>> the select committee to investigate the january 6 attack on the u.s. capitol will be in order. without objection, the chair is

authorized to declare the committee in resource -- recess at any point pursuant to house deposition regulation 10. the chair announces the committee's approval to release deposition material presented during today's hearing. good afternoon, may god bless the united states of america. four months ago, this committee started to present our findings to you, the american people. from the beginning, we understand it -- understood that some people watching the proceedings would wrongly assume the committee's investigation was partisan. that is why i asked those that were skeptical of our work to simply listen. to listen to the evidence, to hear the testimony with an open mind. to lead to the facts speak for themselves before reaching any -- for any judgment. over the course of the hearings,

evidence has proven that there was a multipart plan led by former president donald trump to overturn the 2020 election. donald trump lost his bid for reelection, as shown from the testimony from some of the president's closest allies and advisors. donald trump knew he lost. despite this knowledge, donald trump went to court to contest the 2020 election and lost in court. the electoral college met and declared joe biden the winner, yet, donald trump continued to pull out all of the stops in his attempt to stay in power. what donald trump proceeded to do after the 2020 election is something no president has done before in our country. in a staggering betrayal of his oath, donald trump attempted a plan that led to an attack on a pillar of our democracy. it is still hard to believe.

the facts and testimonies are clear, consistent, and undisputed. how do we know this? how have we been able to put -- present such a clear picture of what took place? because of the testimony we have heard and that we have had presented to you through these proceedings. because of the documentary evidence we have gathered. and also, made available directly to you, the american people. when you look back at what has come out through this committees work, the most striking fact is that all this evidence comes almost entirely from republicans. the evidence that emerged did not come from democrats or opponents of donald trump. instead, look at who has written and testified and produced evidence. who has that been? aids who have worked loyally to

donald trump for years, republican state officials and legislators, republican electors, the chairwoman of the republican national committee, political professionals that work at the highest levels of the trump campaign. from appointees who served in their most senior positions in the justice department. president trump's staff and closest advisors in the white house. members of the president trump's family. his own white house counsel. i served in congress a long time. i can tell you it is tough for any congressional investigation to obtain evidence like what we have received, least of all, such a detailed view into a president's inner circle. i want to be clear. not all of these witnesses were thrilled to talk to us. some of them put up quite a fight. ultimately, the vast majority cooperated with our investigation.

what we have shown you over the last four months has been centered on the evidence, evidence that has come overwhelmingly from republican witnesses. i say to you again, as i did in june, this investigation is not about politics. it is not about parties. it is about the facts. plain and simple. it is about making sure our government functions under the rule of law as our constitution demands. today, as in previous proceedings, my colleagues and i will present new evidence that includes new testimony from additional republicans who served in the trump administration, never before seen footage of congressional leaders on january 6 working to coordinate the response to the violence and ensure the people's business went forward. new materials produced to the committee by the secret service.

details about the ongoing threat to american democracy. today's proceedings will also be grounded in the facts. but, it will not look exactly like all our other hearings. we will also take a step back and look at the evidence in a broader context, providing a summary of key facts we have uncovered. facts relevant to former president trump's state of mind, his motivation, and his intent. what did president trump know? what was he told? what was his personal and substantial rolled in the multipart -- role in his multipart plan to overturn the election? for some of you that watched the prior hearings some evidence will look familiar. for those tuning in for the first time, we will summarize some of the most important facts and urge you to go online and watch our hearings in full.

there is one more difference about today. pursuant to the notice circulated prior to today's proceedings, we are convened today not as a hearing, but as a formal committee business meeting, so, in addition to presenting evidence, we can potentially hold a committee vote on further investigative action. based upon the evidence. before we get to the evidence, i would recognize our distinguished advice chair ms. cheney of wyoming for any opening statements she cursed offer. chair cheney: since our last public hearing july 21 we have received new and voluminous information from the secret service that we continue to analyze. we received new witness testimony including about efforts to obstruct our investigation and conceal key facts. according to public reporting,

the permit of justice -- to permit of justice has been active in identifying issues in the prior hearing. the committee may decide to make a series of criminal referral to the department of justice. we recognize our role is not to make decisions regarding prosecution. the preamble to our constitution recites, among its purpose is to "establish justice." our nations do -- judiciary and our department of justice has that response ability. a key element of this committees responsibility is to propose reforms to prevent january 6 from ever happening again. we have already proposed, and the house has passed a bill to amend the electoral count act to ensure no other future plots to overturn an election can succeed. we will make further specific recommendations in our final report based in part on the evidence you will hear today. our hearings last summer began with an outline of president

trump's multipart plan to overturn the 2020 presidential election. we then proceeded to demonstrate each of these elements in detail with more than 20 hours of evidence. today, we will see new evidence. as the chairman said, we will also synthesize evidence you have seen before. the vast suite of evidence presented so far has shown us that the central cause of january 6 was one man, donald trump. who met many others followed. none of this would have happened without him. he was personally and substantially involved in all of it. how does one man because all this? today, we focus on president trump's state of mind, his intent, his motivation, and how he spurred others to do his bidding. how another january 6 could happen again if we do not take necessary action to prevent it. as you view our evidence today, i suggest a focus on the following points.

first, as you will see, president trump had a premeditated plan to declare that the election was fraudulent and stolen before election day. before you knew the election results. -- he knew the election results. he made his stolen claims on election night without any evidence in hand. over the next two months, he sought to find those that would help him invent and spread wide spread lies about fraud. many of those who stepped forward to help including really -- rudy giuliani new they never had real evidence to change the election results. on the evening of january 5, they admitted they were still finding -- trying to find that phantom evidence. as a result of making intentionally false claims of election fraud, mr. giuliani's license to practice law has been suspended. second, recognize that president

donald trump was in a unique position, better informed about the absence of widespread election fraud that almost any other american. president trump's own campaign experts told him that there was no evidence to support his claims. his owner justice department appointees investigated the election fraud claims and told him point-blank they were false. in mid december,, president trump's senior advisers told him that the time had come to concede the election. donald trump knew the court has ruled against him. he had all the information and still made the conscious choice to claim, fraudulently, the election was stolen. to pressure state officials to change election results, to manufacture fake electoral slates in an attempt to corrupt our department of justice, to seven tens of thousands of reporters -- supporters to

washington knowing they were angry and some were armed, he sent them to the capitol. as though brian was underway he incited supporters to further violence -- as the riot was underway he incited supporters to further violence by condemning the vice president. he waited hours before instructing them to leave the capitol, even when he was begged repeatedly to do so. none of this is normal, acceptable, or lawful in our republic. third, consider today who had a hand in defeating president trump's effort to overturn the election. vice president pence, bill barr, jeff rosen, and others at the department of justice. state republican officials, white house staff who blocked proposals to mobilize the military to seize voting machines that run new elections -- and run new elections. our capitol police, aided by the metropolitan police, other federal law enforcement and/or

national guard that arrived later -- and our national guard that arrived later in the afternoon. all these people had a hand in stopping donald trump. this leads us to a key question. why would americans assume our constitution, and our institutions, and republic are invulnerable to another attack? why would we assume these institutions will not falter next time? a key lesson of the investigation is this: our institutions only hold when men and women of good faith make them hold, regardless of the political cost. we have no guarantee that these men and women will be in place next time. any future president inclined to attempt what donald trump did in 2020 does -- has now learned not to install people that can stand in the way. please consider this: the rulings of our court are respected and obeyed because we as citizens pledged to accept

and honor them. most importantly, our president that has a constitutional obligation to safely execute the laws and where to accept them. what help and that happens when a president disregards the rulings of the court as illegitimate, when he disregards the rule of law? that, my fellow citizens, breaks our republic. when you view the evidence today, consider this. president trump new from unassailable sources that his election fraud claims were false. he admitted he had lost the election. he took action consistent with that belief. claims that president trump actually thought the election was a stolen are not supported by fact and are not a defense. there is no defense that donald trump was duped or irrational. no president can edify the rule

