WASHINGTON – Following Thursday’s prime-time introduction to the Jan. 6 committee investigating the Capitol attack’s findings, the second of eight hearings will dig into the details of former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
- 💡What can we expect to learn?: Monday’s hearing will provide evidence that Trump knew he had lost the election, but despite that, engaged in a “massive effort to spread false and fraudulent information,” Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said Thursday.
- 📅Trump’s former campaign manager cancels testimony: The committee said Bill Stepien will no longer be testifying because of a family emergency.
- Advisers caution against declaring victory: Some of Trump’s top campaign advisers told the committee during depositions that they discouraged the president from declaring victory prematurely on election night 2020.
Watch live:View the Jan. 6 committee’s hearing here
Trump campaign aides said election night too uncertain to declare victory
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign officials told the House Jan. 6 committee that 2020 election results were too uncertain to declare victory that night, but that Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani each sought to claim they won.
Jason Miller, a campaign spokesman, said in a videotaped deposition it was too early to declare victory. Bill Stepien, Trump’s final campaign manager, said in a videotaped deposition he recommended for any speech that night Trump should say votes were still being counted and it was too early to call, but that the campaign was proud of the race.
“The president disagreed with that. He thought I was wrong. He told me so. He was going to go in a different direction,” Stepien said.
“This is a fraud on the American people,” Trump said that night. “Frankly, we did win this election.”
– Bart Jansen
Ivanka says she did not say whether to concede or challenge election results
Ivanka Trump said she did not press her father to concede or to declare victory on election night, even if other people on the former president’s team were forming strong opinions on the matter.
Ivanka’s insight:What else does Ivanka Trump know about Jan. 6? Election lies, phone records and other possibilities
“I don’t know that I had a firm view as to what he should say in that circumstance,” Ivanka Trump said. “The results were still being counted. It was becoming clear that the race would not be called on election night.”
– Erin Mansfield
What happened with Arizona and Fox News in the 2020 election?
On election night 2020, Fox News called Arizona for Joe Biden ahead of any other network, with Biden ahead by 7 percentage points in the race.
Fox White House correspondent John Roberts noted there were hundreds of thousands of votes left to be counted when Fox made the call.
Arizona or Biden:Fox News second-guessed calling Arizona for Biden. It was 100% election night’s best moment
After Fox made the call, Arizona still was one of the closest states on election night, and one later targeted by Trump and his supporters demanding a recount. An audit conducted actually increased Biden’s margin of victory in the state.
– Katherine Swartz
‘The mayor was definitely intoxicated’: says senior adviser to Trump
In opening the hearing, Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said “Trump rejected the advice of his campaign experts on election night and instead followed the course recommended by an apparently inebriated Rudy Giuliani to just claim he won.”
And in deposition to the January 6 Committee, Senior Adviser to Trump’s re-election campaign Jason Miller said Trump lawyer and former mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani was “definitely intoxicated” on the night of the election.
“The mayor was definitely intoxicated, but I do not know his level of intoxication when he spoke with the president for example,” said Miller. “There were suggestions by I believe it was Mayor Giuliani to go and declare victory and say we’d won it outright.”
– Kenneth Tran
Witnesses talk about Trump’s anger over Fox News projecting his loss in Arizona
The committee heard video from witnesses about the anger from Trump and top aides over the fact that Fox News called Arizona for Joe Biden well in advance of other networks.
Adviser Jason Miller quoted Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani as saying “we won it, they’re stealing it from us.”
The Arizona call – which held up – began promotion of what committee members called the “Big Lie” of voter fraud, leading to the Jan. 6 insurrection.
– David Jackson
Trump aides told him that Dominion claims were nonsense
Liz Cheney said Trump’s campaign experts repeatedly told him that his claims about irregularities in voting machines from Dominion Voting Systems were false but that he pushed the lies nonetheless.
“I never saw any evidence whatsoever to sustain those allegations,” Trump attorney Eric Herschmann said in a videotaped deposition presented by the committee.
Trump Attorney General William Barry called the allegations “complete nonsense.”
– Joey Garrison
Cheney says hearing will focus on Trump’s initial plan to convince Americans the ‘election was stolen’
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., vice chair of the Jan. 6 committee, said Monday’s hearing will look at the initial part of former President Donald Trump’s plan to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Cheney said Trump’s effort was “to convince millions of Americans that the election was stolen from him by overwhelming fraud.”
“A federal court has already reviewed elements of the committee’s evidence on this point, and said this: ‘In the months following the election, numerous credible sources from the President’s inner circle to agency leadership and statisticians informed President Trump and Dr. (ohn) Eastman that there was no evidence of election fraud,’ sufficient to overturn the 2020 presidential election.”
