Time you can expect to hear from all of the members of this committee. A sweeping summation of their 15month investigation, and this is all just happening, well remind you, 26 days before the midterm elections. This will be the last such hearing before election day, of course. Its a live look on capitol hill, trace, where there are many things to watch in that room today. Among them as you pointed out a key question asked and explored and has been by the committee, what did the former president know about what unfolded that day, and when did he know it as the chairman enters the room. Trace as they enter the room and take their seats, when you say we will hear from all the members, that includes the woman coming in second, liz cheney, and adam kinzinger, the only two republicans on the panel. Might be the last time we see them on this panel. Liz cheney lost her primary, right, earlier this year and adam is retiring from the house, and so they may no longer be a part of this if this moves on, this may be the last hearing for the january 6th committee period, sandra. Sandra a committee aide said thursdays hearing, the one before you, would not include live witnesses but showcase new evidence from u. S. Secret Service Records and testimony as well as video of efforts to respond to the violence in realtime. The hearing is underway. Lets go to capitol hill. Investigate the january 6th attack on a the United States capitol will be in order. Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare the committee in recess at any point. Pursuant to House Deposition Authority regulation 10, the chair announces the committees approval to release the deposition material presented during todays hearing. Good afternoon. And may god bless the United States of america. Four months ago this committee started to present our findings to you, the american people. From the beginning, we understood that some people watching those proceedings would wrongly assume that the committees investigation was a partisan exercise. Thats why i ask those who were skeptical of our work to simply listen, to listen to the evidence, to hear the testimony with an open mind, and to let the facts speak for themselves before reaching any judgment. Over the course of these hearings the evidence has proven that there were a multipart plan led by former President Donald Trump to overturn the 2020 election. Donald trump lost his bid for reelection as shown from the testimony of some of the president s closest allies and advisors, donald trump knew he lost. Despite this knowledge, donald trump went to court to contest the 2020 election and he lost in court. Electoral college met and declared joe biden the winner yet donald trump continued to pull out all the stops in his attempt to stay in power. What donald trump proceeded to do after the 2020 election is something no president has done before in our country. In a staggering betrayal of his oath, donald trump attempted a plan that led to an attack on a pillar of our democracy. Its still hard to believe. But the facts and testimony are clear, consistent and undisputed. How do we know this . How have we been able to present such a clear picture of what took place . Because of the testimony we have heard and that we have had presented to you through these proceedings, because of the documentary evidence we have gathered, and also made available directly to you, the american people. When you look back at what has come out through this committees work, the most striking fact is that all this evidence come almost entirely from republicans. The evidence that has emerged did not come from democrats or opponents of donald trump. Instead, look at who has written and testified and produced evidence. Who has that been . Aides who have worked loyally for donald trump for years, republican state officials and legislators, republican electors, the chair woman of the Republican National committee, political professionals who worked at the highest levels of the Trump Campaign. Trump appointees served in the most senior positions in the Justice Department. President trumps staff and closest advisors in the white house. Members of the President Trump family, his own white house counsel, ive served in congress a long time. I can tell you its tough for any congressional investigation to obtain evidence like what we have received, least of all such a detailed view into a president s inner circle. And i want to be clear. Not all these witnesses were thrilled to talk to us. Some put up quite a fight, but ultimately the vast majority cooperated with our investigation. And what we have shown you over the last four months has been centered on the evidence. Evidence that has come overwhelmingly from republican witnesses. So i say to you again as i did in june, this investigation is not about politics. Its not about party. Its about the facts, plain and simple, and its about making sure our government functions under the rule of law as our constitution demands. Today as in previous proceedings, my colleagues and i will present new evidence that includes new testimony from additional republicans who served in the trump administration, never before seen footage of congressional leaders on january 6th, working to coordinate the response to the violence and assure the peoples business went forward. New materials produced to the committee by the secret service, details about the ongoing threat to american democracy. The todays proceeding will also be grounded in the facts. But it wont look exactly like all our other hearings. Well also take a step back and look at the evidence in a broader context providing a summary of