(CNN) A recent inquiry from a House select committee that examined January 6, 2021, the uprising sparked ties between former President Donald Trump and far -right extremist groups that are at the forefront of violent efforts to end the power transition. and keep him in office, despite the loss of his election.
The hearing on Tuesday focused on the loose relationship between Trump, his informal political advisers, and members of right-wing militia groups such as the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys.
The committee used snippets of witness deposition, court documents, previously unseen emails and other materials, to make the case that Trump coyly courted these militants and see them as his troops on the ground, to urge Congress to overturn the 2020 election.
“All of these efforts will converge and explode on January 6,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat and committee member who led Tuesday’s hearing, said during his opening statement.
Here are some takeaways from Tuesday’s hearing.
Panel highlights Trump’s ‘call to arms’ tweet
The panel repeatedly highlighted Trump’s tweets from December 2020, which they said were a push-arm call that pushed supporters to come to Washington and disrupt the power transition. Read also : The Scandinavian airline SAS has gone bankrupt in the US while struggling to survive.
The tweet stated that it is “statistically impossible to lose the 2020 election,” and said there would be “massive protests in DC on January 6th.” Trump infamously added, “Be there, will be wild!”
Rep. Stephanie Murphy, a Florida Democrat who led part of the hearing, said the post was “a call to action, and in some cases as a call to arms, for many of President Trump’s most loyal supporters,” citing comments from many. of rioters and far right extremists, who said they were inspired by the tweet.
After the tweet, the pro-Trump group rescheduled the protests planned for the end of January and rescheduled the date to January 6, according to the committee. “Stop the Steal” leader Ali Alexander quickly registered the WildProtest.com web site and used the site as a clearinghouse for information about the protest.
Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones promoted Trump’s tweet and urged people to accompany him to DC. Jim Watkins, administrator of 8kun, the online forum that is the earth of the QAnon conspiracy, told a House panel that he decided to leave for Washington on Jan. 6 after a Trump tweet.
“There’s going to be a red wedding down January 6,” said a person identified as Salty Cracker in another clip, referring to the massacre from the television show “Game of Thrones”.
Details uncovered for the planning behind Trump’s ‘unexpected’ call to march to the Capitol
The committee revealed evidence Tuesday that shows how Trump’s call for supporters to advance to the Capitol on Jan. See the article : The meeting of the G20 foreign ministers in Bali is not enough. 6 had been planned in advance.
The committee suggested a draft tweet – which was not sent by Trump – calls for marching to the Capitol. “I’ll be making the Big Talk at 10AM on January 6th at Ellipse (South of the White House). Please come early, massive audience is expected. March to the Capitol after. Stop stealing !!” draft tweet says. The tweet, which was taken by the committee from the National Archives, included a stamp that said “The President has seen.”
In addition, the committee pointed to a text message obtained from rally organizer Kylie Jane Kremer to right-wing businessman Mike Lindell who stated that the President would “unexpectedly” tell his supporters to advance to another stage outside the Supreme Court building, which is behind that. Kapitol.
“They also can’t get out of the parade because I would have problems with the national park service and all the agencies but POTUS is going to call it‘ unexpected, ’” Kremer writes.
Katrina Pierson, who also helped organize the rally, wrote in an email to fellow organizers on Jan. 2: “POTUS hopes there should be an intimate one on the ellipse and call on everyone to move to the capitol.”
Alexander, the other committee, sent a text message on January 5, 2021, which was taken by the committee: “Tomorrow: Ellipse then the U.S. capital. Trump is supposed to order us to the capitol at the end of his speech but we’ll see.
Role of GOP lawmakers in Trump’s election scheme once again featured
Tuesday’s hearing focused again on the role played by Republican members of Congress in helping Trump’s efforts to overthrow the 2020 election. To see also : Women in science receive less credit for their contributions.
The committee presentation pointed to a Dec. 21, 2020 meeting, where Trump met with Republicans to discuss efforts to oppose the election in Congress on Jan. 6, citing White House logs for a list of 10 members and elected members who attended the meeting.
In previous examinations, the committee has highlighted how members of Congress are trying to help Trump provide evidence of voter fraud and connect the White House with Justice Department officials who support Trump’s non -essential fraud claims. In addition, the panel provided new evidence that shows how some members of Congress sought forgiveness from Trump after Jan. 6.
Murphy stated that the December 2020 meeting happened a few days before Trump told Justice Department officials that he wanted them to announce publicly that the election was invalid and “leave the rest to me and Republican congressmen.”
