PRESS RELEASE Contact: [email protected]
For Immediate Release
Date: July 22, 2022
“I think the President certainly has criminal exposure.” – Rep. Adam Kinzinger
“He poured gasoline on the fire.” – Senator Chris Van Hollen
Watch the video here
Washington, DC – Here’s what journalists, legal experts, members of Congress, and others are saying about evidence presented at the January 6th Select Committee’s eighth hearing on the criminal conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election.
Manu Raju, CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent, @mkraju: Rep. Adam Kinzinger, leaving the hearing, told me that Trump “certainly has criminal exposure” after what the committee has revealed so far — adding that the “worst thing” would be to end up suggesting that the President [is] above the law.
Senator Chris Van Hollen, @ChrisVanHollen: Rioters overrunning & attacking Capitol Police. Secret Service agents assigned to the VP calling their loved ones to say goodbye.
Tonight’s @January6thCmte hearing confirms Trump did nothing to stop this violence. Instead, he poured gasoline on the fire.
Rep. Elaine Luria, @RepElaineLuria: In tonight’s hearing, we have described how the President of the United States, who was bound by oath to the Constitution, and by duty to ensure the laws are faithfully executed, took NO action when the cornerstone of our democracy—a peaceful transition of power—was under attack.
Heather Cox Richardson, Historian, @HC_Richardson: Luria says it’s personal. She spent 20 years in the Navy, guarding against danger from afar. But it was here at home on January 6. We cannot let Trump destroy our democracy.
Steve Inskeep, NPR Morning Edition host, @NPRinskeep: An astonishing number of Republicans and former Trump aides have calmly, factually testified under oath that the entire country was put at risk by the front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination.
Noah Bookbinder, President of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, @NoahBookbinder: Donald Trump’s own top aides in the aftermath of January 6 made clear in texts they understood Donald Trump was responsible for what happened. We all need to get back to that place, remember it, and ensure that it cannot happen again.
Jesse Ferguson, Democratic strategist, @JesseFFerguson: 2 hours of testimony. Essentially EVERY voice we’ve heard from is a Republican.
Matt Laslo, congressional reporter, @MattLaslo: “Donald Trump, Josh @HawleyMO — all of them, they’re traitors,” @RepEscobar tells me outside the Jan. 6 hearing.
Ryan J. Reilly, NBC News justice reporter, @ryanjreilly: Well that Bannon clip might come up in court tomorrow.
Dan Friedman, Mother Jones reporter, @dfriedman33: Liz Cheney at tonight’s 1/6 committee hearing highlighted my story from last week. “What the new Steve Bannon audio demonstrates is that Donald’s plan to falsely claim victory, no matter what the facts were, was premeditated.”
Scott Wong, NBC News Senior Congressional Reporter, @scottwongDC: KINZINGER sums it up nicely: “What explains President Trump’s behavior? Why did he not take immediate action in a time of crisis? Because President Trump’s plan for January 6th was to halt or delay Congress’ official proceeding to count electoral votes.”
Peter Shane, constitutional law professor, @petermshane: The former Deputy Nat’l Security Director makes the vital point that Trump’s fecklessness endangered U.S. national security. We were lucky not to be attacked, and Jan.6 “emboldened our enemies by feeding a narrative that . . . the United States is in decline.”
Alexis Karteron, Rutgers Law professor and Constitutional Rights Clinic director, @AlexisKarteron: Just when you think the events of January 6th couldn’t shock you any more, you hear that Secret Service agents in Pence’s detail seriously feared for their lives and called their loved ones to say goodbye.
Peter Baker, New York Times Chief White House Correspondent, @peterbakernyt: Chilling: Members of Pence’s Secret Service detail were so afraid for their own lives that they asked over the radio that colleagues tell their families for them.
Victoria Nourse, Georgetown Law professor and former White House VP counsel, @vicnourse: Amazing texts from law enforcement….they knew that [Donald Trump] would not take responsibility for killing a police officer. Powerful.
Hugo Lowell, congressional reporter, The Guardian, @hugolowell: NEW: Jan. 6 committee shows Sen. Josh Hawley running for his life from the Capitol rioters that he personally riled up hours earlier by raising a fist for them in solidarity.
Elizabeth Wydra, Constitutional Accountability Center President, @ElizabethWydra: Wow: @RepLizCheney linking Trump’s infamous “shoot someone on 5th Avenue” to him falsely claiming victory. Makes strong statement that this was “premeditated”—he was confident he could convince his supporters of anything & summon them to DC to keep him in power.
Ryan Goodman, former DOD Special Counsel, @rgoodlaw: Trump’s second tweet was not just ‘insufficient’ or just ‘inadequate.’ It was taken by his most violent supporters as _encouragement_ not to leave the Capitol and even in this case to treat only Capitol Police/law enforcement peacefully, not members of Congress.
George Conway, CNN (Video): This is a story, a devastating portrait, not just of dereliction, but depravity by the President of the United States.
Hugo Lowell, congressional reporter for The Guardian, @hugolowell: Reminder that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell knew that the Capitol attack was incited by Trump — but asked for a “favor” from GOP senators to make sure the Jan. 6 commission did not happen.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, @RepKinzinger: We the people must demand more of our politicians and ourselves. Oaths matter. Character matters. Truth matters. If we do not renew our faith and commitment to these principles, this great experiment of ours, our shining beacon on a hill, will not endure.
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The Select Committee has presented extensive evidence that Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans planned, promoted, and paid for a criminal conspiracy to overturn an election they knew they’d lost. And there’s still more to come.
This criminal conspiracy extends well beyond the violence perpetrated on January 6, 2021, that injured 140 police officers, including making it harder for people to vote, attempting to appoint bogus electors to overturn the will of voters, and intimidating state officials to change the results in contested states.
Getting to the truth during these hearings and then demanding accountability at the courts and the ballot box is how we stop the current MAGA campaign to sabotage future elections by changing state laws, threatening state officials, and packing election administration offices so that they can have the final say over election results – even when they lose.
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