revealed. right now, the nation s focus returns to the u.s. capitol as we await the most comprehensive account yet of crimes committed against the united states on this sacred ground. welcome to cnn special coverage of attack on democracy here on cnn. i m jake tapper, about an hour away from the rare prime time presentation on this committee and let s be clear, what will happen in the hearing room tonight is not just about the mob that stormed the capitol on january 6th, specifically, it is a month s long campaign and conspiracy to undermine democracy in america. it s about a president and those around him desperate to hold on to power at any cost, even if it meant destroying the american experiment. committee aides say we will hear and see interviews conducted with trump insiders for the first time. we expect that to possibly include members of the former president s family, as well as former senior administration and trump campaign officials. the hearing will showcase l
more unamerican than the notion that any one person could choose the american president. what president trump demanded that mike pence do wasn t just wrong, it was illegal and unconstitutional. you will hear this in great detail from the vice-president former general council. witnesses in these hearings will explain how the former vice-president and his staff informed president trump over and over again that what he was pressuring mike pence to do was illegal. as you will hear, president trump engaged in a relentless effort to pressure pence, both in private and public. you will see the evidence of that pressure from multiple witnesses, live and on video. vice-president pence demonstrated his loyalty to donald trump consistently over four years but he knew that he had a higher duty to the united states constitution. this is testimony from the
tonight, i say this to my republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible. there will come a day when donald trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain. finally, i ask all of our fellow americans, as you watch our hearings over the coming weeks, please remember what s at stake. remember the men and women who have fought and died so that we can live under the rule of law, not the rule of men. i ask you to think of the scene in our capitol rotunda on the night of january 6th, there in our sacred space in our constitutional republican, watched over by statues of washington and jefferson, lincoln and grant, eisenhower, ford and reagan, against every wall that night encircling the room, there were swat teams. men and women in tactical gear with long guns deployed inside our capitol building.
quote, oppose by force, the authority of the government of the united states and, according to the department of justice, on january 6th, 2021, the defends directed, led and mobilized members of the crowd into the capitol, leading to the dismantling of metal barricades, destruction of property, breaching of the capitol building and the assault on law enforcement. although certain former trump officials have argued they did not anticipate violence on january 6th, the information suggests otherwise. as you will see in our hearings, the white house was receiving specific reports in the days leading up to january 6th, including during president trump s rally, indicating that elements in the crowd were preparing for violence at the capitol. and on the evening of january 5th, the president s close
donohue s assessment. if clark assumed the role of attorney general in the days before january 6th and issued these letters, the ramifications could indeed have been grave. mr. donohue also said this about clark s claims. i recall toward the end saying what you re proposing is nothing less than the united states justice department medaling in the outcome of the election. in our hearings you ll hear first hand how the senior department of justice official threatened to resign and how they treated trump and clark in the oval office. acting attorney general were appointed by donald trump. these men took their oath of office, did their duty, and you will hear from them in their