key facts we have uncovered. Facts relevant to former President Trumps state of mind about his motivation, and about his intent. What did President Trump know . What was he told . What was his personal and substantial role in the multipart plan to overturn the election . For those of you who watched our prior hearings, some of this evidence will look familiar. For those of you tuning in for the first time, well summarize some of the most important facts and we urge you to go online and watch our hearing in full. As one more difference about today, pursuant to the notice circulated prior to todays proceedings, we are convened today not as a hearing, but as a formal Committee Business meeting so that in addition to presenting evidence we can potentially hold a Committee Vote on further investigative action based upon that evidence. Before we get to that evidence i would recognize our distinguished advice chair, miss cheney of wyoming. Much has happened since our last public hearing on july 21st. As a chairman mentioned, we received new and much information from the secret service. New witness testimony, including about efforts to obstruct our investigation and conceal key facts. And according to public reporting, the department of justice has been very active in pursuing many of the issues identified in our prior hearings. Our committee may ultimately decide to make a series of criminal referrals to the department of justice but we recognize that our role is not to make decisions regarding prosecution. The preamble to our constitution recites among its purposes to establish justice. And our nations judiciary and u. S. Department of justice have that responsibility. A key element of this committees responsibility is to propose reforms to prevent january 6th from ever happening again. We have already proposed and the house has now passed a bill to amend the electoral count act to help ensure no other future plots to overturn an election can succeed and we will make further specific recommendations in our final report based in part on the evidence you will hear today. Our hearings last summer began with an outline of President Trumps multipart plan to overturn the 2020 president ial election. We then proceeded to demonstrate each of these elements in detail with more than 20 hours of evidence. Today we will see new evidence, but as the chairman said, we will also synthesize evidence you have seen before. The vast weight of evidence presented so far has shown us the central cause of january 6th was one man, donald trump, who many others followed. None of this would have happened without him. He was personally and substantially involved in all of it. Exactly how did one man cause all of this . Today we will focus on President Trumps state of mind, his intent, his motivations, and how he spurred others to do his bidding. And how another january 6th could happen again if we do not take necessary action to prevent it. As you view our evidence today i would suggest a focus on the following points. First, as you will see, President Trump had a premeditated plan to declare that the election was fraudulent and stolen before election day, before he knew the Election Results. He made his stolen election claims on Election Night against the advice of his campaign, without any evidence in hand. Then over the next two months he sought to find those who would help him invent and spread lies about the widespread fraud. Many of those who stepped forward to help, including rudy giuliani, knew they never had real evidence sufficient to change the Election Results. And on the evening of january 5th, they admitted they were still trying to find that phantom evidence. Of course, as a result of making intentionally false claims of Election Fraud, mr. Giulianis license to practice law has been suspended. Second, please recognize that President Donald Trump was in a unique position. Better informed about the absence of widespread Election Fraud than almost any other american. President trumps own Campaign Experts told him that there was no evidence to support his claims. His own Justice Department appointees investigated the Election Fraud claims and told him point blank they were false. In mid december 2020, President Trumps senior advisers told him the time had come to concede the election. Donald trump knew the courts had ruled against him. He had all of this information but still he made the conscious choice to claim fraudulently that the election was stolen. To pressure state officials to change Election Results, to manufacture fake electoral slates, to attempt to corrupt our department of justice, to summon tens of thousands of supporters to washington knowing that they were angry, knowing that some of them were armed, he sent them to the capitol. Then as the riot was underway, he incited his supporters to further violence by publicly condemning his Vice President. And then he refused for hours to disband his rioting supporters and instruct them to leave the capitol, even when he was begged rep repeatedly to do so. None of this is normal, acceptable or lawful in our republic. Third, who had a hand in defeating President Trumps efforts to overturn the election. Vice president pence, bill barr, jeff rosen and others at the department of justice, state republican officials, white house staff who blocked proposals to mobilize the military to seize Voting Machines and run new elections, our capitol police, aided by the metropolitan police, other federal Law Enforcement and our National Guard who arrived later in the afternoon. All of these people had a hand in stopping donald trump. This leads us to a key question. Why