The committee also played audio Tuesday of comments from Arizona GOP Rep. Debbie Lesko. In an audio from January 5, 2021, Lesko asked the congressional leadership to “make a security plan for members,” raising concerns about what would happen on January 6. Audio was taken by New York Times reporters Alex Burns and Jonathan Martin from them. His book “It Won’t Pass” aired on CNN last month.
“I actually really care about this, because we have anyone who knows how many hundreds of thousands of people come here. We have Antifa. We also have, quite honestly, Trump supporters, who are actually convinced that we will overthrow the election. And when that doesn’t happen – – most likely not to happen – they are going to interfere, “said Lesko.
GOP Representative Andy Biggs of Arizona, one of the lawmakers who said the House panel attended the December 2020 meeting, collected signatures for a letter calling on the House Oversight Committee to conduct an “immediate” investigation and investigation into allegations of election fraud that were proven in it. the movie “2000 Mules,” according to a copy of a draft letter obtained by CNN. The film has been widely criticized, with former Trump Attorney General William Barr mocking the film during the deposition of tapes for select committees.
Cipollone interview plays a key role in Tuesday’s hearing
Tuesday’s hearing was the committee’s first opportunity to show a video clip of former Trump White House attorney Pat Cipollone, who was interviewed by the committee at a video deposition on Friday.
Cipollone’s testimony added a higher voice to the chorus of former Trump aides who have testified to the committee they told the President there was no significant evidence that the election was stolen from him.
The video clip of the former Trump aide, which has been played during the Jan. 6 hearing, has helped the committee illustrate how people around Trump do not believe baseless claims about the election, even though he repeatedly plowed forward and tried to try. reverse the election until January 6.
The committee issued a summons to finally allow Cipollone’s video testimony last week after he was called in a preliminary hearing to disagree with Calik for deposition. The committee played 14 clips of Cipollone’s eight -hour pivotal interview last week, which highlighted the split that has escalated between Trump and top legal counsel.
In a clip that played Tuesday, Cipollone said that he was told by chief of staff Mark Meadows that in November 2020 Trump would eventually agree to a graceful departure, that he believed that Trump should admit, and that he opposed the proposal for the federal government. seizing the voting machine was a “terrible idea.”
“That’s not how we do things in the United States. There’s no legal authority to do that,” Cipollone said. “There’s a way to contest elections. You know, it happens all the time. But the idea that the federal government can go in and seize the election machine – I don’t understand why I should even tell you why it’s a bad idea for the state. It’s a terrible idea.”
There were many clips of Cipollone’s interview that played Tuesday, but he could play a bigger role in next week’s hearing that is expected to focus on what happened inside the West Wing when the Capitol attacks occurred on January 6th.
In-person witnesses lament their right-wing radicalization
Two witnesses of those people at the inquest Tuesday described how they were targeted by right-wing groups and Trump alone, and how it destroyed their lives and continued to threaten American society.
Jason Van Tatenhove, a former national spokesman for Oath Keepers, described the “radicalization” he witnessed with the group, and said that the country was “lucky” there was no more bloodshed on Jan. 6, when four rioters and a police officer. died. Another police officer later died by suicide.
“I will admit, I, at one time, swept well,” Van Tatenhove said of his time with the Oath Guard. “There are a lot of red flags, and it seems I should have broken from them earlier than me.”
Stephen Ayers, a convicted Capitol rioter who breached the building on January 6, returned to Capitol Hill on Tuesday as a cooperating witness. He described how he “ried up” by Trump’s speech and never planned to go to the Capitol but “followed what (Trump) said” when addressing his Ellipse.
He said that since January 6, he lost his job, sold his land and became a convicted criminal.
“It changed my life, not for the better, definitely not for the better,” he said. He added that he no longer believes Trump’s lies about the 2020 election, but warned that there are millions of people who still do, which poses a threat to the upcoming election.
“They can end the same path as we do now,” Ayers said. “I feel like I have horse blinders on. Take the blinders out, and make sure you step back and see how it happens, before it’s too late.”
Six witnesses detail ‘unhinged’ Oval Office meeting in December 2020
The committee revealed during Tuesday’s hearing testimony from six participants of the Dec. 18, 2020 meeting, the Oval Office meeting became chaotic when Trump allies clashed with White House lawyers about several plans to overthrow the presidential election – and Trump is watching.
Raskin said the Dec. 18 meeting was “very important because President Trump needs to monitor for hours when White House counsel and other White House lawyers destroy baseless factual claims and silly legal arguments offered by Sidney Powell, Mike Flynn and others.”
