Washington — A House Commission investigating January 6, 2021 filed a widespread proceeding against the Capitol on Monday, created by former President Donald J. Trump, and the 2020 election was stolen from him. I mercilessly spread the lie. Increasing evidence from the advisor’s growing chorus that he was legally defeated.
At its second hearing this month, the Commission tracked the origin and evolution of what Mr. Trump described as a “big lie.” It insists that the former president, who opposed many advisers through witness testimony and recorded testimony, declares victory on election night before the votes are fully counted, and then he repeats. It was wrong to be informed that he showed how he tried to challenge his defeat with an increasingly eccentric and unfounded claim.
Former Attorney General William P. Barr said in a videotape interview with the panel on Monday that “if he really believes in this, he’ll be cut off from reality.” rice field. Due to the absurdity of the allegations made by the former president.
“There was never a sign of interest in what the real facts were,” Barr said.
The panel also used the testimony of Mr. Trump’s campaign chief, Bill Steppin, who ignored the election night warning and refrained from proclaiming a victory that was groundless to claim. Told to. Instead, the president was advised by Rudolph W. Giuliani, his personal lawyer who, according to Jason Miller, was an aide to the “definitely drunk” top campaign, and votes are still being aggregated. Nevertheless he said he had won.
Shows how Mr. Trump’s demolition of election results led directly to the January 6th event in which his supporter mob attacked the Capitol in the worst attacks on buildings over the centuries. All that was part of the Commission’s bid, at the president’s suggestion to “stop stealing.”
Investigators went further on Monday, saying it would be wrong for the Trump campaign and its Republican allies to mislead small donors and raise $ 250 million for an organization called the Official Election Defense Fund. He elaborated on how he used the fraudulent election allegations he knew. There was no testified election aide.
“There was not only a big lie, but a big lie,” said California Democratic Party member Zoe Lofgren, who played an important role in the hearing.
The money raised to “stop the theft” on the surface was sent to Mr. Trump and his allies instead. $ 1 million to a political group run by some of his former employees, including Mr. Trump’s immigration architect Stephen Miller. Over $ 200,000 for Trump hotels. $ 5 million to Event Strategies Inc., which ran the January 6 rally prior to the Capitol riots.
The aide said Kimberly Gilfoil, the girlfriend of Mr. Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr., was paid $ 60,000 to speak at the event. The speech lasted less than 3 minutes.
“It’s clear that he deliberately misunderstood the donor, asked him to donate to a non-existent fund, and used the money raised for purposes other than what he said,” Lofgren said of Trump. rice field.
Read more about the January 6 House Committee hearing
However, most of the session was dedicated to showing how determined Mr. Trump was determined to stick to the fiction that he won the election, and after informing him that he could not win, he was an aide. Dig deeper as.
According to the Commission’s presentation, the list of aides and advisors who tried to keep Mr. Trump away from his false allegations was long and diverse. They included a low-level campaign lawyer outlining how the return from the field showed the president that he was losing the race. The Chief Executive Officer of the Justice Department (including the former Attorney General) also explained how to investigate allegations that the race was fraudulent or stolen, and found it to be groundless as well as meaningless.
“I think it was Mayor Giuliani who declared the victory and said we were completely victorious,” Miller said in a video interview played by the panel.
Stephen later said he considered himself a member of “Team Normal,” but another group of external advisors, including Giuliani, encouraged Trump’s false claims.
The Commission played some parts of the testimony recording by Mr. Trump’s last Attorney General, Mr. Barr. He called the stolen election president’s allegations “random” and “fake.”
“I told them it was crazy and they wereted their time,” Barr testified. “And it was a big, big misfortune for the country.”
Mr. Trump was still there on Monday and issued a rambling 12-page statement hours after the Commission’s hearing was over. He illegally harvested ballots, removed Republican ballot guards from ballot counting facilities, bribed election officials, and stopped voting the night of the election when he was still in the lead.
“The Democrats have created the January 6 story to undermine the much larger and more important truth that the 2020 elections were fraudulently stolen,” Trump wrote.
In a hearing room on Monday, the panel showed in great detail how Mr. Trump’s adviser tried to get him to lie and accept the defeat, but failed. In taking the testimony, Mr. Barr recalled several scenes in the White House. This includes asking Mr. Meadows and his son-in-law and chief adviser Jared Kushner “how long he intended to go.” Keep up with this stolen election stuff. “
Mr. Barr recalled that Mr. Meadows assured him that Mr. Trump was “more realistic” and knew “how far he could take this.” As for Kushner, Barr said he answered the question, “He’s working on this.”
After informing Mr. Trump that the fraudulent allegations were false, Mr. Barr held a follow-up meeting with the President and his White House adviser Pat Cipollone. In his testimony, Mr. Barr explained how Mr. Trump was furious at his own Attorney General’s refusal to uphold his allegations of fraud.
“This is killing me,” Barr quoted Trump. “You must have said this because you hate playing cards.”
Overall, Mr. Trump and his allies Filed more than 60 proceedings Challenge the outcome of the election. But among the many allegations of fraud, Mr. Barr told the Commission that the worst and most sensational was Dominion Voting, a Chinese software company, Venezuelan officials, and liberal financier George Soros. Vote away from Mr. Trump, who said he was involved in a plan to hack and turn over a machine manufactured by Systems.
These allegations were most prominently pushed by a former federal prosecutor named Sidney Powell, who collected several unexamined affidavits from witnesses who believed to have information about Dominion. In the weeks following the election, Powell worked with a group of other lawyers to present her claims at the democratic bases of Atlanta, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Phoenix, despite the Trump campaign. Woke up. I had already determined that some of her claims were wrong..
All proceedings known as “Krakens”, which are references to sea beasts that cause mythical turmoil, were finally dismissed and considered very frivolous. Federal Judge Authorizes Powell And her colleague.Dominion Sue her and others for defamation..
In his testimony record, Mr. Barr described his allegations against Dominion as “crazy.” This is a recurring feeling by another Trump aide whose testimony was presented by the Commission.
After Mr. Barr left his position as Attorney General, his successor, Jeffrey A. Rosen, also told Trump that widespread fraud allegations were “exposed.”
Another witness who testified on Monday and dismissed Mr. Trump’s allegations of fraud was Byung J. Park, a former US lawyer in Atlanta who suddenly resigned on January 4, 2021. After talking to Mr. Barr, Mr. Park is an election scam in Atlanta. This includes Giuliani’s allegation that Ballot’s suitcase was pulled from under the table at the local count station on election night.
Mr. Trump and his allies also claimed that there was a rampant fraud in Philadelphia, and the former president recently claimed that more people than registered voters voted in the city. In his testimony, Mr. Barr called this claim “garbage.” To reinforce this debate, the Commission called on Republican Al Schmitt, who was one of the three city members of the Philadelphia County Election Commission.
Schmidt rejected allegations of fraud filed by Mr. Trump and his allies, with evidence that more people voted for Philadelphia than were registered in Philadelphia, and thousands of deaths in the city. He said there was no evidence that he had voted.
Schmidt also threatened online from people who published his family’s name, his address, and a photo of his home after posting a tweet accusing him of committing a fraudulent election. I testified that I had received it.
Zack Montague When Charlie Savage Report that contributed.