would americans assume that our constitution and our institutions and our republic are invulnerable to another attack . Why would we assume that those institutions will not falter next time . A key lesson of this investigation is this. Our institutions only hold when men and women of good faith make them hold, regardless of the political cost. We have no guarantee that these men and women will be in place next time. Any future president inclined to attempt what donald trump did in 2020 has now learned not to install people who could stand in the way. And also please consider this. The rulings of our courts are respected and obeyed because we as citizens pledge to accept and honor them. Most importantly, our president , who has a constitutional obligation to faithfully execute the laws swears to accept them. What happens when the president disregards the courts rulings as illegitimate, when he disregards the rule of law . That, my fellow citizens, breaks our republic. Finally, as you view the evidence today, also consider this. President trump knew from unassailable sources that his Election Fraud claims were false. He admitted he had lost the election. He took actions consistent with that belief. Claims that President Trump actually thought the election was stolen are not supported by fact and are not a defense. There is no defense that donald trump was duped or irrational. No president can defy the rule of law and act this way in a constitutional republic, period. Mr. Chairman, our nations federal judges are sworn to do impartial justice, to preserve our constitution and preserve our union. Dozens of these judges have been addressing january 6th cases and many have given us plain unmistakeable warnings about the direction of our republic. Let me read from one judges Statement Given at a recent sentencing hearing. High ranking members of congress and state officials who know perfectly well the claim of fraud was and is untrue and that the election was legitimate are so afraid of losing their power they wont say so. It has to be Crystal Clear that it is not patriotism, it is not standing up for america to stand up for one man who knows full well that he lost instead of the constitution he was trying to subvert. Mr. Chairman, the violence and lawlessness of january 6th was unjustifiable. But our nation cannot only punish the foot soldiers who stormed our capitol. Those who planned to overturn our election and brought us to the point of violence must also be accountable. With every effort to excuse or justify the conduct of the former president , we chip away at the foundation of our republic. Inexcuseable conduct is excused, without accountability it becomes normal and will occur. As we watch the evidence today, please consider where our nation is in its history. Consider whether we can survive for another 246 years. Most people in most places on earth have not been free. America is an exception. And america continues only because we bind ourselves to our founders principles to our constitution. We recognize some principles must be beyond politics in violate, and more important than any single american who has ever lived. Thank you, mr. Chairman, i yield back. Without objections, the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california for opening statement. Thank you, mr. Chairman, very shortly after the election we began this meeting by returning to Election Night, november 3, 2020. As the chairman noted we have previously presented testimony about how the Election Results were expected to come in that night in certain states, ballots cast by mail before election day would be counted only after the polls close that evening. That meant that Election Results would not be known for some time. Although President Trumps campaign manager, bill and otheo encourage voting by mail, did not do so. Just remember generally had people arguing we had a very, very robust get out the vote effort and that mailin ballots could be a good thing for us if we looked at it correctly. There was one meeting that was had in particular. I invited Kevin Mccarthy to join the meeting. He being of like mind on the issue with me. In which we made our case for why we believed mailin balloting mailin voting ought to be not to be a bad thing for his campaign, but the president s mind was made up. So it was expected before the election that the initial counts in some states, in other words those votes cast on election day, would be more heavily republican, and this would create the false perception of a lead for President Trump socalled red mirage. But as the results of the absentee ballots were later counted, there could be trends towards Vice President biden, as those mailin ballots were counted. Now on Election Night, Donald Trumps advisors specifically told him he didnt have a factual basis to declare, he should wait for the remaining ballots could be counted. Here is the campaign manager. It was far too early to be making any calls like that. Ballots were still being counted, ballots were still going to be counted for days, and it was far too early to be making any proclamation like that. I believe, my recommendation was to say that votes were still being counted, its too early to tell, too early to call the race. But President Trump did declare victory in the late hours of Election Night. Not only did he declare victory, he also called for the ongoing count of votes to just stop. Stopping the count would have violated both federal and state laws and also disenfranchised millions of voters who lawfully cast their vote. He called for the action anyway. Here is what he said. This is a fraud on the american public. This