In its eighth hearing of the January 6 Capitol Hill riots on Thursday, the Special House Committee declared that former United States (US) President Donald Trump “did not fail” to act but rather “chose” not to act despite his closest advisors and family members urging him to intervene by calling off the mob or by ordering the National Guard to secure the building.
During the hearing, which gave a “minute-by-minute” account of Trump’s actions on January 6, Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), one of the two Republicans on the committee, stated that Trump had no interest in calling off the rioters. “The mob was accomplishing President Trump’s purpose, so, of course, he didn’t intervene,” he said. In fact, fellow committee member Democratic Representative Elaine Luria revealed that Trump sat at the dining table and watched the attack unfold on television “while his senior-most staff, closest advisers and family members begged him to do what is expected of any American president.”
Whatever your politics, whatever you think about the outcome of the election, we as Americans must all agree on this; Donald Trump's conduct on Jan. 6 was a supreme violation of his oath of office & a complete dereliction of his duty to our nation. It is a stain on our history.
— Adam Kinzinger🇺🇦🇺🇸✌️ (@AdamKinzinger) July 22, 2022
In this regard, the panel showed a video testimony of former White House counsel Pat Cipollone answering “no” to questions on whether Trump had called the Secretary of Defense, the head of Homeland Security, or even the Attorney General to help control the riot. They also played audio of US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, who was surprised at Trump’s inaction, saying, “You’re the commander-in-chief. You’ve got an assault going on on the Capitol of the United States of America. And there’s nothing? No call? Nothing, Zero?”
Instead, Trump was tweeting about how his vice president, Mark Pence, lacked the “courage” to overturn the election, which led to the mob at Capitol Hill chanting “Hang Mike Pence.” In this respect, former White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Matthews said, “It was essentially him giving the green light to these people, telling them that what they were doing at the steps of the Capitol and entering the Capitol was okay, that they were justified in their anger,” adding that he should’ve asked them to go home.
"I don't want to say the election is over," Trump says in outtakes from his speech on Jan. 7. "I just want to say Congress has certified the results." Ivanka Trump, who is not seen but heard in the background, helps him make revisions in real time. pic.twitter.com/cCfnyWKgLo
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) July 22, 2022
Matthews, who resigned hours after the riots, further remarked that January 6 was “one of the darkest days” in the country’s history, while Trump “was treating it as a celebratory occasion.” “Trump was pouring gasoline on the fire,” she noted. Matthews also mentioned that then-White House Press Secretary Kaleigh McEnany revealed that the former president had refused to include any mention of “peace” in a tweet they were crafting, before being persuaded by his daughter Ivanka Trump, one of his close advisers. “To me, his refusal to act and call off the mob that day and his refusal to condemn the violence was indefensible,” she said at the hearing.
Additionally, the committee exhibited some outtakes of Trump’s January 7 speech to the nation, wherein he refused to say that the “election was over.” “I just want to say Congress has certified the results without saying the election’s over,” he reportedly told his aides while recording the speech. To this end, Luria noted, “The president’s words matter. We know that many of the rioters were listening to President Trump.”
Jan. 6 cmte. Vice Chair Rep. Liz Cheney in her closing remarks:
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 22, 2022
"Every American must consider this: can a president who was willing to make the choices Donald Trump made during the violence of Jan. 6, ever be trusted with any position of authority in our great nation again?" pic.twitter.com/5B5nEoGvow
However, Trump’s spokesperson, Liz Harrington, wrote on Truth Social, “These hearings are as fake and illegitimate as Joe Biden—they can’t do anything without a teleprompter.” In fact, Trump has repeatedly called the January 6 committee a “fraud and a disgrace to America. No due process, no cross examinations, no opposing witnesses, no nothing!”
At the end of the hearing, the committee’s vice-chair, Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) asserted that Trump’s behaviour was “indefensible.” “Donald Trump made a purposeful choice to violate his oath of office to ignore the ongoing violence against law enforcement to threaten our constitutional order,” she declared, adding, “Every American must consider this: Can a President who is willing to make the choices Donald Trump made during the violence of January 6th ever be trusted with any position of authority in our great nation again?”
EXCLUSIVE: @MELANIATRUMP said she was "fulfilling" her duties as first lady on #January6th , telling me that had she been fully informed of the events taking place at the Capitol during the day, she "would have immediately denounced the violence."https://t.co/ZoZlMRuu9g
— Brooke Singman (@BrookeSingman) July 21, 2022
The January 6 hearings will continue in September, with Cheney saying, “The dam has begun to break.” During the Capitol Hill insurrection, five people were killed and 140 law enforcement officials were injured. Till date, about 840 people have been charged with federal crimes, of which 330 have pled guilty while 100 have been sentenced to imprisonment.
Meanwhile, in an interview with Fox News on Thursday, former US First Lady Melania Trump claimed that she was “unaware of what was transpiring” at Capitol Hill at the time of the insurrection, which was in sharp contrast to her former chief of staff Stephanie Grisham’s public disclosure that Melania had refused to condemn the violence. Nevertheless, she maintained that she “always condemns violence.” “Had I been fully informed of all the details, naturally, I would have immediately denounced the violence that occurred at the Capitol Building,” Melania stated.