Over the course of these hearings, we’ve seen how Trump and his MAGA allies illegally pressured VP Pence, state legislatures, election workers, and even the Department of Justice to help them overturn an election they knew they lost. We watched as they knowingly sent an armed mob to the Capitol to stop the peaceful transfer of power while in contact with extremist groups, and involved Republican members in the plot. In the eighth televised hearing of the January 6th Committee, we learned that Trump provoked and prolonged the violence at the Capitol that day.
We heard live testimony from former Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Matthews and former Deputy National Security Advisor Matthew Pottinger, who revealed that Trump ignored desperate pleas from across his administration and members of Congress, refusing to act in a 187-minute period of radio silence from the White House. This primetime hearing by the Select Committee brought together all the evidence proving that Trump and MAGA Republicans never intended to stop trying to overturn the will of the people — they provoked the violence, watched it unfold, and refused to call it off for over 3 hours.
New York Times: Trump ‘Betrayed His Oath’ On Jan. 6, Panel Says. “In an hour of highly charged testimony Thursday night, some of President Trump’s top aides described his inaction for nearly three hours in the face of the deadly assault on the Capitol on Jan. 6. Mr. Trump had given a ‘green light’ to the violence, one said, and another witness testified anonymously that Secret Service agents guarding the vice president radioed goodbyes to family members because they feared for their safety.” [New York Times, 7/21/22]
Washington Post: Trump ‘Chose Not To Act’ As Mob Stormed Capitol, Committee Says. “Matthews testified that former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told her on Jan. 6 that Trump ‘did not want to include any sort of mention of peace’ in a tweet aides were urging him to send that afternoon.” [Washington Post, 7/21/22]
Bloomberg: Trump Spurned Aides’ Pleas to Quell Jan. 6 Rioting, Panel Told. “Former President Donald Trump ignored pleas from his advisers and took no action for hours to quell the violent mob storming the Capitol because he wanted them to stop or delay certification of the 2020 election results, members of the panel investigating the insurrection said.” [Bloomberg, 7/21/22]
Axios: Secret Service, NSC Feared Pence Would Be Trapped At Capitol On Jan. 6. “…rioters got within just five to 10 feet of the vice president, who they blamed for refusing to attempt to overturn the election in then-President Trump’s favor. Driving the news: In Jan. 6 radio traffic played by the committee at its Thursday hearing, one Secret Service agent guarding Pence said, ‘If we lose any more time, we may … lose the ability to leave. So if we’re going to leave, we need to do it now.’” [Axios, 7/21/22]
Wall Street Journal: White House Official: Pence’s Security Detail Feared For Lives. “An unnamed White House security official described harrowing radio messages from Vice President Mike Pence’s security detail, asserting that some of the members of the detail feared for their own lives as the mob entered the Capitol…The official said the agents came very close to having to use lethal force “or worse,” and added that some of the members of Mr. Pence’s security detail radioed in goodbyes to their family members.” [Wall Street Journal, 7/21/22]
The Hill: Matthews Testifies Trump Tweet Gave ‘Green Light’ To Rioters. “Sarah Matthews, the former deputy White House press secretary under President Trump who resigned hours after the Capitol riot, testified on Thursday that Trump’s tweet saying then-Vice President Mike Pence “didn’t have the courage” to reject the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6, 2021 gave “the green light” to rioters.” [The Hill, 7/21/22]
Reuters: Trump Watched Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol Riot Unfold On TV, Ignored Pleas To Call For Peace. “Donald Trump sat for hours watching the attack on the U.S. Capitol unfold on live TV on Jan. 6, 2021, ignoring pleas by his children and other close advisers to urge his supporters to stop the violence, witnesses told a congressional hearing on Thursday. […] Trump remains highly popular among Republican voters and continues to flirt with the possibility of running for president again in 2024. But a Reuters/Ipsos poll concluded on Thursday found his standing among Republicans has weakened slightly since the hearings began early last month. Some 40% of Republicans now say he is at least partially to blame for the riot, up from 33% in a poll conducted six weeks ago, just as the congressional hearings were getting underway. [Reuters, 7/21/22]
CNN: Takeaways From The January 6 Hearings Day 8. “Here are takeaways from Thursday’s epic prime-time hearing. Trump chose not to act […] Committee adds corroboration of Hutchinson testimony […] Secret Service in the spotlight […] Public hearings to resume in September […]” [CNN, 7/21/22]
NBC: Trump’s Tweet Attacking Pence Like ‘Pouring Gasoline On A Fire,’ Witness Testifies. “The Jan. 6 committee focused its latest hearing on the time — 187 minutes — between the ‘Stop the Steal’ rally where Trump encouraged supporters to ‘fight like hell’ at the Capitol and his tweet asking for calm. In sometimes explosive testimony, witnesses appearing in the hearing room and in pre-recorded testimony detailed an urgent effort to convince Trump to speak publicly to help stop the violence — and Trump declining to act — throughout those three hours and seven minutes.” [NBC, 7/21/22]
MSNBC: Secret Service Members Called Families To Say Goodbye During Riot, Jan. 6 Hearing Told. “Day 8 of the House Jan. 6 committee’s public hearings kicked off around 8 p.m. ET Thursday — the second prime-time presentation of the panel’s findings thus far. Congressional investigators are expected to focus on then-President Donald Trump’s 187 minutes of inaction as the attack unfolded on the Capitol.” [MSNBC, 7/21/22]