– Rebecca Morin
Thompson: Trump “betrayed the trust of the American people’
The chairman of the committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said Monday’s hearing would show how former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, knew he lost and “as a result decided to wage an attack on our democracy.”
“He betrayed the trust of the American people,” Thompson said. “He lied to his supporters and the country.”
Biden win verified:Fact check: Joe Biden legally won presidential election, despite persistent contrary claims
“In doing so, he lit the fuse that led to the horrific violence of Jan. 6 when a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol, sent by Donald Trump the transfer of power,” Thompson said.
– Bart Jansen
Former U.S. attorney to testify about Trump pressure in Georgia
BJay Pak, a former U.S. attorney in northern Georgia, is expected to testify Monday about former President Donald Trump pressuring Georgia state officials to overturn 2020 election results.
Trump urged Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger during a Jan. 2 call to “find” 11,780 votes he needed to beat Joe Biden in the state. Pak, who had already announced his departure as U.S. attorney but was still in office, sped up his departure after Trump called him a “never Trumper” during the call.
Richard Donoghue, the former acting deputy attorney general, told the committee Trump wanted to fire Pak during a Jan. 3 Oval Office meeting, but that Pak had been vetted and was doing his job. White House counsel Pat Cipollone called the proposal “ridiculous” because Pak was already leaving, according to Donoghue.
– Bart Jansen
Who is Al Schmidt? Former Philadelphia city commissioner testifying at Jan. 6 hearing
Al Schmidt, a former city commissioner in Philadelphia, is testifying before the Jan. 6 committee Monday.
Schmidt, the only Republican city commissioner overseeing the 2020 presidential election in Philadelphia, defended the 2020 presidential election results. Former President Donald Trump criticized Schmidt days after the election for his stance, calling him a RINO — Republican in name only — who was “being used big time by the Fake News Media to explain how honest things were with respect to the Election in Philadelphia.”
Schmidt resigned as city commissioner in November 2021 and currently serves as CEO of the Committee of Seventy, an independent and nonpartisan advocate for better government in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania.
— Rebecca Morin
Stepien lawyer says Trump campaign manager’s wife went into labor this morning
Kevin Marino, Bill Stepien’s lawyer, is appearing in his place at the Capitol after Stepien’s wife went into labor this morning.
Marino said “Mr. Stepien was in town preparing for his testimony here today in response to the subpoena,” before his wife went into labor.
Marino said it was his understanding that there would be video testimony from Stepien showed during the hearing.
— Dylan Wells
Fox News exec expected to testify about Trump loss in Arizona
Chris Stirewalt, a former Fox News political editor, is expected to testify Monday at the House Jan. 6 committee hearing about how he helped the network become the first to declare former President Donald Trump’s loss in Arizona in the 2020 election.
Arizona, which President Joe Biden won, was one of seven states that Trump contested after the election and that submitted alternate slates of fake electors to deny Biden the White House.
Stirewalt was let go after the controversial election call and Bill Sammon, managing editor of Fox’s Washington bureau, retired. Two days after the call, Stirewalt said in his last appearance on air that “Arizona is doing just what we expected it to do and we remain serene and pristine.”
– Bart Jansen
Start of Jan. 6 hearing delayed
The committee said the hearing would start a half-hour later than the 10 a.m. scheduled time.
– Bart Jansen
Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien won’t testify Monday
Bill Stepien, who was former President Donald Trump’s final campaign manager, won’t be testifying Monday as scheduled at the latest House Jan. 6 committee hearing.
“Due to a family emergency, Mr. William Stepien is unable to testify before the Select Committee this morning. His counsel will appear and make a statement on the record,” the committee announced.
– Bart Jansen
What does Bill Stepien know about Trump’s fraud claims?
The committee was expected to ask Bill Stepien, former President Donald Trump’s final campaign manager, about evidence Trump knew he lost the 2020 election and pursued baseless claims of election fraud anyway. Stepien will not testify Monday.
The committee sought Stepien’s testimony about converting the election campaign to focus on “Stop the Steal” messaging and related fundraising, according to other witnesses. The messaging included false claims about unreliable voting machines and an internal campaign memo in which campaign staffers determined the claims were false, according to the committee.
“President Trump invested millions of dollars of campaign funds purposely spreading false information, running ads he knew were false, and convincing millions of Americans that the election was corrupt and he was the true President,” the committee vice chair, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said Thursday. “As you will see, this misinformation campaign provoked the violence on Jan. 6.”
– Bart Jansen
Jan. 6 hearings schedule: When are the next Jan. 6 hearings?
Monday’s hearing is set to begin at 10 a.m. ET.
There are two more hearings this week: Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET and Thursday at 1 p.m. ET.
The remaining four hearings have not yet been scheduled.
– Ella Lee
Who are Monday’s witnesses at the Jan. 6 hearing?
