The January 6 committee delivered devastating new evidence Thursday during its final public hearing before the autumn, detailing then-President Donald Trump’s three-hour failure to publicly denounce the developing rebellion at the US Capitol or to put an end to the violent mob.
The “187 minutes” between when Trump encouraged his fans to march to the Capitol and when he finally advised them to “go home” were the focus of the primetime session, the eighth hearing this summer.
Representatives Elaine Luria of Virginia, a Democrat, and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, a Republican, co-led the hearing. Matthew Pottinger and Sarah Matthews, two former Trump White House employees who left their positions immediately following the attack
The hearing on Thursday was utilised by the committee to demonstrate how Trump not only did not intervene during the horrific attack on the US Capitol but also actively chose not to.
According to previously unseen video testimony played during Thursday’s hearing, several witnesses with first-hand knowledge of what was happening inside the White House on January 6 told the committee that Trump did not make a single call to any of his law enforcement or national security officials as the Capitol attack was taking place.
According to the panel, “none of them — not one — heard from President Trump that day, as confirmed in many interviews with senior law enforcement and military officers, Vice President Mike Pence’s staff, and DC government officials,” Luria added.
Former officials who were with Trump as he sat in front of the television watching the riot, such as then-White House counsel Pat Cipollone and Trump’s bodyguard Nick Luna, testified to the committee that they were unaware of the former President making even a single call to the leaders of the various agencies that could have put an end to the violence, such as the secretary of defence or attorney general.
Pence’s national security adviser Keith Kellogg, who was with Trump that day as well, testified that he never overheard the former President request the National Guard or assistance from local enforcement.
Kellogg said that if Trump had made such an inquiry, he would have known about it.