of law and act this way in a constitutional republic, period. our nations federal justices are sworn to do impartial justice to preserve our constitution and union. dozens of these judges have been addressing january 6 cases. many have given us plain, unmistakable warnings about the direction of our republic. let me read from one judge's statement given at a recent sentencing hearing "high ranking members of congress and state officials who know perfectly well that claim of fraud was and is untrue and that the election was legitimate are so afraid of losing power that they will not say so. it has t be crystal cleart is not patriotism, not standing up for america, to anup for one man who knows full well heost

instead of the constitution he was trying to subvert. mr. chairman, the violence and lawlessness of january 6 was unjustifiable. our nation cannot only punish the foot soldiers who stormed our capitol. those who planned to overturn the election and brought us to the point of violence must also be accountable. every effort to excuse or justify the conduct of the former president, we chip away at the foundation of our republic. indefensible conduct is defended and end of skewed civil -- inexcusable conduct is excused. without accountability, it all becomes normal and will recur. as we watch the evidence today, consider where our nation is in its history. consider whether we can survive for another 246 years. most people in most places on

earth have not been free. america is an exception. america continues only because we bind ourselves to our founders principles, to our constitution. we recognize that some principles must be beyond politics, and more important than any single american that has ever lived. thank you, mr. chairman. i yield back. >> without objections, the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california for an opening statement. >> thank you mr. chairman. very shortly after the election, we began the meeting by returning to election night, november 3, 2020. as the chairman noted, we have previously presented testimony about how the election results were expected to come in that night. certain states, ballots were cast by mail before election day

would be counted only after polls closed that evening. that meant that election results would not be known for some time. although, president trump bill stepien, house roof public and meter -- republican leader kevin mccarthy and jared kushner encouraged donald trump to encourage mail-in voting by republicans, president trump did not do so. >> i remember generally you have people arguing we had a very robust get out the vote effort and mail-in ballots could be good for us if we looked at it correctly. >> there was one meeting that was had in particular. i invited kevin mccarthy to join the meeting. he being of like mind on the issue with me. in which we made our case for

why we believed mail-in ballot inc., mailed in -- mail-in ballots, mail-in voting, would not be a bad thing for his campaign. but, the president's mind was made up. >> it was expected, before the election, that the initial counts in some states, in other words, the votes cast on election day, would be more heavily republican. this would create a false perception of a lead for president trump, a so-called red mirage. as the results of the absentee ballots that were later counted, there were trends towards vice president biden as mail-in ballots were counted. on election night, donald trump's advisors specifically told him that he did not have a

factual basis to declare victory and he should wait for the remaining balance to be counted. here is campaign manager bill stepien. >> it was far too early to be making any calls like that. ballots were still being counted. ballots were still being counted for days. it was far too early to make any proposition like that. i believe my recommendation was to say that votes were still being counted. it is too early to tell. it is too early to call in the race. >> but president trump did declare victory in the late hours of election night. not only did he declare victory, he also called for the ongoing count of votes to just stop. stopping the account would have violated both federal and state

law. it would have disenfranchised millions of voters who lawfully cast their vote. he called for the action anyway. here is what he said. >> this is a fraud on the american public. this is an embarrassment to our country. we were getting ready to win this election. frankly, we did win this election. [cheering] we want all voting to stop. >> we now know more about president trump's intention for election night. the evidence shows his false victory speech was planned well in advance. before any votes had been counted. it was a premeditated plan by the president to declare victory no matter what the actual result was. he made a plan to stay in office before election day. now, the vice president's staff

was concerned with what donald trump might do on election night. they took steps to ensure that mr. pentz would not echo a false victory announcement from president trump. here is what the vice president counsel greg jacobs told us about his preparations with the vice president chief of staff mark short. >> mark indicated to me that there was a possibility that there would be a declaration of victory. within the white house that someone pushed for. this was prior to the election results being known. the key was trying to figure out a way of avoiding the vice president being thrust into a position where he might not have

sufficient information to do so. >> following this conversation, mr. jacob drafted a memo to mr. short that the select committee got from the national archives. this memo was sent on november 3, election day. it advised "it is essential the vice president not be perceived by the public as having decided questions concerning disputes of electoral votes prior to the full development of all relevant facts. " a few days before the election mr. trump consultant with one of his outside advisors inside activist tom fitton about the strategy for election night. the committee got this preprepared statement from the national archives. draft statement sent on october

31 declares "we had an election today and i want. -- i won." the memo indicates a plan that only the votes counted by the election day deadline, and there is no election day deadline, would matter. everyone knew that ballot counting would lawfully continue past election day. claiming that the counting on election night must stop before millions of votes were counted was a key part of president trump's premeditated plan. on election day, just after 5:00 p.m., mr. fitton indicated he had spoken with the president about the statement. he sent along again, just talk to him about the draft below. again, this plan to keep, to declare victory was in place before any results had been determined.

in the course of our investigation, we also interviewed brad parscale, president trump's former campaign manager. he told us he understoodhat president trump planned as early as july that he would say he won the election even if he lost. and a just a few days before the election, steve bannon, a former trump chief white house strategist and outside advisor, spoke to a group of his associates from china and said this >> trump will to clear victory. but that does not mean anything. the democrats, more of our people vote early that count. so, they will have a natural disadvantage and trump will take the advantage. that's our strategy. if you wake up wednesday

morning, it will be a firestorm. also, if trump is losing by 10:00 or 11:00 at night, it will be even crazier. i am directing the attorney general to shut down all ballot places, in all 50 states. it will be nuts. he is not going out easy. if biden wins, trump will do some crazy stuff. >> mr. bannon refused to testify in our investigation. he has been convicted of criminal contempt of congress and is awaiting sentencing. the evidence indicates mr. bannon had advanced knowledge of mr. trump's intent to declare victory falsely on election night. but also, that mr. bannon and he about mr. trump's planning for january 6. here is what bannon said january 5. >> all hell will break loose tomorrow.

it is all converging. now we are on the point of attack. the point of attack is tomorrow. i will tell you this. it's not going to happen like you think it will happen. ok? it will be quite extraordinarily different. all i can say is this drop in. you have made this happen. tomorrow is game day. strap in. let's get ready. >> another close associate of donald trump apparently knew of mr. trump's intentions as well. roger stone is a political operative with a reputation for dirty tricks. in november, 2019 he was convicted of lying to congress and other crimes. he was sentenced to more than three years in prison. he is a longtime adviser to president trump. he was in communication with president trump 2020. mr. trump pardoned roger stone december 23, 2020. recently, the select committee

got footage of mr. stone before and after the election from danish filmmaker christopher l branson, pursuant to a subpoena. before the election, here is roger stone talking about what president trump would do after the election. >> let's hope we are celebrating. i suspect it will be still be up in the air. but when that happens, the key thing to do is claim victory. no we one, sorry. you are wrong. >> the select committee called mr. -- as a witness, but he people his fifth amendment right

against self incrimination. >> i respectfully declined to answer your question on the basis of the fifth amendment. >> you have any role in planning of the violence on january 6? >> i will assert my fifth amendment right to decline to answer your question. >> although we do not have all of the relevant records of roger stone's communication, even his social media acknowledged he spoke to donald trump as preparations for january 6 were underway. in this post, you can see how roger stone talked about his conversation with president trump. he wrote, i also td the president exactly how he n appoint a special counsel with fullubpoena power to ensure those who are attempting to still 2020 election to voter

fraud and are convicted. and to ensure donald trump continues as our president. it was something president trump had actually tried to do earlier that month. we know that roger stone was at the willard hotel on january 5 and six, we know from other witness testimony that president trump asked his chief of staff, mark meadows to speak to roger and general michael flynn that night. in addition to his connection to president trump, roger stone had extensive connections to two groups responsible for attacking the capital. the proud boys. it is a conspiracy to use violence against the united

states appeared to oppose the lawful authority of the united states. multiple associates from roger stone, the oath keepers and the proud boys have been charged. associates of roger stone including joshua jaynes, had pled guilty to this crime. we know that at least seven oath keepers who have been criminally charged provided personal security for roger stone, or were seen with him on january 6 or in the weeks leading up to january 6. joshua jaynes, the leader of the alabama oath keepers, provided security for roger stone and was with him on january 5. this is the picture of the two together on january 5. james entered the capital on january 6, assaulted a police officer. earlier this year he pled guilty to seditious conspiracy and

obstruction of congress. the other example is the married couple. kelly was the leader of the florida chapter of the oath keepers, both he and his wife provided security for roger stone and both are charged with leading a military style act of oath keepers, attacking the capital of january 6. perhaps even more disturbing, roger stone's close association with henrique. roger stone's connection was henrique and the proud boys was well documented, by phone records the select committee has obtained. he along with other proud boys has been charged with multiple crimes concerning the attack on january 6 including seditious activity.

