The House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot reconvened on Thursday for its last pubic hearing before the closely watched midterm elections.
Although there were no live witnesses at the 10th hearing, committee members presented new evidence that they argued made former President Donald Trump "the central cause" of the attack.
Chairman Bennie Thomas emphasized that the evidence presented by the panel "did not come from Democrats or opponents of Donald Trump" but former Trump officials, White House aides, top state and national Republican figures and even his own family.
Panel Unanimously Votes to Subpoena Trump
In a 9-0 vote, the committee members agreed to subpoena the former president for documents and testimony related to the January 6 attack, saying Trump "is required to answer for his actions."
"We have left no doubt—none—that Donald Trump led an effort to upend American democracy that directly resulted in the violence of January 6," Thompson said. "He is the one person at the center of the story of what happened on January 6. So we want to hear from him."
Three other presidents have been subpoenaed. Thomas Jefferson declined to comply but turned over material in the treason trial of his former vice president, Aaron Burr; Richard Nixon resigned from office in response to his subpoena; and Bill Clinton's subpoena was withdrawn when he agreed to testify voluntarily.
Roger Stone: 'Let's Get Right to the Violence'
At the beginning of the hearing, the committee showed clips of Trump ally Roger Stone captured by a Danish documentary crew the day before the 2020 election.
"F**k the voting, let's get right to the violence," Stone said in the clip.
In another clip, he said that while the votes were still being tallied, "the key thing to do is claim victory," and tell people, "We won. You're wrong. F**k you."
The panel then aired parts of Stone's deposition, during which he asserted his Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination when asked if he played a role in the violence on January 6.
Secret Service Warned About Riot 10 Days Earlier
On Thursday, the committee presented messages from the Secret Service showing that the agency received tips warning just how far groups like the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers would to go block the certification of the Electoral College.
Emails sent to the agency on December 26, 2020, and obtained by the House panel, showed that the Secret Service received messages saying the Proud Boys' "plan is to literally kill people. Please please take this tip seriously and investigate further."
"They think that they will have a large enough group to march into DC armed and will outnumber the police so they can't be stopped," the tipster wrote.
"Certain White House and Secret Service witnesses previously testified that they had received no intelligence about violence that could potentially threaten any of their protectees on January 6," Representative Adam Schiff said. "Evidence strongly suggests that this testimony is not credible."
Schiff said agents received alerts on the morning of January 6 that Vice President Mike Pence would be "a dead man walking if he doesn't do the right thing."
The committee also highlighted the ongoing trial against members of the Oath Keepers. Last week, testimony from a former member of the far-right group revealed that Secret Service agents were allegedly in touch with the leader of the group, Stewart Rhodes, in the lead-up to the Capitol attack.
Trump Plan to Overturn Election Dated to July 2020
Representative Zoe Lofgren said former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale told the panel that "he understood that President Trump planned as early as July [2020] that he would say he won the election, even if he lost."
Lofgren also played a clip dated days before the election in which former White House strategist Steve Bannon said, "What Trump's going to do is just declare victory, right?"
"That doesn't mean he's a winner. He's just going to say he's the winner," Bannon explained. He said that because more Democrats vote by mail, Trump would take "advantage" of that by declaring victory first. "When you wake up Wednesday morning, it's going to be a firestorm.
"He's not going out easy. If Biden's winning, Trump is going to do some crazy shit," added Bannon, who was convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with the panel's subpoena.
Top Trump Aide Boasted About Getting Base 'Fired Up'
Days before the Capitol riot, former President Donald Trump's communication adviser, Jason Miller, told then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows that he "got the base FIRED UP" around the violent rhetoric circulating about January 6.
Comments on a pro-Trump website that Miller linked to Meadows said things like, "Patriots will be there, armed to the teeth. And if the filthy commie maggots try to push their fraud through, there will be hell to pay," and "Our 'lawmakers in Congress can leave one of two ways: 1. in a body bag 2. After rightfully certifying Trump the winner."
Schiff said Miller claimed he had no idea the comments were in the link he sent to Meadows but "the Trump administration was aware of this type of violent rhetoric prior to January 6."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Katherine Fung is a Newsweek reporter based in New York City. Her focus is reporting on U.S. and world politics. ... Read more