The committee played video of the interview with six witnesses who took part in the heated meeting, including Cipollone, who told the panel that he was “not happy” to see people such as Flynn, Powell and Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne in the Oval Office with the former President.
“I don’t think these people are giving good advice to the President, so I don’t understand how they got into it,” Cipollone said in his deposition, according to a video played by the committee Tuesday.
Someone in the room explained how the hourly meeting broke into a screaming match when outside Trump allies Flynn and Powell accused White House advisers of quitting the President after they made baseless claims about election fraud and incredible plans to reverse the results .
White House attorney Eric Herschmann also told the committee that the meeting was up to the point where “scream completely – completely outside.”
“It’s really unprecedented. … I thought it was nuts,” he said in a deposition video, acknowledging he told a group of Trump allies outside to “close the F up.”
Powell accused White House lawyers of failing to propose any ideas and demonstrating “not only insulting and insulting the President” during the meeting, according to video from his deposition.
White House aides who participated in the meeting, including Cipollone, also pushed back intensely on the suggestion of Powell’s name as specific advice to investigate allegations of voter fraud when it was raised at the meeting.
Flynn had suggested before the meeting that Trump could enact martial law as part of an effort to reverse the election he won by President -elect Joe Biden – an idea that resurfaced during a meeting at the Oval Office, sources said earlier. CNN.
At the time, it was unclear whether Trump supported the idea, but who else in the room was forcibly pushed back and shot.
The idea that didn’t float at the meeting was an executive order that would allow the government access to voting machines to check them, CNN reported and a deposition video played Tuesday confirmed.
The committee was able to host this incredible meeting – and another meeting on January 5, when the “stop the steal” rally ran a block from the White House – thanks to the testimony of several White House aides, lawyers, and even official photographers. . This strong level of cooperation from Trump insiders allows the panel to explain these details.
Trump’s rhetoric ‘killed someone,’ former campaign manager privately acknowledged
The series of text messages that were provided during Tuesday’s hearing are thought to be the most important and clear evidence of how the closest to Trump feels about what he did on January 6th.
The message indicates that Brad Parscale, Trump’s former campaign manager, personally admitted that he felt “wrong to help him win,” and believed that the former President’s rhetoric killed someone on January 6, 2021.
Parscale also said that Trump “proposes a civil war,” based on a text message sent to Pierson, a former Trump campaign spokesman, that was released by the committee Tuesday.
The correspondence confirms how Trump’s allies reacted in real time to what happened on January 6 – an event that caused some in the former president’s inner circle to promise that they would no longer support him.
“This week I feel guilty for helping him win,” messages Parscale, who became digital director of the Trump campaign in 2016 and as Trump’s campaign manager until July 2020, when Bill Stepien took office.
Pierson then tries to secure Parscale. “You did what you felt was right at the time and it was right,” he said.
“Yeah. But a woman died,” texted Parscale, possibly referring to Ashli Babbitt, a pro-Trump rioter who was fatally shot by U.S. Capitol Police officers after a crowd pushed toward the entrance to the Speaker’s Lobby at the Capitol.
After Pierson denied that it was Trump’s rhetoric that led to his death, Parscale texted, “Katrina”.
While Parscale’s message offers a rare window into the minds of those most loyal to Trump on Jan. 6, they also emphasize how those who are most disgusted by the former president’s actions today were willing to meet with him after stating that they lost faith.
Committee follows Justice Department’s lead on extremists
Many prior investigations present new revelations that are shocking and even seem to catch the Justice Department, particularly with the recent bombing testimony of Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson. The panel has also used screening to disclose the results of its own investigations, and has generally encouraged federal prosecutors to improve its criminal investigations.
But things were quite different on Tuesday. In many ways, this time, the committee took guidance from the Department of Justice, and relied heavily on information that had previously come out as part of the Justice Department’s major conspiracy case against the Guardian of the Oath and the Proud Boy,
Members of parliament said internal text messages, details of how the militants were planning the violence, and other information that connected these militants to Trump allies Flynn and Roger Stone. Much of this information has been public for months, thanks to court filings from the Department of Justice.
This all shows how a variety of investigations – by the Jan. 6 committee, other congressional panels, the Department of Justice, and the state prosecutor in Georgia – overlap and cross.
This story has been updated with additional developments Tuesday.
CNN’s Melanie Zanona, Annie Grayer, Alex Rogers, Katelyn Polantz, Andrew Millman and Hannah Rabinowitz contributed to this report.
