It’s going to be very interesting
Apparently they have proof that Trump was really planning to go to the Capitol.
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack is planning on Thursday to present a sweeping summation of its case against former President Donald J. Trump at what could be its final public hearing, seeking to reveal damning new evidence about Mr. Trump’s state of mind and his central role in the effort to overturn the 2020 election.
Armed with new witness interviews and unreleased footage of the violence of Jan. 6, 2021, the panel is planning to argue that Mr. Trump’s lies about widespread voter fraud inspired far-right extremists and election deniers who present a continuing threat to American democracy.
Unlike previous hearings, which focused on specific aspects of Mr. Trump’s attempts to overturn the election, members will attempt to portray the entire arc of the plan, demonstrating Mr. Trump’s involvement in every step — even before Election Day.
The hearing comes at a pivotal moment, weeks before midterm elections in which control of Congress is at stake and as time is running out for the panel to complete its work, including an extensive report on its findings. Should Republicans succeed in their drive to win the House majority, they would be all but certain to disband the committee in January and shut down any official accounting by Congress for the largest attack on the Capitol in centuries.
To bolster its case, the committee has obtained more than 1.5 million pages of documents and communications from the Secret Service that include details of how agents blocked Mr. Trump’s attempts to join his supporters at the Capitol even after they had begun the assault.
The communications lay out how Secret Service personnel attempted to find a route to take Mr. Trump to the Capitol in a presidential S.U.V., and how those plans were ultimately rebuffed amid the chaos.
Secret Service staff initially attempted to accommodate Mr. Trump’s wishes, but supervisors at the agency expressed alarm, and District of Columbia police declined to block off intersections for his motorcade as a mob of his supporters began attacking and injuring dozens of police officers, according to the communications, which were described by two people familiar with their contents.
Robert Engel, Mr. Trump’s lead agent, broke the news to Mr. Trump inside the vehicle, prompting an angry outburst. Afterward, a Secret Service supervisor followed up to ensure Mr. Trump would not be joining the mob at the Capitol, the communications show.
The panel is attempting to refocus the country’s attention on Mr. Trump’s central role in attempting to overturn the 2020 election, including how he encouraged his supporters to congregate in Washington; agitated them and directed them to the Capitol even though he knew they were armed and threatening violence; and then did nothing to stop the violence for hours.
The Washington Post reported earlier that the committee planned to use the Secret Service communications at its hearing. NBC News reported earlier that the communications obtained from the Secret Service surpassed 1 million in volume.
Among the documents turned over to the committee were emails, Microsoft Teams chat transcripts, planning documents, tapes of radio transmissions and surveillance video of the events at the Ellipse near the White House that preceded the rally where Mr. Trump spoke that day. The materials show documentation that some in the crowd had tactical gear.
The agency turned over the documents in response to a committee subpoena, which was issued after the inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency of the Secret Service, told lawmakers that agents’ texts from Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, 2021, had been erased as part of a device replacement program. Those texts have not been recovered.
The documents also corroborate parts of the testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide, who told the panel in June how Mr. Trump had become enraged when his security detail refused to take him to the Capitol.
What was he planning to do? I think we have an idea and it’s completely demented:
Hutchinson: As Mr. Giuliani and I were walking to his vehicles that evening, he looked at me and said something to the effect of, “Cass, are you excited for the 6th? It’s going to be a great day.” I remember looking at him saying, “Rudy, could you explain what’s happening on the 6th? He had responded something to the effect of, “We’re going to the Capitol. It’s going to be great. The President’s going to be there. He’s going to look powerful. He’s going to be with the members. He’s going to be with the senators. Talk to the chief about it, talk to the chief about it. He knows about it.”
Cheney: Did you go back then up to the West Wing and tell Mr. Meadows about your conversation with Mr. Giuliani?
Hutchinson: I did. After Mr. Giuliani had left the campus that evening, I went back up to our office and I found Mr. Meadows in his [inaudible 00:16:57] remember leaning against the doorway and saying, “I just had an interesting conversation with Rudy, Mark. Sounds like we’re going to go to the Capitol.” He didn’t look up from his phone and said something to the effect of, “There’s a lot going on Cass, but I don’t know, things might get real, real bad on January 6th.”
I kind of wish they’d let him do it. Then there would be no question of his direct involvement. They saved him from himself.