is an embarrassment to our country. We were getting ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this election. We want all voting to stop. We now know more about President Trumps intention for Election Night. The evidence shows that his false victory speech was planned well in advance, before any votes had been counted. It was a premeditated plan by the president to declare victory no matter what the actual result was. He made a plan to stay in office before election day. Now the Vice President s staff was concerned with what donald trump might do on Election Night. They took steps to ensure that mr. Pence would not echo a false victory announcement from President Trump. Here is what the Vice President s counsel, greg jacob, told us about his preparations with the Vice President s chief of staff, mark short. Mark had indicated to me that there was a possibility that there would be a declaration of victory within the white house that some might push for, and this is prior to the Election Results being known. And that he was trying to figure out a way of avoiding the Vice President from being thrust into a position of needing to opine on that when he might not have sufficient information to do so. Now following this conversation mr. Jacob drafted a memo to mr. Short which the select committee got from the national archives. Memo was sent on november 3rd, election day, and advised it is essential that the Vice President not be perceived by the public as having decided questions concerning disputed electoral votes prior to the full development of all relevant facts. A few days before the election mr. Trump also consulted with one of his outside advisors inside activist tom fiton about the strategy for Election Night. A preprepared statement from the national archives. As you can see, the drafts statement, which was sent on october 31st, declares we had an election today and i won. And the fitton memo specifically indicates a plan that only the votes counted by the election day deadline, and there is no election day deadline, would matter. Everyone knew the ballot counting would lawfully continue past election day. Claiming that the counting on Election Night must stop before millions of votes were counted was as we now know a key part of President Trumps premeditated plan. On election day, just after 5 00 p. M. , mr. Fitton indicated he had spoken with the president about the statement sending along again just talked to him about the draft below, again, this plan to keep to declare victory was in place before any of the results had been determined. In the course of our investigation we also interviewed brad parscale, President Trumps former campaign manager. He told us he understood that President Trump planned as early as july that he would say he won the election even if he lost, and just a few days before the election steve bannon, a former trump chief white house strategist and outside advisor to President Trump, spoke to a group of his associates from china and said this. And what trump is going to do, declare victory, hes going to declare victory. That doesnt mean hes the winner, hes just going to say hes the winner. Democrats, more of our people vote early that count, theirs vote by mail, so have a natural disadvantage and trump is going to take advantage, thats our strategy, so when you wake up wednesday morning its going to be a fire storm. Also also if trump if trump is losing by 10, 11 00 at night, its going to be even crazier. Hes going to sit there and say they stole it. Agree. Im directing the attorney general to shut down all ballot places in all 50 states, hes not going out easy. If biden is winning, trump is going to do some crazy mr. Bannon refused to testify in our investigation. Hes been convicted of criminal contempt of congress and hes awaiting sentencing. But the evidence indicates that mr. Bannon had advantage knowledge of mr. Trumps intent to declare victory falsely on Election Night but also that mr. Bannon knew about mr. Trumps planning for january 6th. What bannon said on january 5th. All hell is going to break loose tomorrow. Its all converging and now we are on as they say the point of attack, right. The point of attack tomorrow. Ill tell you this. Its not gonna happen like you think its gonna happen, ok. Its gonna be quite extraordinarily different and all i can say is strap in. You have made this happen, and tomorrow its game day, so strap in, lets get ready. Another close associate of donald trump apparently knew of mr. Trumps intentions as well. Roger stone is a political operative with a reputation for dirty tricks. In november 2019 he was convicted of lying to congress and other crimes and sentenced to more than three years in prison. Hes also a long time advisor to President Trump, and was in communication with President Trump throughout 2020. Mr. Trump pardoned roger stone on december 23rd, 2020. Now, recently the select committee got footage of mr. Stone before and after the election from danish filmmaker christopher gillbranson pursuant to a subpoena. Right before the election here is roger stone talking about what President Trump would do after the election. Lets just hope we are celebrating. I suspect it will be, i really do suspect it will still be up in the air. When that happens, the key thing to do is to claim victory. Possession is 9 10 of the law, no, we [bleep] you, you are wrong, [bleep] you. Right to the violence. Start smashing pumpkins, if you know what i mean. The select committee called mr. Stone as a witness. But he invoked his fifth amendment right against selfincrimination. You believe the violence on january 6th was justified . On the advice of counsel i respectfully decline to answer your question on the basis of the fifth amendment. And mr. Stone, did you have any role in planning for the violence on january 6th . Once again, i will assert my fifth amendment right to decline to answer your question. Although we dont yet have all the relevant records of roger stones communications, even stones own social media posts acknowledge he spoke with donald trump on december 27th as preparations for january 6th were underway. In this post you can see how roger stone talked about his conversations with President Trump. He wrote i also told the president exactly how he can appoint a special counsel with full subpoena power to ensure those who are attempting to steal the 2020 election through voter fraud are charged and convicted and to ensure donald trump continues as our president. As we know by now, the idea for a special counsel was not just an idle suggestion, it was something President Trump tried to do earlier that month. We know that roger stone was at the Willard Hotel on january 5th and six, and we know from other witness system that President Trump asked his chief of staff, mark meadows, to speak with roger stone and general Michael Flynn that night. In addition to his connection to President Trump, roger stone maintained extensive direct connections to two groups responsible for violently attacking the capitol, the oath keepers and the proud boys. Individuals from both of these organizations have been charged with a crime of seditious conspiracy. And what is seditious conspiracy . It is a conspiracy to use violent force against the United States, to oppose the Lawful Authority of the United States. Multiple associates of roger stone from both the oath keepers and the proud boys have been charged with this crime. Close associates of roger stone, including joshua james, have pled guilty to this crime. At least seven oath keepers who have been criminally charged provided personal security for roger stone or were seen with him on january 6th or in the weeks leading up to january 6th. For example, joshua james, the leader of the alabama oath keepers, provided security for roger stone and was with him on january 5th. This is the picture of the two together on january 5th. James entered the capitol on january 6th, he assaulted a police officer. Earlier this year he pled guilty to seditious conspiracy and obstruction of congress. Another example is the married couple, kelly and connie megs. Kelly megs was the leader of the florida chapter of the oath keepers. He and his wife provided security for roger stone and both are charged with leading a military style stack attack of oath keepers, attacking the capitol on january 6th. Perhaps even more disturbing is roger stones Close Association with enrique tario, National Chairman of the proud boys. Roger stones connection with enrique and the proud boys is well documented by video evidence, with phone records the select committee has obtained, tario, along with other proud boys, has been charged with multiple crimes concerning the attack on january 6th, including seditious conspiracy. During the attack tario sent a message to other proud boys claiming we did that. He also visited the white house on december 12th. Later that day he posted a disturbing video claiming credit for the attack. This video posted on january 6th was apparently created prior to the attack. This big lie, President Trumps effort to convince americans that he had won the 2020 election, began before the Election Results even came in. It was intentional, it was premeditated, it was not based on Election Results or any evidence of actual fraud affecting the results, or any actual problems with Voting Machines. It was a plan concocted in advance to convince his supporters that he won. And the people who seemingly knew about that plan in advance would ultimately play a significant role in the events of january 6th. Mr. Chairman, i yield back. Chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois for an opening statement. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Very shortly after the election the Trump Campaign recognized that they had likely lost the election and they informed donald trump of that fact. Even before the networks called the race for President Biden on november 7th, his chances of pulling out a victory were virtually nonexistent and President Trump knew it. Do you know if anybody ever told the president that he had lost and that there wasnt a chance of him winning . The i know that the president , when the networks called it, of course, he was informed about the network decision, that afternoon at some point myself and a handful of other folks went over and sat down with the president and communicated that the odds of us prevailing and legal challenges were very small. After the election, as of november 7th, in your judgment, what were the chances of President Trump winning the election . After that point . Yes. None. At times President Trump acknowledged the reality of his loss. Although he publicly claimed he had won the election, privately he admitted that joe biden would take over as president. Here is a few examples of that. So we are in the oval and theres a discussion going on, and the president says, it could have been pompeo, but words to the effect of yeah, we lost, we need to let that issue go to the next guy, meaning President Biden. I remember maybe a week after the election was called i popped into the oval to give the president the headlines and see how he was doing, and he was looking at the tv and said can you believe i lost to this fing guy. Mark met with me on