during the attack, he sent a message to other proud boys claiming, we did that. he also visited the white house on december 12. later that day, he posted a disturbing video claiming credit for the attack. this video, posted on january 6 was apparently created prior to the attack. this the big live, president's effort to condense americans -- convince americans that he had one the 2020 election began before the election results even came in. it was intentional, premeditated, not based on election results or any evidence of actual fraud affecting the results. it was a plan concocted in advance, to convince his

supporters that he won. the people who seemingly well about that plan in advance would ultimately play a significant role in the events of january 6. mr. chairman, i yelled back. mr. thompson: the young woman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois for the opening statement. >> thank you. very shortly after the election, the trump campaign recognize that they had likely lost the election and they informed donald trump of the facts. even before the networks called the race for president biden on november 7, his chances of pulling out a victory were nonexistent. president trump knew it. >> had anyone ever told the president that he had lost or that there was not a chance of him winning? >> i know the networks called it

that he was informed about the network decision. that afternoon at some point and other folks went over to sit down with the president, and communicated the odds of most prevailing in legal challenges were very small. >> after the election, as of november 7, in your judgment, what were the chances of a president trump winning the election? >> after that point, none. at times president trump acknowledge the reality of his loss, although he claimed he had won the election. privately, he admitted that joe biden will take over as president. we have a few examples of that. >> the president says to the words of the effect of, we will

let the issue go to the next guy, meaning president biden. >> a week after the election was called, i called in to the oboe to give the president the headlines to see how he was doing. he would look at the tv and he would say, can you believe i lost to this guy? >> did the president really think that he lost russian ? a lot of times he would tell me he lost. he pretty much acknowledged that he had lost. >> knowing that he had a lost and only weeks in office, president trump rushed to complete his unfinished is this. one key example is this. president trump issued a order for a u.s. troop withdrawal. he disregarded concerns about

the consequences for fragile government on the front line on the fight against isis and terrorists. knowing he was leaving office, he acted immediately and signed the order on november 11, which would have required the withdrawal of troops from somalia and afghanistan all to be complete before the biden administration on january 20. as you watch these clips, and had served as chief of staff, the national security council for president trump. general milley was the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff at the pentagon. >> all you from reportedly signed on november 11, 2020, ordering that the troops to be withdrawn from afghanistan and somalia? >> yes. >> i think we might have seen

some things. it says, here is your task to get u.s. forces out of somalia. >> when he first interviewed and met colonel douglas, it is in fair thing you discussed the decision of withdrawal from afghanistan, correct? >> i am sure that was a part of it. >> the position he was taking over there with senior advisor to the secretary of defense. is that right? >> dlg leadership are not going to take any of the steps without the order? >> without a directive. yeah. >> this was my answer to him.

i said, if you want this to happen -- our president wants this to happen, he has got to write a order. >> you never wrote it down? >> i sketched on a piece of paper for him, some key statements. what is the right word? >> who drafted the order? >> it was myself and one of my assistants. >> president signs it and fax it over. >> was a by auto pin or the president signing it russian ? >> it was the president. >> hussein the signature?

-- who seen the signature? >> i did. >> proceeded to tell macgregor that if i ever saw anything like that, i would do something physical. i felt what was done to a tremendous disservice to the nation. that was a very contested issue. there are people who did not agree. i appreciate the concerns. that would have been catastrophic. it is the same thing with resident biden, it would have been a debacle. the order was for a immediate

withdrawal. given the highly consequential actions who know the lashes term will end. at the same time he acknowledged privacy he acknowledged the election, there was no evidence of fraud and irregularities. >> i remember the call with mr. metals. where mr. meadows would ask me, asked me if i was finding anything. i remember sharing with him, we were not finding anything that would be sufficient to changing a response in any of the key states. >> what was that conversation? >> probably in november. made it to late november. it was before my child was born. >> what was meadows reaction to

that information? >> i believe the words he used, there is no they are they are. we would have to relay the news -- someone told you about those votes or fraud. you know. that is not a fun job. it is a easier job to tell the president about environmental issues. it is a harder drop to tell him on the back and, that was not true. >> what generally was discussed on that time dave, whether the administration -- read favorably

to the campaign. i think everyone was -- in the room, at least the staff. >> it was not sufficient to be outcome determinate. >> it is the right of any candidate to litigate genuine election disputes. president trump's litigation was unsuccessful. in our past hearings utility the committee had identified 62 election losses filed by the campaign outlined between november 4 and generate six of 21. in those cases resulted in 61 losses and only a single victory, which did not affect the outcome for any candidate. the claim was not supported by any evidence or fraud irregularity. none of these 62 cases was

president trump was able to establish valuable claim to overturn the election. in those hearings, we shared with you the words used by the judges in the country. in strong language, criticizing the lack of evidentiary support to the claims of election and the losses. charges require specific allegation and proof. we have neither here. a federal judge in wisconsin roads, the court has allowed the formal to make his case, he has lost on the merits. another judge in michigan called the claims nothing but speculation and conjecture that votes for president trump were either discarded or swift. the federal judge in michigan, sanctioned nine attorneys, making federalists -- river list

allegations, describing the case as a his direct and profound abuse of the judicial process. a group of election lawyers, formal judges and elected officials issued a report confirming the findings of the corpse. their title loss was not stolen. these republicans analyzed each election challenged include this. and donald trump and his supporters failed to present evidence of fraud or inaccurate results significant enough to and validate the results of the election. trans allies lost the lawsuit in the supreme court -- trans allies lost the lawsuit, the supreme court -- trump allies lost the lawsuit in the supreme court. breaking news, supreme court

denies his lawsuit. he is a livid. kathy hutchison, a8, mark meadows was present for the conversation and escarpment in this way. >> this was the day that the supreme court rejected the case. mr. meadows and i was in the white house. i remember walking back from the reception that evening. the president was walking out of the oval office. the president was fired up about the supreme court's decision. i was saying, mr. meadows -- he was raging about the decision and how it was wrong. it was difficult. anger outbursts.

he had said something to the effect, i do not want people to know we lost, or this is embarrassing. you figure it out. i do not want people to know that we lost. >> our country is a country of laws, every person, including the president must follow the law and respect the judgment of our court. president trump's advisors held that view both then and now. >> do you believe the president should abide by the rule in the courts? >> we should all comply with the law at all times to the best of our ability. >> once the court ruled, the electoral college, the election was over in your view russian ? yes. it was complete. >> 20 electoral college met on

the 14th -- when the electoral college met on the 14th? >> i would assume he would agree the president is obligated to abide by the rule in the court? >> of course. >> everybody is obligated to abide by the rules. >> i assume you would agree the president had a particular obligation to take care of the laws be faithfully executed? >> that is one of the president's obligations. >> believe the president obligated to abide by the rule in the courts? >> i do. >> december of 2020, president trump senior staff were attempting to persuade him to see the election outcome. >> we should concede the

election. >> this and reporting was the day that the state certify the votes and sent them to congress. that was the end of the matter. i would say, i thought this would lead to a new administration. i told him my personal viewpoint that the electoral college should matter, which is the system that our country has been under to elect a president and vice president. i believed at that point, the means for him to pursue litigation was probably closed. >> you recall what his response was? >> k disagreed. -- he disagreed.

