON – The House of Representatives’ Commission to Investigate the Attack on the United States Capitol on January 6 opened a remarkable series of hearings on Thursday, showing a video of an aide to former President Donald J. Trump testified that his allegations of stolen elections were untrue, as the commission detailed the extent of the former president’s efforts to undo his defeat and stay in office.
For about two hours, the group offered new information about what it described as a coup attempt organized by Mr. Trump, culminating in the Capitol’s deadliest attack in centuries. Its leaders said investigators had heard evidence that Mr Trump had approved the hanging of his own vice president as a crowd of his supporters flocked to Congress. They also said they had evidence that members of Mr Trump’s cabinet had discussed invoking the 25th Amendment after the uprising to remove him from office.
The session marked the start of an ambitious effort by a nine-member commission formed in July after Republicans blocked the creation of a non-partisan commission to investigate the attack to tell Americans the full story of a remarkable US-led democracy attack by the incumbent. led to a deadly revolt, impeachment and a crisis of confidence in the political system.
“Donald Trump was at the center of this conspiracy,” said Benny Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat and chairman of the committee. “Finally, Donald Trump, the president of the United States, encouraged a crowd of internal enemies of the Constitution to march on the Capitol and undermine American democracy.
The prime-time hearing, which took place in the historic Cannon House office building in a hall decorated with Corinthian columns and crystal chandeliers, included a dramatic video of the Proud Boys, a right-wing extremist group leading the Capitol attack and the emotional testimony of a Capitol official. police in the US Capitol, who received a traumatic brain injury from the hands of the mafia.
“What I saw was a military scene,” said Officer Caroline Edwards, one of more than 150 officers injured in the riot after watching a video of her being taken over by the mob. “I saw officers on the ground. They were bleeding. They were vomiting. “
She added: “I slipped in people’s blood. It was a massacre. It was chaos. “
U.S. Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards is believed to be the first officer injured in the attack. “I slipped in people’s blood,” she testified. “It was a massacre. It was chaos. ” Credit … Doug Mills / New York Times
The appearance of Officer Edwards reflects the strength of the commission’s seamless two-hour performance – including an unprecedented video – in bringing the violence back that day.
This happened when the commission began to tell the story publicly of how the incumbent president made an unprecedented effort to overturn democratic elections and stay in power, testing the railings of American democracy at every turn. Mr Trump and his allies have challenged President Biden’s victory in the courts, in state houses and finally in the streets.
“You will see that Donald Trump and his advisers knew he had actually lost the election,” said Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican and deputy chairman. “However, President Trump has made great efforts to spread false and fraudulent information to convince large sections of the US population that fraud has stolen the election.
Lawmakers opposed Mr Trump’s refusal to accept defeat with any president before him. At one point, Mr. Thompson showed a handwritten note from President Abraham Lincoln in which he said he would be obliged to cooperate with the newly elected president if he lost the presidency, working to emphasize how up-to-date he was with American values. -n. Trump’s actions were.
Using a previously unpublished video of testimonies from former aides to Mr Trump and even his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner, the group left no doubt as to the veracity of the former president’s actions. In doing so, its leaders said they hoped to force the nation to grapple with the reality of a dark chapter in its history that is still echoing.
“Our democracy remains in jeopardy,” Mr Thompson said. “Jan. 6 and the lies that led to the uprising put at risk two and a half centuries of constitutional democracy. The world is watching what we are doing here. “
Representative Benny Thompson, Mississippi Democrat, chairman of the committee, and Liz Cheney, Republican of Wyoming, vice president, led the hearing. Credit … Doug Mills / New York Times
The opening night contained several revelations, perhaps the most humiliating of which came from Mrs. Cheney. She said the commission had received evidence that when Mr Trump learned of the Mafia’s threats to hang Vice President Mike Pence, he said: “Maybe our supporters have the right idea” and added that Mr Pence “deserved it”. .
The committee also revealed that several Republican congressmen, including Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, now chairman of the Freedom Group, had asked for the president’s pardon after Jan. 6.
With a glimmer of television understanding, the hearings provide the most high-profile platform ever so that the committee can unravel the complex story it has uncovered and attract the attention of the American public to focus on an episode in which democracy was on the brink.
The hearings take place five months before the midterm elections, in which the majority of Democrats are at stake, at a time when they are seeking a sharp contrast between themselves and Republicans who allowed and embraced Mr. Trump, including members of Congress who helped his efforts to annul the election results.
Reporters are preparing to appear on television before the hearing, which was scheduled for the most watched time. Credit … Shuran Huang for The New York Times
Given the seriousness of the threat, members of the commission believe they are performing a critical and historic function, like the major fact-finding commissions before them, investigating the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. the Watergate scandal of 1973 and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
In a time of intense political polarization, members of the group made efforts to support their claims with clear evidence, often turning to videotaped testimonies to present their case. When Mr. Thompson outlined how Mr. Trump had been told many times that there had been no election fraud, he added, “Don’t you believe me?”
He then paused for a video showing former Attorney General William P. Barr testifying that he knew the president’s allegations were untrue, and told Mr Trump.
“I told the president it was nonsense,” Mr Barr told commission investigators. “I didn’t want to be a part of it.”
The commission also released a video in which Ms. Trump acknowledged that Mr. Barr’s allegations had affected her opinion, and Trump’s campaign adviser, Jason Miller, testified that a data specialist had shown him that the numbers are not there to win Mr. Trump. Campaign’s lawyer, Alex Cannon, told the commission that he had told Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, in November 2020 that he saw no evidence of irregularities enough to change the election result, which led Mr Meadows replied, “So he’s not there.”
The panel later released a video of the brutal attack that took place in the Capitol, reviewing the chilling sights and sounds of insurgents invading the US government headquarters.
Serena Liebengood, whose husband, Officer Howard Liebengood, committed suicide after the attack, crying during the hearing. Credit … Kenny Holston for The New York Times Sandra Garza’s partner, Officer Brian Sicknick, has died after defending the Capitol on January 6. Credit … Doug Mills / New York Times
The members of the commission promised to reveal evidence in the coming days, which will fundamentally change the public’s understanding of a dark day in American history and will put a clearer focus on who is to blame.
“It will change history,” said Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican and committee member.
Mr Thompson said the next session, scheduled for Monday, would explain in detail how Mr Trump “ignited the riot” with his lie about stolen elections.
Other hearings are expected to focus on Mr Trump’s attempts to abuse the Department of Justice to help him seize power; his campaign to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to cast legitimate electoral votes for Joseph R. Biden Jr.; the manner in which the crowd was assembled and how it descended on Washington on January 6; and the fact that Mr Trump has done nothing to stop the violence for more than three hours while the attack is ongoing.
The committee has investigated extensively and extensively, examining more than 1,000 witnesses and amassing more than 140,000 documents. It has a staff of about 45 employees, including more than a dozen former federal prosecutors and two former U.S. prosecutors, and has spent more than $ 1.6 million a quarter on its work.
Many Republicans in Congress, whose leaders initially supported the idea of an independent commission, spent months after the attack trying to rewrite its history and downplay its weight.
They intensified their battle Thursday morning as party leaders took turns at a press conference on Capitol Hill, criticizing the panel’s work as “illegitimate” and “fake.”
“Will Nancy Pelosi hold a prime time hearing on inflation?” Said Steve Scaliz of Louisiana, the second Republican. “I would probably like to see that. I think many Americans would. Will Nancy Pelosi lead the prime time …
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