the 18th, following that conversation the motorcade drive riding back to the white house and said does the president really think he lost . And he said a lot of times hell tell me he lost but wanted to keep fighting it. He thinks there might be enough to overturn the election but he pretty much has acknowledged that hes lost. Knowing he had lost and had only weeks left in office, President Trump rushed to complete his unfinished business. One key example is this. President trump issued an order for large scale u. S. Troop withdrawals. Disregarded concerns about the consequences for fragile governments on the front lines of the fight against isis and alqaeda terrorists. Knowing he was leaving office he acted immediately and signed this orders on november 11th which would have required the immediate withdrawal of troops from somalia and afghanistan all to be complete before the Biden Inauguration on january 20th. As you watch these clips, recall that general Keith Kellogg was the National Security advisor to the Vice President and served as chief of staff to the Security Council for President Trump and general milley, joint chief of staffs at the pentagon. Familiar with a memo the president signed on november 11, 2020, ordering that troops be withdrawn from afghanistan and somalia . Yes. So i think you might have seen some things where this memo or something to douglas mcgregor, it says here is your task to get u. S. Forces out of somalia, out of afghanistan. When you first interviewed and met colonel douglas mcgregor, is it fair to say you discussed this decision of withdrawing from somalia and afghanistan . Correct . Yeah, im sure that was part of it, yeah. And that was the position that he was taking over there was Senior Advisor to the sent of defense, is that correct . Yes. So on that same day, just so im clear, he responded back to you that they, meaning dod leadership was not going to do take any of those steps without an order. Without a directive, yeah. I explained in language that should be in the order while i was in the meeting with mcintie, and said if you want this to happen, or the president wants this to happen, hes got to write an order. So you never wrote this down in any capacity. I sketched on a piece of paper for him some key statements, you know, the president directs, you know, this is whats the right word, boilerplate language. Who was in his office and drafted the order . It was myself and one of my assistants. Mcintie duly types it up, brings it in to the president , president signs it and boom, its faxed over, scanned over was it by auto pen or the president himself signing it . It was the president. And who obtained that signature . I did. It is odd, it is nonstandard, it is potentially dangerous. I personally thought it was militarily not feasible nor was. I proceeded to tell the ppo and proceeded to tell mcgregor that if i ever saw anything like that i would do something physical. Because i thought what that was then a tremendous disservice to the nation, and by the way, that was a very very contested issue. There were people who did not agree with getting out of afghanistan. I appreciate their concerns. And immediate departure that that memo said would have been a catastrophic its the same thing President Biden went through, it would have been a debacle. Keep in mind the order was for an immediate withdrawal. It would have been catastrophic and yet President Trump signed the order. These are the highly consequential actions of a president who knows his term will shortly end. At the same time President Trump was acknowledging privately he had lost the election, he was hearing there was no evidence of fraud or irregularities sufficient to change the outcome. I remember a call with mr. Meadows where mr. Meadows was asking me what i was finding and if i was finding anything, and i remember sharing with him that we were not finding anything, that would be sufficient to change the results in any of the key states. When was that conversation . Probably in november, m i had to late november. I think it was before my child was born. And what was mr. Meadows reaction to that information . I believe the words he used were so theres no there there . It would be our job to track it down and come up dry because the allegation didnt prove to be true and we would have to relay the news that yeah, that that someone told you about those votes, or that fraud, or you know, nothing came of it. It would be our job as, you know, truth telling squad and, you know, not a fun job to be, you know, its an easier job to be telling the president about, you know, wild allegations. A harder job to tell him on the back end that yeah, that was not true. What was generally discussed on that topic was whether the fraud, now administration, abuse or irregularities, if aggregated and read most favorly to the Campaign Works that be it was not sufficient to be outcome determining. Right of any candidate to litigate genuine disputes, but President Trumps litigation was completely unsuccessful. Our past hearings we told you the Committee Identified 62 election lawsuits filed by the Trump Campaign and allies between november 4th and january 6th of 2021. Those cases resulted in 61 losses and only a single victory, which did not affect the outcome for any candidate. The claims were not supported by any sufficient evidence of fraud or irregularity. In fact, they were baseless as ju judges repeated recognized. There was no claim to overturn the results of the election. And those hearings we shared the words used by judges and the country rejecting the Trump Campaign claims. Strong language criticizing the lack