>> we spoke i believe on the 14th. i conveyed to him that i thought that it was time frame to acknowledge that president biden had prevailed in the election. i indicated to the president that when the legal process is exhausted, when the electors have voted, that is a point at which that outcome needs to be accepted. i told him i believe that once those legal processes were drawn, if fraud have not been established, it did not affect the outcome of the election. >> not only did the courts reject present trumps fraud and other allegations, his department of justice, including

william barr, richard donoghue as well. president trump knew the truth. he heard what all of his experts and senior staff were telling him. he knew he had lost the election. he made the deliberate choice to ignore the courts, the justice department, ignore his campaign leadership, ignore senior advisors, and to pursue a completely unlawful effort to overturn the election. his intent was planned, ignore the rule of law and stay in power. mr. chairman, i yield back. mr. thompson: gentleman yields back. chairman recognizes the woman from virginia. >> mid-december was the turning point. president trump made his decision, a choice to ignore the advisors and to push forward to overturn the election. his efforts to overturn the

election were not random or disconnected, rather they were part of a coordinated multiparty plan to ensure that he stayed in power. donald trump was the driver behind each part of his plan. he was personally and directly involved. the key element of the plan was continuing to convince millions of americans that he did not in fact lose. he did this, even though his own campaign advisors and justice department officials told him, his claims of fraud were wrong. in this video, you will see that even when top law enforcement officials told the president his election fraud claims were false, he still repeated the claims in the days and weeks followed. >> which i found to be among the most disturbing allegations, in the sense zero basis for the

allegations. i told him it was crazy stuff and they were wasting their time on that. he was doing a great disservice to the country. >> we have a company that is very suspect. it's name is dominion. you can press a button for trump and the vote goes to biden. what kind of a system is this? >> that was sort of done at the point. the recount had been done and all of those. this is an example of what people are telling you and what is being filed in some of those court filings that are just not supported by the evidence. this is the problem. people keep telling you these things in they turn up not to be true. >> in addition, there's a highly

troubling matter of the dominion voting system. in one michigan county alone, 6000 votes were tricked. the same system was used in the majority of states in our country. >> i went into this and it would tell him how crazy some of these allegations were and how ridiculous some of them are. i am talking about some of them like, more absentee votes were cast in pennsylvania than they were absentee ballots request. stuff like that. it was never an indication of interest being what the actual facts are. >> there were more votes then there were voters. think of that. he had more votes than he had voters -- you had more votes

than there were voters. >> he raised the big boat dump, as he called it in detroit. he said people sold in boxes coming into the accounting station in all hours of the morning. i said, mr. president, there are 630 three cents in detroit. they centralize the accounting process. they are not counted in each present. in normal process will involve boxes coming in at all different hours. >> at 631 time, a boat dump of 149,000 -- at 6:31, a vote dump of 149,000 came in.

>> i said, no, sir. there is no suitcase. there is no suitcase. there is a will been where they carry the ballots. that is how they move ballots around the facility. there is nothing suspicious about that at all. >> election officials pulled boxes, suitcases up ballots out from under tables. totally fraudulent. >> this happened over and over again. our committee's report documented. made it public but donald trump knew from sources, the justice department's own investigations and his own campaign. donald trump maliciously repeated the nonsense to a wide audience over and over again. his intent was to deceive.

president trump's plan involved trying to course government officials to change the election outcome in the states he lost. he reached out to numerous state officials and pressured them to take unlawful steps to alter the election results in those states. his actions, taken directly by the resident himself, made it clear what his -- president himself, made it clear what his intentions were to prevent a orderly transformation of power. at the time this call occurred, president trump had already been told repeatedly by the u.s. apartment, by his campaign and advisors that his allegation of fraud in georgia room fraud. -- george were fraud.

>> i just want to find 11,780 v otes. we will have more and more. i only need 11,000 votes. i need 11,000 votes. give me a break. >> i just want to find 11,780 votes. that is an extraordinary demand by the president, especially since he already knew from the justice department there was no genuine basis for this request. someone could think it would be legal for the secretary of state to simply find the votes the president needed to when. the secretary told the president the truth, that he lost the votes in georgia. president trump did not accept the answer. >> that is the thing.

that is a criminal offense. you cannot let that happen. that has a big risk to you and ryan, your lawyer. that is a big risk. >> another president trump the white house advisors reacted negatively. after the call, cassidy hutchinson had a conversation with mark meadows. >> you can't possibly think we are going to pull this off? he looked at me. he knows it is over. he knows he lost. we are going to keep trying. >> this call and other related activity is now the focus of a ongoing criminal investigation in fulton county, georgia. georgia is not the only state where president trump tried to pressure state officials to change results. he attempted to pressure state

officials in arizona, pennsylvania and michigan to change results in those states as well. while president trump was pressuring state officials, he was also trying to use the department of justice changehe election results. his officials told him that there was no evidence to support his claims of fraud. he did not care. he told them, just say the election was robbed and leave the rest to meet and the republican congress. these officials -- when these officials did not do what he said, he embarked on the effort to install his acting attorney general. solely because he would do what others in the department would not do. we know that chuck was doing so for a specific purpose, so he can -- the authority to help persuade the steps to slip electoral votes. richard donahue and jack rosen,

both appointed by president trump, learned about mr. clarke's proposal. here is why they said they forcefully rejected it. >> what you're proposing is nothing less of the united states justice department meddling in the presidential election. this is not based on fact. this is contrary to the facts, as developed by person investigations over the last months. as a response to that and the department to insert itself into the political process this way, i think would've had great consequences to the country. it may have spiraled into a constitution crisis. >> we know from our investigation, president trump offered jeff clark at the position of acting chair. the only reason this did not happen, the white house counsel and a number of justice department officials come

printed the president -- confronted the president in the oval office and threatened resignation. >> i said, something to the effect of you will have a huge personal blowout within hours. you're going to have all sorts of problems with resignations and other issues. that is not going to be in anyone's interest. >> the president relented because the entire leadership department of justice, as well as his white house counsel, threatened to resign. mr. chairman, i yield back. mr. thompson: the young woman yields back. the chair recognizes the young woman from florida for a opening statement. >> president trump's effort to unlawfully overturn the results of the 2020 election were not limited to the big lie in assuring state officials in the department of justice officials.

another key part was a scheme to assemble fake collectors to cast false electoral votes in the state that president trump lost. this was something done not only with the president's knowledge, but also with his direct participation. ronald mcdaniel, chair of the republican national committee testified before this committee before president trump and his attorney, john eastman called for and asked for a arranged electors to rehearse the election of casting their fake vote. >> when i reviewed the call, i do not remember the exact date. it was from the white house. it was president trump who had contacted me. >> did president trump have anyone else on the line with him? >> he introduced me to a gentleman named john eastman. i vaguely remember him

mentioning that he was a -- and he turned the call over to mr. eastman, who preceded to talk about the importance of the helping the campaign gather electors in case any of the legal challenges that were ongoing changed the result. >> the electors were part of the president plans to replace biden electors with trump electors on january 6. a false electoral -- were sent to the national archive into the capital. the make electors plan with type two, the plan, the co-verse of pressure campaign to make vice president mike pence reject or refuse certain electoral votes, so that president donald trump would win the election. there is what the vice president

said about this scheme. >> president trump trump set i have the right to overturn the election. president trump is wrong. i had no right to overturn the election. the presidency belongs to the american people and the american people alone. there is no idea more un-american than the notion that anyone person could choose the american president. >> make no mistake, president trump knew that what he was demanding brice president trump due was illegal. he was informed of this repeatedly specifically on january 4. even his lawyer, john eastman admitted in front of president trump, that this plan will break the law by violating the electoral account act. >> then john eastman ever admit in front of the president that his proposal --.

