Trump arranged 7-part plan to overturn 2020 election: Jan. 6 committee
The hearings will feature testimony from more than a half-dozen former Trump administration officials who were in the West Wing of the White House on January 6, 2021.
-
The first hearing of the January 6 committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 9. (AP Photo)
US House committee investigating the Capitol riot on January 6 said it will present evidence revealing how former President Donald Trump purportedly coordinated a seven-part plan to overturn the results of the 2020 US presidential election, according to the Committee's Vice Chair Liz Cheney.
During the first public hearing on the findings of its probe Thursday night, Cheney added that "Over multiple months, Donald Trump oversaw and coordinated a sophisticated seven-part plan to overturn the presidential election and prevent the transfer of presidential power in our hearings. You will see evidence of each element of this plan."
The hearing, according to Cheney, will also show how Trump allegedly planned to replace then-Attorney General Bill Barr so that the US Justice Department could spread his false stolen election claims.
Cheney noted that the committee's investigation is still ongoing, so the preliminary findings that will be made public during the upcoming hearings will not be the entire set of information that will be disclosed.
The seven-part series of hearings will feature testimony from more than a half-dozen former Trump administration officials who were in the West Wing of the White House on January 6, 2021, both live and on video.
The Vice Chair went on to say that the public will also hear testimony indicating that Trump did not want to issue a statement calling off the riot or asking his supporters to leave, stressing that the hearings will reveal that Trump was yelling and getting angry at advisers who told him he needed to do something to defuse the Capitol riot and that he was aware rioters wanted to hang Mike Pence, then Vice President.
Cheney stressed that Trump reportedly stated that perhaps his supporters were correct and that Pence deserved it, noting that witnesses at these hearings will explain how Pence and his staff repeatedly informed Trump that what he was pressuring the vice president to do was illegal, as well as his relentless effort to press Pence both privately and publicly.
Wow! Liz Cheney to her Republican colleagues: "There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain." pic.twitter.com/whkua3blZT
— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch) June 10, 2022
It is worth mentioning that the committee also played a video of Trump's daughter and former White House adviser Ivanka Trump telling House investigators that she believed Barr's claims that there would be no fraud in the 2020 US presidential election.
The fifth hearing in this series will focus on revealing evidence that Trump corruptly pressured state legislators and election officials to change election results, including in Georgia.
Furthermore, Cheney added that the public will hear how Trump summoned a violent mob and illegally directed them to march on the United States Capitol in the final two hearings of the seven-part series this month.
The committee is expected to present information on what the White House and other US intelligence agencies knew about the January 6 riot, as well as why the Capitol was not better prepared.
The initial breach at the Capitol complex was initiated by the Proud Boys, according to the committee.
246 of those have pleaded guilty to misdemeanors, 59 of them to felonies, and 19 to assaulting law enforcement officials. On the other hand, 3 members of the far-right #OathKeepers militia have pleaded guilty to a federal seditious conspiracy charge.#Jan6 pic.twitter.com/28UVRsQwXZ
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) June 10, 2022
During her testimony at the hearing, US Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards described the riot as "pure carnage," describing hours of hand-to-hand combat.
The second hearing on the Capitol riot will take place on Monday at 10 a.m. EDT, followed by the third hearing on Wednesday at 10 a.m. EDT.
On his account, Trump said Thursday that the riot at the Capitol "represented the greatest movement in the history of our country to Make America Great Again."
Trump and other critics have claimed that the select committee's work is a sham trial designed to score political points because the FBI had already investigated the matter. The former president added that the committee is biased because US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused to admit proposed Republicans who may question and challenge the panel's work.
Republican lawmakers have also bashed the timing of the hearings, claiming that Democrats are attempting to undermine Republicans ahead of the November midterm elections.
In order to counteract the impact of the hearings, the Republican leadership is planning a slew of counter-programming measures to undermine them, notably as Fox News will avoid airing the hearings altogether, hoping that the American people will be distracted by other issues that they will avoid tuning in.
