PRESS RELEASE Contact: [email protected]
For Immediate Release
Date: October 13, 2022
“[D]eclaring victory was Trump’s plan. Period.” – Robert Costa, CBS News’ Chief Election & Campaign Correspondent
“Today’s word: premeditated” – Preet Bharara, former U.S. Attorney
“Their plan is to literally kill people. Please please take this tip seriously and investigate further.” – Tip the FBI relayed to the Secret Service
“The hearing is putting together so compelling a case that Trump personally schemed to overturn the election results that his refusal to testify will obviously confirm his guilt.” – Laurence Tribe, legal scholar
Washington, DC – Here’s what legal experts and scholars, journalists, Members of Congress, and pundits are saying about today’s presentation of the January 6th Committee investigation:
Robert Costa, CBS News’ Chief Election & Campaign Correspondent, @costareports:
CBS News has confirmed that Oct. 31, 2020 was a key date in the pre-election maneuvers by Trump. Set off alarm with WH counsel and Herschmann, among others. I’ve seen texts from that night from some aides and they knew it was no joke; declaring victory was Trump’s plan. Period.
Noah Bookbinder @NoahBookbinder:
Evidence that there was a known and understood plan for Donald Trump to claim victory on election night, despite him and his and the VP’s staff knowing that the real results would not be known then, is crucial for intent to show an illegal effort to obstruct government functions.
Julian Zelizer, Princeton Univ. historian, @julianzelizer:
The theme of today’s 1/6 committe[e]: the multi-part plan wasn’t chaos, it wasn’t “delusion,” nor was it a leader who lost control of events. This was a premediated, coordinated, and intentional effort to overturn an election that Trump and his team understood he had lost.
Joyce Vance, former United States Attorney, @JoyceWhiteVance:
Trump planned, before the election, to declare victory if he lost. He’s a crook. Whether or not his supporters will ever be convinced of it, the country deserves justice for the crimes he committed against it.
Ryan Goodman, former Defense Department Special Counsel, @rgoodlaw: More and new evidence — like Roger Stone and Steve Bannon said before the 2020 election — a premeditated plan to claim victory to hold onto power regardless of the American public vote.
Harry Litman, former U.S. Attorney, @harrylitman:
Hearing to date surfaces additional evidence that 1) Trump planned before election to claim victory even if he lost; and 2) he knew he had lost after.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, @RepJayapal: The Big Lie was calculated, premeditated, and is an ongoing threat to our democracy. Donald Trump must be held accountable.
Preet Bharara, former U.S. Attorney, @PreetBharara: Today’s word: premeditated
Jen Psaki, former White House press secretary @jrpsaki: This chronological telling—-with additional details—-is so smart—-what he knew when (that he lost, that his claims of fraud were false) and the fact that he proceeded
Laurence Tribe, legal scholar and Professor Emeritus at Harvard, @tribelaw: The hearing is putting together so compelling a case that Trump personally schemed to overturn the election results that his refusal to testify will obviously confirm his guilt.
Public Citizen Democracy Campaign, @PC_Democracy:
“The evidence shows that Trump’s 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.” THIS WAS A FULL-FLEDGED PREMEDITATED CONSPIRACY.
Andrew Desiderio, Politico congressional correspondent, @AndrewDesiderio: Wow. Jan. 6 Committee establishes that on Nov. 11, 2020 (three days after the election), Trump tried to order the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Somalia and Afghanistan. Rep. Kinzinger says this shows Trump was “a president who knows his term would shortly end.”
Kyle Griffin, MSNBC executive producer, @kylegriffin1: The Jan. 6 Committee showed a lot of evidence that the Secret Service and FBI *KNEW* of the potential for violence at the Capitol.
Kyle Griffin, @kylegriffin1: In a Dec. 26 report, a Secret Service field office relayed a tip received by the FBI. According to the source of the tip, the Proud Boys planned to march, armed, into D.C. “Their plan is to literally kill people. Please please take this tip seriously and investigate further.”
Noah Bookbinder, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, @NoahBookbinder: Donald Trump is a key witness to what happened, though there is overwhelming evidence without him. Of course he should testify, so a subpoena is appropriate. Of course he will fight it and seek to delay. He has consistently sought to escape accountability and run out the clock.
Norm Eisen, former U.S. ambassador, @NormEisen: More evidence that the anti-democracy efforts by Trump and his allies are alive & well-connected. #January6th was just the next step, not the final one. https://statesuniteddemocracy.org/resources/1-6hearings/
Caitlin Huey-Burns, CBS News political correspondent, @CHueyBurns: Key point by our colleague @costareports made in our special report just now: Trump is on the 2022 campaign trail still refusing to accept the results of the 2020 election.
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