>> i believe he did on the fourth. >> dr. eastman confirmed this in writing. we call this email written o january , where the council asked mr. eastman. dr. eastman replied, he's has been advised. of course president trump is on a white house counsel, pat cipollone also recognize that this plan was unlawful. here is his testimony. >> my view is that the vice president did not have the legal authority to do anything. >> there is no doubt that president trump pressure to campaign on vice president pence with significance. on the morning of january 6,

president trump called the president from the oval office and demand it that he overturn the results of the election. numerous witnesses told us the select committee about the -- that president trump leveled at his on vice president. >> something along that the wording is wrong. >> the read that she relates the president called the vice president. do you remember what she said her father called him? >> the d word. >> if federal judge concluded, based on this and other evidence, president trump's pressure campaign against the vice president likely violated criminal statues. in the end, all of these people, department of justice officials,

state elections officials, his own vice president, stood strong in the face of president trump immense pressure. as we now know, president trump has already summoned thousands of supporters on january 6. on the summer 19, president trump told his supporters to come to washington. -- he fraudulently and repeated promoted january 6 as the day americans can plan the rally. we obtained a text message that one rally organizer sent on january 4. it reads, potus is going to have

its march they are,/the capitol. potus is going to call for unexpectedly. each of these examples, the big lie, the pressure campaign, the pressure campaign against the department of justice and his vice president. summoning a mob. all of this demonstrates president trump role in the plot to overturn the election. he was involved. he was the central player. thank you, mr. chairman. mr. thompson: mr. thompson: the chair recognizes the gentleman from california. >> thank you. in our past hearings you have seen direct evidence that president trump sent his supporters to the capitol on january 6, knowing they were armed and angry. this was the last desperate

prong of his plan to disrupt the prevent the orderly transition of power. on the morning, the secret service was screening the members of the crowd as they entered. they notice something significant about the crowd, thousands of people were outside the rally site but did not want to go through the magnetometers, the metal detectors we use his pain-free dangers weapons. se for dangerous weapons. even though documents and materials related to january 6 had already been requested by the department of justice and congress. we were able to obtain nearly one million emails recordings and other electronic records from the secret service.

the select committee began its review of thousands of pages. multiple hours of that stood out providing new evidence about what happened on january 6 and the days leading up to it. that review continues we are at what you're about to here is a sample of the new and relevant evidence we seem to. mounting evidence before january 6 predicted violence. violence directed at the capital. intelligence about this risk was available to the u.s. secret service and others at the white house. in advanced of the speech and the mark of the capital the committee has shown evidence that president trump was aware of the risk of violence. the fbi, police, and other agencies all gathered and inseminated intelligence suggested the possibility of

violence at the capitol prior to the right. we are going to show you a sample of the evidence we have received. days before january 6, the senior advisors at the department of justice and fbi received an intelligent summary that included material indicating that certain people traveling to washington were making plans to attack the capitol. this summary, noted online, calls to occupy federal buildings, rhetoric about invading the capitol building and planned to armed themselves and engage in political violence at the event. other agencies were also here and predictions suggesting possible violence to the capitol. the call of a president trump white house security staff on early january 20 21, deputy secretary of defense warned about the potential that the capitol will be the target of

the attack. here is general mark milley, who is also present to this call, describing what the secretary was warning. >> it is almost like clairvoyant. one of these calls. the greatest threats on the capital. >> this email, for example was an alert that the secret service received on december 24, with the heading, armed and ready, mr. president. according to the intelligence, multiple users online were targeting members of congress, instructing others to march into the chambers on january 6, and make sure they know who to fear. in this report, the secret service field office related tip , they have been received by the fbi. according to the source of the

tip, the proud boys plan to march an arm into d.c. and they think they will have a large enough group to march into d.c. armed, the source reported. we will out number the police so they cannot be stopped. the source went on to say, their plan is kill people. please, please take this tip seriously and investigate further. at source made clear, the proud boys had details on their plans in multiple websites. let's pause. the secret service had advanced information more than 10 days regarding the proud boys planning for january 6. we know now that the proud boys and others did lead the assault on our capitol building. on december 31, agent circulated intelligence reports that trump supporters propose a movement to

occupy capitol hill. flag spikes in violent hashtags like we are the storm, 1776 replica and occupy capitals. on january 5, the secret service open source units like a social media account that threatened to bring a sniper rifle to a rally. the user posted a picture with a handgun and rifle with the caption, sunday, gun day. later on the evening of january 5, secret service learned during a fbi briefing, right wing groups establishing arms to qrs were quick reaction forces readying to deploy for january 6. groups like the oath keepers were standing by.

agents were informed. as we all know now, the oath keepers did play a role in january 6. they had stashed weapons in virginia for further violence that evening. on that day, the secret service was rating it security precautions for the presence speech the next day. the secret service deputy chief instructed agents to add certain objects that will be prohibited at the rally site, including listing vests, tactical vests and ballistic helmets. by the morning of january 6, it was clear that the secret service anticipated violence. it felt like the calm before the storm, one agent predicted in a chat room. by 909 time, the secret service

could see many rally goers wered outside the security perimeter. one agent emailed, possibly because they have stuff that cannot come through would probably be an issue with this crowd, just a thought. by 930 time, agents reported 25,000 people outside the rally site. an hour later, the cb service reported that the crowd was -- the secret service reported that the crowd was watching. the secret service detail was aware of the large crowds outside. he passed the information to tony, who worked for mark meadows. the crowd outside was armed. it's agents inuit.

take a look at what they were seeing and hearing on the ground. one report from the rally site said, some members of the crowd are wearing ballistic helmets, a body armor, carrying radio equipment and military grade back ask. another said that there were possibly pepper spray in plastic riot shields. agents also reported possible armed individuals, one with a glock, rifle. over the next hour, agents reported possible loaded gun reported. pistol on hip located in a tree. one detain northwest appeared the individual had a assault rifle on his purse. minutes before president trump began his speech, members of the agency tasked with protecting

federal buildings were elected alerted by a protester arrested with a gun. the united states police arrested a man with a rifle in front of the world were to memorial. -- world war ii memorial. with so many weapons found so far, you wonder how many are unknown. another agent responded, no doubt, the people said they are moving to the capitol after the potus speech. the documents we received made clear, the secret service was aware of the weapons possessed

by those gathered in rallies in d.c. as early as the evening before. take this document, which details multiple arrests in the crowds demonstrating on january 5, those arrests were for weapon offenses, handguns, high-capacity feeding devices, ammunition. what the secret service saw on the sixth, was consistent with the violent rhetoric circulating in the days before the joint session, on pro-trump websites and time simply fight by the president's own advisors. on one of these sites, as he heard, one of those was called the donald duck win. the senior communications advisor sent to mark meadows less than a week. i got the -- fired up. he sent a link to this page of a donald duck.

the page had comments about the joint session of congress on january 6. take a look at some of those comments. gallows do not require electricity. if the maggots try to push their fraud through, there will be hell to pay. our lawmakers and congress can lead in two ways, one in in body back, after rightfully certifying trump a winner. >> -- claimed he had no idea in the hundreds of comments like these he sent to mark meadows. >> i probably would have -- i probably would have said flagged this for secret service or something of that nature. -- flag this for secret service or something of that nature. >> we have seen the secret

service and other agencies -- the suspect of violence well in advance of the president's speech. despite this, certain white house and secret service witnesses testified that they seem to know intelligence about violence that could potentially threaten any of the protect these on january, including the vice president. evidence suggest that this testimony is not credible. the committee is reviewing additional material from the secret service and other sources. the secret service was monitoring this kind of online activity and was sharing and receiving the results of that effort. they work closely with other agencies to ensure intelligence about the joint session of congress arrives through social media and other sources. the same date jason miller sent his text message, agents receive reports about a spike of

activity on another platform called parler. this was december 30. in this email, agent received a report noting, a lot of violent rhetoric on the parlor directed at government people and entities, including secret service protect these. one of these were vice president pence, perhaps the primary target of president trumps pressure campaign in the days leading up to january 6. the day before the joint session on january 5, secret service was aware of increased chatter focused on vice president pence, in particular, whether he would do what president trump wanted him to do, reverse the results of the election in the joint session the next day, january 6. on that morning, agents receive alerts of online threats that vice president pence would be "a dead man walking if he does not

do the right thing". another agent reported, "i saw several other alerts saying they will storm the capital if he does not do the right thing." it was obvious the man at the center of the storm was obvious, president trump. on the evening of january 5, president trump gathered a few of his communications staffers in the oval office. the door was open, allowing the president and others to hear the sounds of the crowd gathering at freedom plaza, a few blocks from the white house. president trump could tell that his supporters were riled up. they pressed secretary describing -- a pressed sec. describing the president reaction. >> we fairly quickly moved to

how fired up the crowd is, or was going to be. >> what did he say about it? >> just that they were fired up, they were angry, they feel like the election has been stolen and the election was rigged. he went on and on about that. >> the president knew the crowd was angry because he had stoke the anger. he knew that they believe that the election was rigged because he had told them falsely that it had been rigged and stolen. by the time he incited the angry mob to march on the capital, he knew they were armed and dangerous. all the better to stop the peaceful transfer of power.