Huffington Post: More Jan. 6 Witnesses Back Up Account Of Trump’s SUV Meltdown. “More witnesses say they were aware of Donald Trump getting into a “heated” argument with his presidential security detail during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot after they refused to drive him to the U.S. Capitol, the House select committee revealed at Thursday’s prime-time hearing. In recorded testimony the committee aired Thursday, retired D.C. Police Sgt. Mark Robinson detailed what he learned while sitting in the lead vehicle of the presidential motorcade that day alongside a Secret Service agent.” [Huffington Post, 7/21/22]
USA Today: Trump ‘Chose Not To Act,’ Sen. Hawley ‘Riled Up’ The Crowd, Then Fled. “Committee members have argued that Trump’s lack of response was a dereliction of duty under the Constitution to protect Congress. Jared Kushner, a special adviser to Trump and his son-in-law, told the committee how House Republican Leader McCarthy called and pleaded for help as his own aides were fleeing their office. ‘I got the sense that they were scared… that (McCarthy) was scared…’ The in-person and videotaped testimony detailed what President Trump was doing during the height of the Jan. 6 violence, and witnesses said he was mostly watching cable news, specifically Fox New, for more than two and half hours. Two witnesses on Thursday supported previous testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide, who said during a previous hearing how Trump demanded to be taken to the Capitol with protesters.” [USA Today, 7/21/22]
Los Angeles Times: Committee Lays Out Trump’s 187 Minutes Of Inaction. “Trump sat in the dining room for hours: ‘The president didn’t want anything done.’ New witnesses confirm ‘heated’ discussion between Trump and Secret Service agents. Pence’s security detail feared for their lives, White House official testifies.” [Los Angeles Times, 7/21/22]
Boston Globe: Jan. 6 Probe: Irate Trump Demanded To Join, Not Call Off Mob. “With the Capitol siege raging, President Donald Trump poured “gasoline on the fire” by tweeting condemnation of Mike Pence’s refusal to go along with his plan to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s victory, former aides told the Jan. 6 investigating committee in a prime-time hearing Thursday night. Earlier, an irate Trump demanded to be taken to the Capitol after his supporters had stormed the building, well aware of the deadly attack, but then returned to the White House and did nothing to call off the violence, despite appeals from family and close advisers, witnesses testified.” [Boston Globe, 7/21/22]
Forbes: Jan. 6 Hearings: Trump Urged Senators To Delay Election Certification During Capitol Riot, Lawmakers Say. “Trump sat in the White House dining room for more than two-and-a-half hours while the riot was taking place, despite learning of violence within 15 minutes of finishing his Ellipse speech, according to the House January 6 committee.” [Forbes, 7/21/22]
In the States
AZ Central: Big Question For Jan. 6 Committee: Did Trump Aide Mark Meadows Help Stop – Or Fuel – The Insurrection? “As an angry mob of Donald Trump supporters attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and came close to violently overturning the 2020 election, there was one person standing between the president and the many people desperately trying to get him to call off the insurrection. That person, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, has fought tooth and nail to avoid testifying before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol and turning over documents and records that the investigative panel has subpoenaed from him.” [AZ Central, 7/21/22]
Las Vegas Sun: Jan. 6 Probe: Trump “Poured Gasoline On Fire” At Capitol. “The hearing aimed to show a “minute by minute” accounting of Trump’s actions that day and how rather than stop the violence, he watched it all unfold on television at the White House. An irate Trump demanded to be taken to the Capitol after the supporters he sent laid siege, well aware of the deadly attack and that some in the mob were armed but refusing to call it off as they fought to reverse his election defeat, witnesses told the Jan. 6 investigating committee Thursday night.” [Las Vegas Sun, 7/21/22]
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Trump Called Wisconsin Assembly Speaker To Continue Pressure On False Election Claims. “Former President Donald Trump is leveling the weight of his voice in the Republican Party against Wisconsin’s Assembly Speaker and the leading GOP candidate for governor to extract promises from them to overturn his 2020 election loss. The effort, if successful, would have no practical outcome 20 months later and is nothing more than a fantasy, according to legal scholars, attorneys, lawmakers, professors and constitutional experts. But Trump presses on.” [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 7/21/22]
PennLive-Patriot News: Pennsylvania Gets Another Star Turn In Jan. 6 Committee’s Hearing. “Pennsylvania’s political swing state status earned it another star turn in the House Select Committee on the Jan. 6th attacks public hearings Tuesday, as the committee aired testimony on Trump campaign pressure tactics aimed at convincing state-level officials, including Pennsylvania Speaker of the House Bryan Cutler, to take steps to block President-elect Joe Biden’s win.” [PennLive-Patriot News, 7/21/22]
Pennsylvania Capital Star: Jan. 6 Panel To Detail Trump’s 187 Minutes Of Delay As Insurrection Grew. “Trump knew of the violence happening at the Capitol, where Congress was scheduled to certify the 2020 election results, aides said. Trump was the only person with the power to call off the attack, but declined to do so, the committee will show, according to aides.” [Pennsylvania Capital Star, 7/21/22]
Philadelphia Inquirer: Jan. 6 Probe: Trump Didn’t Want To Say ‘Election Is Over.’ “With the Capitol siege raging, President Donald Trump poured “gasoline on the fire” by tweeting condemnation of Mike Pence’s refusal to go along with his plan to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s victory, former aides told the Jan. 6 investigating committee in a prime-time hearing Thursday night. Earlier, an irate Trump demanded to be taken to the Capitol after his supporters had stormed the building, well aware of the deadly attack, but then returned to the White House and did nothing to call off the violence, despite appeals from family and close advisers, witnesses testified.” [Philadelphia Inquirer, 7/21/22]