The first panel of witnesses Monday features Bill Stepien, Trump’s former campaign manager, and Chris Stirewalt, a former Fox News political editor. In testimony revealed Thursday, a campaign spokesman and Trump campaign lawyer each said Trump was told election results showing he lost. The spokesman, Jason Miller, later said Trump didn’t believe his aides.
Stirewalt helped Fox News declare Trump’s loss in Arizona. The committee request for testimony from Stepien said the campaign reportedly urged state and party officials to delay or deny certification of election results by sending alternates slates of electoral votes to Congress.
The second panel of witnesses features Benjamin Ginsberg, an election attorney; BJay Pak, a former U.S. attorney for northern Georgia; and Al Schmidt, a former city commissioner in Philadelphia.
Pak reportedly expedited his departure from the U.S. attorney’s office after Trump complained during his Jan. 2 call with Georgia state officials he considered Pak a “never Trumper” who opposed his efforts to overturn the election.
– Bart Jansen
Who is on the Jan. 6 committee?
- Chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss.
- Vice chair, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo.
- Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va.
- Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md.
- Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla.
- Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill.
- Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif.
- Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.
- Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
Why is Pence central to the Jan. 6 investigation
The House committee investigating the attack will focus during its June hearings on Pence’s key role presiding over the Electoral College vote count.
Rather than single-handedly rejecting electors from states then-President Donald Trump lost, as the president and his allies urged, Pence refused to interfere with or delay the count certifying President Joe Biden’s victory while a mob ransacked the Capitol and threatened the vice president’s life.
Thompson said lawmakers discussed having Pence testify, but that it might not be necessary because of cooperation from his top advisers. Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, and counsel, Greg Jacob, were among more than 1,000 witnesses, including more than a dozen from the White House, who met with the committee.
– Bart Jansen
Here’s who testified about the Jan. 6 Capitol attack Thursday
Thursday’s hearing featured two witnesses: a U.S. Capitol Police officer who was injured during the riot and a documentarian who filmed parts of the violence.
U.S. Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards was the “first law enforcement officer injured by rioters storming the Capitol grounds on January 6, 2021,” according to the committee. She told lawmakers Thursday that she was called “Nancy Pelosi’s dog” and “a traitor to my country, my oath and my constitution” during the violence, describing the Capitol grounds as an “absolute war zone.”
British documentarian Nick Quested filmed the leaders of two far-right groups, Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, meeting in a parking garage near the Capitol. He told lawmakers Thursday that he met up with hundreds Proud Boys at about 10:30 a.m. on Jan 6, noting he was “confused to a certain extent” why they were walking away from the president’s speech because “that’s what I felt we were there to cover.”
-Marina Pitofsky, Ella Lee
What Bill Barr, Ivanka Trump told the Jan. 6 committee
- Former Attorney General William Barr told the House panel investigating the Capitol attack he resigned in December 2020 from the Trump administration rather than challenge the election results.
- Ivanka Trump, the former president’s daughter and senior adviser, said she accepted the Justice Department’s finding of no fraud sufficient to overturn the 2020 – in contrast to her father.
- Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards described how she suffered a concussion while grappling with rioters over bike racks. “I was slipping in people’s blood,” she said. “I was catching people as they fell. It was carnage.” She also recalled seeing Officer Brian Sicknick, who died the next day, turn ghostly white after being sprayed with chemicals.
What it was like in the room during Thursday’s Jan. 6 hearing
During first of eight hearings held by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the room remained mostly quiet, the crowd engaged, aside from reporters’ rapid typing on computers during moments of new information. Revelations evoked murmurs and sometimes tears from the audience.
Audience members’ moods abruptly shifted when a video chronicling the events of Jan. 6, 2021, played, many shifting in their seats and visibly on edge. During the video, Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn embraced the widows of two officers who died as a result of the attack, who used tissues to wipe tears from their eyes.
In gripping testimony often stifled by emotion, Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards recalled navigating a “war zone” that day, slipping on the blood of fellow officers and catching them as they fell while the rioters stormed the Capitol.
– Ella Lee
Testimony:‘It was carnage, it was chaos’: Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards recounts Jan. 6
Takeaways from the Jan. 6 committee’s first hearing on its findings
Members of a House Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol began Thursday outlining their case that the insurrection was the final act of an intricate scheme orchestrated by former President Donald Trump to overturn the 2020 election.
The committee said that Trump knew he lost the 2020 presidential election, and despite that, enacted a “sophisticated seven-part plan” to overturn the election results. But not all Trump loyalists – or family – went along with Trump’s plans, the committee said.
The committee also sought to tie Trump to the actions of the Proud Boys, framing the extremist organization as a vehicle for Trump that was inspired to attack the Capitol by the former president.
– Joey Garrison, Ella Lee