this to chairman, i yield back. mr. thompson: at this point, in our meeting, we will take a brief recess. pursuant to the order of the committee of today, the chair declares the committee in recess for a period of 10 minutes.

the january 6 committee is in a short break. the chairman bennie thompson did not refer to this as a hearing but rather a formal business meeting so members could potentially vote on further investigative action. he provided no other detls but a tweet just a short ti ago, the january 6 commilans to vote to subpoena former president trump during today's heari other news outlets have gone on to verify this reporting. we expect members to return in just under 10 minutes. there are no witnesses testifying in person today, but every member of the committee is expected to offer evidence. still to come.

if you missed anything today, we will re-air it tonight here on c-span.

this is live coverage of the

january 6 committee and the ongoing investigation into the attack on the u.s. capitol. we expect things to resume in about four minutes. currently, the committee has no further hearings scheduled but there could be more to follow after today. the committee is expected to produce a final report before the end of the year. we want to let you know that these proceedings are brought to you as aubc service by the cable indusy and these television providersncluding dish network, live, weedy,, and buckeye broadband. if you're watching on tv but you have to step away, you can follow everything on the go at c-span now our free video app. it is free to download.

>> the chair recognizes the gentleman from california front opening statement. >> on the morning of january 6, president trump knew that the crowd was angry. he knew they were armed and dangerous and he knew that they were going to the capitol.

it is important to understand the length the president was willing to go to physically be at the capital because it was part of his strategy to disrupt congress and to stay in power. as the time for the rally approached, and email was circulated attaching communication among rally goers that specifically implicated violence. trump is giving us marching orders. you can and should be there. advance on the capol. full kits 180 rounds minimum per person. what is clear from this record is that the white house had more than enough warning to warrant stopping any plan.

as evidence from our prior hearings have suggested, the president was aware of this. despite awareness of the potential for violence, the ellipse event went forward and donald trump instructed the angry crowd some of whom were armed to march to the capitol. the secret service reported that thousands in the crowd near the washington monument would not enter area because magnetometers used in screening attendees would detect any prohibited items they carry. mr. trump knew this. the secret service told him about it that morning. even in spite of these warnings, cassidy hutchinson overheard the president say this shortly before he took the stage. >> he wanted it full and he was angry we were not letting people

through the mags with weapons. i was in the vicinity of a conversation where i overheard the president say something to the effect of i don't care they have weapons, they aren't here to hurt me, take the f'ing mags away, let the people in. >> when he went on stage, president trump himself asked law enforcement let his supporters in the rally site. >> i would love to have those tens of thousands of people would be allowed the military the secret service we want to thank you and the police law enforcement great you are doing a great job. i would love it if they could be allowed to come up here with us. is that possible? can you just let them, please? >> president trump then told his supporters to march to the capitol.

let's pause to consider president trump's state of mind, his motivation at this moment. by that point, it was known to secret service that members of the crowd were armed, president trump had been told and there was no doubt that president trump knew what he was going to do. sending an angry mob a number of whom were clad in tactical gear and military garb armed with various weapons to the capitol. there is no scenario where that action is benign. there is no scenario where an american president should have engaged in that conduct. i did not matter whether president trump believed the election had been stolen or not, this cannot be justified on any basis for any reason. you may also recall testimony from our summer hearings regarding mr. trump's efforts to lead the mob to the capitol himself and his altercation in the suv with the secret service told him it was far too

dangerous for him to go. as we detailed the testimony from the metropolitan police and white house personnel during our july 21 hearing, information about altercation was widely known. so widely known that one former white house employee with national security responsibilities explained that this information was watercooler talk in the white house complex. as that professional told us, they remember hearing how angry the president was when he was in a limousine that afternoon. that professional also testified that they were specifically informed of the president's irate behavior in the suv by mr. or not are -- 20 or not out. it was mr. engel and mr. ornato that expressed to me that the president was irate on the ride up.

that corresponds closely with the testimony you saw this summer from cassidy hutchinson, a metropolitan police officer in the motorcade, and numerous other sources. after concluding its review of the additional secret service communications from january 5 and january 6, the committee will be calling additional witnesses and come -- conducting investigations regarding that material. following that we will provide additional detail in our final report. the committee is reviewing testimony regarding attentional obstruction on this issue including testimony about advice given not to tell the committee about the specific topic. we will address this matter in our report. we also want to remind you of how security professionals

working in the white house complex and who reported to national security officials responded when they learned that esther trump intended to lead the mob to the capitol. >> we were all in a state of shock. >> why? >> we just wanted the physical feasibility of doing it and we all knew what that meant. this was no longer a rally. this is going to move to something else. if he physically walked to the capitol. we knew that this would move from a normal credit public event into something else. why were we alarmed? the president wanted to lead tens of thousands of people to the capitol. that was enough rounds for us to be alarmed. >> president trump was still considering traveling to the

capitol even after returning to the white house. he knew well before 2 p.m. that a violent riot was underway at the capitol. he was underwear -- aware of the lawlessness. the motorcade was held outside the white house because he still wanted to join the crowd. here is kayleigh mcenany the press secretary explaining an exchange she had with the president as soon as he arrived back at the white house. >> to the best of my recollection, i recall him being saying that he wanted to physically walk and be a part of the march and saying he would like to be there if you needed to in the presidential limo. >> from the secret service, the select committee has also obtained important new evidence on this issue. it shows how frantic this hour must have been for the secret service scrambling to get the president of the united states

to back down from a dangerous and reckless decision. that put people in harm's way. take a look at the secret service email from january 6 the minute that president trump got out of the presidential vehicle back at the white house. as soon as the president left his motorcade, leadership from the secret service contacted robert engel lead agent for the presidential detail and warned that they were concerned about an otr, off the record movement to the capitol. the people sworn to protect the safety of the president of the united states and who routinely put themselves in harm's way were convinced this was a bad idea. secret service documents also reveal how agents were poised to take president trump to the capitol ater that afternoon. agents were instructed to don protective gear and prepare for a movement. a few minus later, they were told the president would leave

for the capitol in twhos. it wasn't until 1:55 p.m. the president's agent told him to stand down. we are not doing an otr to the capitol. by then, rioters had reached the capitol and were violently attacking the efforts of the brave men and women in law enforcement trying to resist the mob. president trump may not have gone to the capitol on january 6, but what he did from the white house cannot be justified. while congressional leaders democrats and republicans worked with vice president pence to try to address the violence, president trump refused urgent pleas for help from nearly everyone around him. what he did do only made the situation worse. i yield back. >> the chair recognizes the gentleman from maryland for an opening statement. >> the president was still

exhorting his supporters at the ellipse to fight like hell at 12:50 the time when the first wave of rioters reached the barricades defending the capitol. secret service documents give a timeline of precisely what the white house new and when. at 1:19, the emergency operations center sent him -- a message informing them that hundreds of trump supporters stormed through metal barricades at the back of the capitol building about on :00 p.m. wednesday running past security guards and breaking fences. when the president returned to the white house around 1:20, he entered the oval office was told right then about the onset of violence at the capitol. from that point until approximately 4:00 p.m. over the next two hours 40 minutes, the president stayed in the white

house dining room and watched this assault take place at the capitol. we have testimony establishing that president trump refused entreaties from his closest advisors and family members to stand down and leave the capitol. >> did you have -- i can say that i said people need to be told, there needs to be a public announcement that they need to leave the capitol. >> approximately when did you say that? >> almost immediately after i found out people were getting into the capitol for approaching the capitol in a way that was violent.