of support for the fraudz in the lawsuit. In pennsylvania, charges require specific allegations and proof. We have neither here. A federal judge in wisconsin wrote the court has allowed the former president the chance to make his case and he has lost on the merits. Another judge in michigan called the claims nothing but speculation and conjecture that votes for President Trump were either destroyed, discarded or switched to votes for Vice President biden. A federal judge in michigan sanctioned nine attorneys, including sydney powell, for making frivolous, historic and profound abuse of the judicial process. And former judges and lawyers and elected officials issued a report confirming the findings of the court. In their report entitled lost, not stolen these prominent republicans analyzed each election challenge and concluded this. Donald trump and supporters failed to present evidence of fraud or inaccurate results significant enough to invalidate the results of the 2020 president ial election. On december 11th, trumps allies lost a lawsuit in the u. S. Supreme court that he regarded as his last chance as success in the courts. A newly obtained secret Service Message from that day shows how angry President Trump was about the outcome just fyi, potus is pissed, breaking news, Supreme Court denied his lawsuit, he is livid now. Cassidy hutchinson, an aide to chief of staff mark meadows was present for that conversation and described it in this way. This is the day the Supreme Court had rejected that case. Mr. Meadows and i were in the white house residence at a christmas reception. And as we were walking back from the christmas reception that evening, the president was walking out of the oval office so we crossed paths in the rose garden collonade. The president was fired up about the Supreme Court decision and so, you know, i was standing next to mr. Meadows, i stepped back so i was probably 2, 3 feet diagonal from him, the president just raging about the decision and how its wrong and why didnt we make more calls and just typical anger outburst at this decision. The president said he so he had said something to the effect of i dont want people to know we lost, mark, this is embarrassing, figure it out, we need to figure it out, i dont want people to know that we lost. Our country is a country of laws where every person, including the president , must follow the law and respect the judgment of our courts. President trumps closest advisors held that view then and now. Do you believe the president should abide by the rulings of the courts . Oh, yes, we should all comply with the law at all times to the best of our ability. Every one of us. So once the courts had ruled and the Electoral College had met, the election was over in your view . Yes, i think ive said previously when the Vice President made the certification and the litigation was complete it was complete. When the Electoral College met on the 14th. Yes, december 14th, is that right, i think thats the right date, yes. I assume, pat, that you would agree the president is obligated to abide by the rulings of the court. Of course. And i assume you also everybody is obligated to abide by the rulings of the courts. And i assume you also would agree the president has a particular obligation to take care the laws be faithfully executed. That is one of the president s obligations, correct. Ivanka, do you believe the president is obligated to abide by the rulings of the courts . I do. By mid december of 2020, President Trumps senior staff were attempting to persuade him to concede the election outcome. But if your question is did i believe he should concede the election at a point in time, yes, i did. December 14th was the day that the state certified their votes and sent them to congress, and in my view, that was the end of the matter. I didnt see, you know, i thought that this would lead to a new administration. I told him that my personal viewpoint was that the Electoral College had met, which is the system that our country is set under to elect a president and Vice President , and i believed at that point that the means for him to pursue litigation was probably closed. And you recall what his response, if any, was . He disagreed. Secretary of labor, gene scalia, the son of late justice scalia, visited President Trump in mid december and explained the situation clearly. So i even put a call to the president , might have called on the 13th. We spoke, i believe, on the 14th in which i conveyed to him that i thought that it was time for him to acknowledge that President Biden had prevailed in the election. But i communicated to the president that when that Legal Process is exhausted, and when the electors have voted, that thats the point at which that outcome needs to be expected. I told him that i did believe, yes, that once those Legal Processes were run, fraud had not been established, that had affected the outcome of the election, concede the outcome. Not only did the courts reject President Trumps fraud and other allegations, department of justice appointees did as well. President trump knew the truth. He heard what all his experts and senior staff were telling him. He knew he had lost the election. But he made the deliberate choice to ignore the courts, to ignore the Justice Department, to ignore his campaign leadership, to ignore Senior Advisors, and to pursue a completely unlawful effort to overturn the election. The his intent was plain. Ignore the rule of law and stay in power. Mr. Chairman, i yield back. Gentleman yields back. The chair recognizes the chair woman from virginia. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Mid december was a turning point. President trump made a decision, a choice to ignore the courts and his advisors and push forward to overturn the election. His efforts to overturn the election were not random or disconnected, rather they were part of a coordinated multipart plan to ensure he stayed in power. Donald trump was the driver behind each part of this plan. He was personally and directly involved. Of course, a key element of the plan was continuing to convince tens of millions of americans that he did not, in fact, lose. Again he did this even though his own Campaign Advisors and Justice Department officials told him his claims of fraud were wrong. In this video youll see even when top Law Enforcement officials told the president his Election Fraud claims were false he still repeated the claims in the days and weeks that followed. Sometimes even the next day dominion Voting Machines, i found the most disturbing allegations, disturbing in the sense i saw absolutely 0 basis for the allegations. I told him that it was that it was crazy stuff and they were wasting their time on that, and doing a great grave disservice to the country. We have a company thats very suspect. Its name is dominion. The turn of a dial or change of a chip, press a button for trump and the vote goes to biden. We talked about the county again sort of done, the hand recount had been done and all that, but we cited back to that to say you know this is an example of what people are telling you and filed in some Court Filings that are just not supported by the evidence. And this is the problem, the problem that people keep telling you these things and they turn out not to be true. In addition there is the highly troubling matter of dominion voting systems. In one michigan county alone, 6,000 votes were switched from trump to biden, and the same systems are used in the majority of states in our country. I went into this and would, you know, tell him how crazy some of these allegations were and how ridiculous some of them were. Im talking about some of the ones like, you know, more votes more absentee votes were cast in pennsylvania than there were absentee ballots requested, it was easy to blow up. There was never there was never an indication of interest in what the actual facts were. There were more votes than there were voters. Think of that. You had more votes than you had voters. Thats an easy one to figure. And by the thousands. He raised the big vote dump as he called it in detroit, and that you know, he said people saw boxes coming into the counting station at all hours of the morning and i said mr. President , there are 630 precincts in detroit, and unlike elsewhere in the state they central lize the counting process, so they are moved to counting stations and so the normal process would involve boxes coming in at all different hours. This is michigan. At 6 31 in the morning, a vote dump of 149,772 votes came in. Unexpectedly. With regard to georgia, we looked at the tape, interviewed the witnesses, there is no suitcase. The president kept fixating the suitcase with fraudulent ballots and i said no, sir, there is no suitcase. You can watch it over and over, no suitcase. There is a wheeled bin where they carry the ballots and thats how they move them and the facility. Nothing suspicious about that at all. Election officials pull boxes, democrats, and suitcases of ballots out from under a table, you all saw it on television, totally fraudulent. This happened over and over again. And our committees report will document it. Purposeful lies made in public directly at odds with what donald trump knew from unassailable sources. The Justice Department own investigations and his own campaign. Donald trump maliciously repeated this nonsense to a wide audience over and over again. His intent was to deceive. President trumps plan also involved trying to coerce government officials to change the election outcome in the states he lost. Personally reached out to numerous state officials and pressured them to take unlawful steps to alter the Election Results in those states. These actions, taken directly by the president himself, made it clear what his intentions were, to prevent the orderly transfer of power. We all recall, for example, President Trumps tape recorded call with georgia secretary of state. At the time the call occurred, President Trump had been told repeatedly by the u. S. Justice department, by his campaign and advisors his allegations of fraud in georgia were false. So look, all i want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won the state. Look, we need only 11,000 votes, we have far more than that as it stands now. Well have more and more. So, what are we going to do here, folks . I only need 11,000 votes. Fellas, i need 11,000 votes, give me a break. I just want to find 11,780 votes. Thats an extraordinary demand by the president , especially since he already knew from the Justice Department there was no genuine basis for this request. No one could think it would be legal for the secretary of state to simply find the votes the president needed in order to win. The secretary told the president the truth, that he lost the election in georgia. But President Trump did not accept that answer. Instead, he suggested that the secretary himself might be prosecuted. Thats the thing, you know, thats a criminal thats a criminal offense, and you know, you cant let that happen, thats thats a big risk to you and to ryan, your lawyer, thats a big risk. We know that President Trumps white house advisors reacted negatively. Immediately after the call, Cassidy Hutchinson had a conversation with chief of staff mark