and what was mr. herschmann s response? mr. herschmann said he had made the same, you know, recommendation directly to the president, and that he had refused. so i understand, mr. herschmann said he had already recommended to the president that the president convey a message that people should be peaceful on january 6th and the president had refused to do that? yes. the public will be able to review this in the transcripts and see the perspective eric herschmann gave before we took her testimony. despite threats of violence by the crowd on january 6th, president trump gave an incendiary speech, declaring without basis the election had been stolen and encouraging his supporters to fight like hell. and during the speech and immediately thereafter, president trump stated his intention to travel to the capitol with his supporters in an effort to influence the joint
to alter official election results. but courageous public servants, including republicans like rusty bowers held firm and refused to put donald trump over their oath to the constitution. when the pressure campaign did not achieve the results he wanted, he sought to transmit the false ballots to congress and the national archives. created by fake republican electors on december 14th. at the same time the actual certified electors in those states were meeting to cast their votes for president biden. by that point in time, election-related litigation was over in all or nearly all of these states, and trump campaign election lawyers realized that the fake slates were unjustifiable on any grounds and may be unlawful. in spite of these concerns and the concerns of individuals in the white house counsel s
gentleman from california. former president trump s multi-part plan did not stop with the states or with the department of justice. it touched nearly every component of our federal system, ranging from the courts, to congress, to his own vice president mike pence. in the weeks before january 6th, mr. trump turned to the man who had served him loyally for four years. he embraced an illegal scheme proposed by john eastman and others who concocted an unfounded legal theory that the vice president could reject joe biden s electoral votes during the joint session. when vice president pence and many others, including trump s own lawyer, john eastman, told him incorrectly that former president trump spearheaded an unprecedented campaign to coerce him to do it anyway. ultimately, culminating in a
during this time, law enforcement agents were attacked and seriously injured. capitol was invaded, electoral was halted, and lives at risk. in addition to being unlawful, it was an utter moral failure and clear dereliction of duty. evidence of this can be seen in the testimony of president trump s own white house counsel and several other white house witnesses. no man who would behave that way at that moment in time can ever serve in any position of authority in our nation again. he is unfit for any office. the committee recognizes that our work has only begun, only the initial step in addressing president trump s effort to remain in office illegally. p prosecutors are considering the conduct we describe in the
adam schiff for an opening statement. thank you, mr. chairman. building on his constant repetition of the big lie, president trump engaged in an unprecedented effort to obstruct the joint session on january 6th. proceeding where his electoral loss would be certified by congress. this effort began in part in the states which hold, count and ultimately determine winners of presidential elections. many state officials were targeted by president trump and his campaign. the local election workers he accused baselessly of election fraud, the state officials he pressured to stop the count or to find votes that didn t exist and the state legislative he urged to disregard the popular will of the voters and oath of office and name him the winner instead. here are the findings about president trump s state pressure campaign. president trump and his enablers repeatedly pressured state