>> do you -- did not want him to leave the capitol? >> i can't think of anybody on that day who did not want people to get out of the capitol once the violence started, no. >> she said the staff. >> i answered. >> i said in the white house. >> i apologize. i thought you said who else on the staff. i can't reveal communications,

but obviously i think -- >> his testimony is corroborated by multiple other white house staff members including cassidy hutchinson. >> said something to the effect of you heard them pat. he doesn't think they are doing anything wrong. >> a former white house employed with national security duties recalled an exchange between mr. cipollone and eric hirschman about the presidents in action against the mob assault. >> he said something he seemed to relay that the president didn't want anything done.

throughout this time, some of the president's most important political allies, family members, and senior staff all egged him to tell his supporters to go home. they included sean hannity, laura ingraham, and other allies at fox news. his son, donald trump, jr.. kevin mccarthy, other officials in the cabinet and executive branch. all of them made appeals to donald trump which he rejected and ignored. the select committee interviewed several people who were in the dining room with donald trump that afternoon and every single one of them told us he was watching the violent battles rage on television. he did not call his secretary of defense or the national guard, the chief of the capitol police or the chief of the metropolitan police department. >> to your knowledge, was the president in the private dining room the whole time that the

attack on the capitol was going on or did he ever go to your knowledge to the oval office, the white house situation room or anywhere else? >> to the best of my recollection he was always in the dining room. >> he was watching tv. >> do you know if he was watching tv in the dining room when you talk to him on january 6? >> it is my understanding he was watching television. >> when you were in the dining room in these discussions, was the violence at the >> the president watched the bloody attack from his dining room, members of congress and other government official step into the leadership void created by the president's chilling and

studied passive in the that day. unseen footage of congressional leaders, republicans and democrats as they were taken to a secure location during the riot. he will see how everyone involved was working to -- you will see how everyone was working involved to stop the violence to get federal law enforcement deployed to the scene to security capital complex. not just democrats like speaker nancy pelosi, but republicans like vice president pence, mitch mcconnell, countless other appointees across the administration all of them did what president trump was not doing, what he simply refused to do. take a listen. >> we are starting to get surrounded.

>> we are not going to be able to hold. >> the door has been breached. people are gaining access to the capital. >> we have got to finish the proceeding. >> senator schumer is at a secure location and they locked down the senate. >> there has to be some -- to maintain the people have that there is some security and some confidence that governance can function and that we can elect the president of the united states. did we go back into session? we did go back into session. we are preparing for a breach. i am trying to get more information.

>> house members. >> mr. secretary. i am going to see what other outreach to news departments has mentioned. >> governor, i do not know if

you have been approached about the national gardens, i think you will need the ok for the federal government in order to come into another jurisdiction. thank you. it is just horrendous. all because of the instigation of the president of the united states. thank you, governor. thank you. . they said 200 state police and a unit of the national guard. they are breaking windows and going in and ransacking our

offices and the rest of that. that is nothing. the concern we have about personal safety transcends everything appeared the fact is, on any given day, they are breaking the law in different ways. quite frankly, much of the instigation is from the president of the united states. >> why don't you get the president to tell them to leave the capital mr. attorney general and your law enforcement responsibility. a public statement they should all leave. >> usa! usa! >> we need them there now, whatever you got. >> you also have troops. >> ok. >> all right.

thank you. >> we need active duty, national guard's. we have to clean out. >> i do not want to speak to the leadership. >> let's pretend for the moment that this is a print again or other entity that was -- this is the pentagon or some other entity that was under siege. we talked to mitch about it earlier.

hopefully they can find a one complaint. then we can just move forward with the rest of the state. what we are being told. directly, it is good to take days for the capital to be ok again. all of that kind of thing. that is hard to clean up. i do think it was more from a security standpoint that everybody is out of the building. >> i just got off with the vice president. >> i just got off with the vice president elect. >> he said he had the impression from mitch that he wants to get

everybody back and do it there. it takes cleaning up the poo they are making literally and figuratively in the capital and it will take days to get back. [indiscernible speaking] >> the best information is that they believe that the house and the senate will be able to reconvene in roughly an hour. >> good news. >> right. >> thank you, very much mr. vice president. >> in this video, you saw chuck

schumer to get president trump to call off the rioters. he did take action to defend the government and many other officials. congressional leadership recognized on a bipartisan basis that president trump was the only person who could get the mob to end its violent siege of the -- to leave the capital and go home. -- how president trump abandon his duties and failed to his job. >> he was the only one who could. >> formal aid publicly begged him to do so. called the administration.

the president did not act swiftly. he did not do his job. he did not take steps so federal law could be faithfully executed. now. . in the midst of this violence, kevin mccarthy implored donald trump to tell her supporters to leave the capital. when that did not work, called const children to get them to intercede with trump to call off the insurrection violence. we showed you a description of what republican told jamie harrison butler about his conversation with trump during the violence. another witness has also come forward and cooperated her shocking account -- cooperated

her shocking account. >> she finally got through to donald trump. you have got to get on tv. you got to get on twitter. we have got to call these people off. you know the president said to him? he said, these are my people. >> these are your people but they came through office windows. >> the president said it, i guess they are more upset about the election then you are. we have seen widespread reports of kevin mccarthy of the president having a swearing competition. the president was saying, i am ok with this. >> i had a conversation at some point in the day or week after the -- it was very similar what

was said. we had called. the president told me something along the lines of these people are just angry about it. i had a conversation similar to that with kevin in the days and weeks after. >> kevin mccarthy described comments both in public and private. the president's responsibility. he should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding. the fast required immediate action up president trump. ensure president-elect biden is able to successfully begin his term. i have been very clear to the

president. he bears responsibility to his words of action. i asked him personally today, does he hold responsibility for what happened, this people bad for what happened. -- does he feel bad for what happened. he does feel responsible for the action. he needs to acknowledge that. knowing the deadly riot was bearing down on its own vice president, president trump sent a tweet attacking vice president pence, accusing him of cowardice for not rejecting the votes for a joe biden and heading trump the presidency. the impact of that tweet was foreseeable and predictable. it further inflamed the mob, which was chanting hank mike pence and provoking greater violence. this decision to further enrage the mob against vice president

and cannot be justified by anything president trump might have thought about the election. the tweet came at the time his secret service detail was most seriously concerned for the price presidents -- vice president safety. we obtained documents that over score the threat they knew that the vice president would be facing because of the president's incitement of the mob. >> one agent in the secret service intelligence division warned potus just tweeted about pence, probably not going to be good. another agent reported the dramatic impact of trump's anti-pence tweet on his followers. potus said he lack coverage appeared over 24,000 likes to lay under two minutes -- likes

in under two minutes. they knew that certain twitter users were rioting at the capital and tweeting about it. the company detected the surge in violent #on the platform, including lines of legal incitement, like execute mike pence. listen to this formal twitter employee. has now briefly agreed to be named because she wants to speak out about the magnitude of the threats facing our people. >> you are also seeing directions toward the vice president? >> they were literally calling for his execution. yes. >> it was individuals who were already constructing gallows,

who were already willing and able and wanting to execute someone. looking for someone to be killed. now, the individual has called upon them. >> here is a sample, the reactions that president trump's tweets provoked among capital rioters in real time. >> what percentage of the crowd is going to the capitol? >> hundred percent. it spread like wildfire. everyone is marching to the capitol. it is insane. >> mike pence is a traitor.

that is the word. >> between 2:35 rioters overran the line that the domestic policy civil disturbance units was holding on the west side of the capital. this is the first time that a sturdy line like that has ever been broken. president trump conduct that date was so outrageous that it prompted numerous of members of the white house staff and other trump appointees to resign. you have heard deputy national advisor and white house secretary sarah matthews explain why they felt compelled to resign on that day. since then, we spoken to more high-ranking officials.

take a listen to what they had to say. >> i was stunned by the violence. i was stunned by the president apparent indifference to the violence. i thought he failed. i thought he failed at a critical time to be the sort of leader that the nation needed. >> i think the offense at the capital however they occurred were shocking. it was something that, as i mention at my statement that i could not put aside. at a particular point, it was impossible for me to continue, given my personal values and my philosophy. i came as a immigrant to the country. i believe in this country.

i believe in the peaceful transfer of power and democracy. it was a decision i made on my own. >> when security arrived at the capitol and the tide turned to get the insurrection, president trump gave his instruction at 417 , after more than 100 series of injuries suffered by law enforcement officers are the crowd began disperse. listen quickly as what they said as they began to leave the capital. >> this is our dream come true. >> he says go home.

>> finally, at 6:01 president trump tweeted again to excuse and glorify it. he made it clear that he considered the violence foreseeable and predictable. check it out. these are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so viciously stripped away from great patriots who had been unfairly treated for so long. these are the things that happen . trump was telling us that the vice president, congress and all of the wounded cops, some of who are wounded today got -- with us today got what was coming for them. remember this day forever he wrote probably, as if he was talking about d-day.

trump did nothing to stop the deadly violence from obvious reasons. he thought it was justified, he incited it and supported it. >> would have been possible for any moment for the president to walk down to the podium in the briefing room and talk to the nation at any time? it >> yes, it would be possible. >> the president had wanted to make a statement. he could have been on camera almost instantly. conversely, the white house press corp. has offices that are located directly behind the briefing room. he had wanted to make a address from the oval office, we could have assembled the white house press corp. in a matter of minutes to get them into the oval for him to address. >> mr. chairman, facts were

justified the president failure to act. >> that is one of the presidents obligations. >> in numerous places, our constitution strongly opposes insurrection and rebellion. article one gives congress the power to call for the militia to suppress insurrections. section three of the 14th amendment disqualifies anyone who is sworn in oak to defend the constitution, but betray it by engaging insurrection. it was a president lincoln who best explained why democracy rejects insurrection. insurrection he said is a war upon the first principle of

popular government, the right of the people. american democracy belongs to all of the american people, not to a single man. thank you, mr. chairman. i yelled back. mr. thompson: this committee's g of july of last year, our witnesses were four police officers who helped repel the riots of january 6. we asked them where they hope to see the committee accomplish over the course of our investigation. one officer wanted to know why the rioters were made to believe that the election process was rigged. another officer asked us to look into the actions and activities that resulted in the days advance. it offers a concerned about whether anyone -- another officer was concerned about whether anyone had a role.

we work for more than a year to get those answers. we conducted more than 1000 interviews. we received and reviewed thousands of pages of documents. thanks to the powerless work of our members and investigators, we have left no doubt, none that donald trump led an effort to up and american democracy that directly resulted in the violence on january 6. he tried to take away the voice of the american people. and replaced the will of the voters with his will to remain in power. he is the one person at the center of the story of what happened on january 6. we want to hear from him. the committee needs to do everything in our power to tell

the most complete story possible and provide recommendations to help ensure nothing like january 6 ever happens again. we need to be fair and thorough and gain a full context for the evidence we have obtained. the need for this committee to hear from donald trump goes beyond our fact-finding. this is a question about accountability into american people. he must be accountable. he is acquired to answer for his actions. he is required to answer to those police officers who put their lives and bodies on the line to defend our democracy. he is required to answer to those millions of americans who votes he wanted to throw out as part of his scheme to remain in power. whatever is underway to ensure this accountability from the law, this committee will demand

a full accounting to every american, person of the event of january 6. it is our obligation to seek donald trump's testimony. as president of the american history, it congress has compelled a testimony of a president. also presidents to provide testimony and documentary evidence to congressional investigators. we also recognize that a subpoena to a formal president is a series and it extraordinary action. that is why we want to take this step in full view of the american people, especially because of the subject matter at issue. it is so important to the american people and the stakes are so high for our future in our democracy. so, i recognized the vice chair, liz cheney of wyoming to offer a

motion. ms. cheney: pursuant to today's notice, i sent to the desk a committee resolution for its immediate consideration. >> the clerk will report the resolution. >> committee resolution one, resolved. it is hereby directed to subpoena donald j. trump for documents and testimony in connection with the january 6 attack on the united states capital pursuant to section five c for of house resolution five or three and clause two, a rule 11 of the rules of the house of representatives. >> the gentlewoman from wyoming is recognized on her resolution. >> are committee now has sufficient information to answer many of the critical questions posed by congress. we have information to consider criminal referrals from multiple

individuals. a key task remains. we must seek testimony under old of january 6 central player. more than 30 witnesses in our investigation have invoked there for amendment right against self-incrimination. several of those days so in response to questions about their dealings with donald trump directly. here are a few examples. this is roger stone with oath keepers at the willard hotel on the morning of january 6. here is mr. stone testifying before our committee. >> did yo spea to president trump on his private cell phone? >> i would respectfully incline

your question. -- declined. >> this is general michael flynn walking with oath keepers. here is general flints testimony before our committee. >> did you talk to president trump at any point on january 6 2021? ? here is john eastman, fraudulently instructing angry protesters that the vice president coul change the election outcome on january 6. later on the same day, dr. eastman acknowledged in writing th donald trump knew what he was attempting was illegal. here is john eastman testifying before our committee. >> dead president trump authorize you to discuss -- did president trump authorize you to discuss.

you could discussed in the media the direct conversation you had with the president of the united states. he will not discuss those same conversations with the committee. >> here is jeff clark. president trump wanted to appoint jeff clark as acting attorney general. as you can see in the call log we obtained from the national archived he did so. >> mr. clark, when did you first talk directly to president trump? >> fifth. >> did you discussed with president trump allegations? >> either witnesses have gone to enormous lengths to avoid testifying. steve bennett has been tried and convicted for contempt of congress. he is scheduled to be sentenced

for this crime later this month. criminal proceedings regarding peter navarro continue. mark meadows come on donald trump's formal chief of staff has reviewed to testify based upon executive privilege. the committee's litigation with him continues. mr. chairman, at some point, the department of justice may well on our facts that these and other witnesses are currently concealing. our duty today is to our country and our children and our constitution. we are obligated to seeking answers directly from the man who set this all in motion. every american is entitled to those answers. we can act now to protect our republic. this afternoon, i am offering this resolution. the committee directly chairman to issue a subpoena for relevant

documents and testimony under old from donald john trump, in connection with the january 6 attack on the united states capital. enke, mr. chairman. i yelled back. -- thank you, mr. chairman. i yield back. the question is on agreeing to the resolution. those in favor will say,aye. in the opinion of the chair. >> i request a recorded vote. >> the clerk will call the roll. liz cheney? >>aye. >> mr. shift? >>aye. >> mr. aguilar? >> aye. >> mr. raskin? >> ye.

>> mr.kezzinger? mr. thompson: the clerk will report the vote. >> there are nine ayes and a zero knows. the chair request that those in the hearing room remain seated until the capitol police have escorted members from the room. without objection, the committee stands adorned.

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>> the members of the january six committee voted unanimously for president donald trump. we expect to hear more in the coming days. members will be producing a final report before the end of the year. coming utorrow on tw's "washington journal", we will be ou cls, text, facebook comments and tweet. this is underway 7eastn. heings or you would like to watch them again, each is available on our webpage