0 along those lines, and then he fairly quickly moved to how fired up the crowd is, was going to be. >> and >> just that they were fired up. they were angry. the election was stolen, the election was rigged. >> did he give any communication how he knew that the crowd was fired up or angry? >> he continued referencing hearing them outside. >> through the open door of the oval us a, the president could hear the sound of the crowd and the music at the freedom plaza. these are some of the things that they were saying there at the plaza. just blocks from where the president sat that evening excited for the next day. >> this is nothing less than an epic struggle for the future of this country between dark and light. between the godly and the godless. between good and evil. and we will win this fight or america will is step off into 1,000 years of darkness. >> tomorrow, tomorrow, trust me, the american people that are standing on the soil that we're standing on tonight and they're going to be standing on this soil tomorrow, this is soil that we have fought over, fought for and we will fight for in the future. the members of congress, the members of the house of representatives, the members of the united states senate, those of you who are feeling weak tonight, those of you that don't have the moral fire in your body, get some tonight. because tomorrow, we the people will be here and we want you to know that we won't stand for a lie. we will not stand for a lie. >> i want them to know that 1776 is always an option. these degenerateses will give us what we want or we're going to shut this country down. >> 1776. 1776. 1776. 1776. >> at 5:05 p.m. as the freedom plaza rally was underway blocks away, president trump tweeted "washington is being inundated with people that don't want to see an election victory stolen but radical left democrats. our country has had enough. they won't take it anymore. the crowds gathering in d.c., he said we hear you and love you from the oval office. the committee learned january 5, there were serious concerns about the anticipated violence the next day. listen to what the twitter witness told us about their efforts to get twitter to do something. >> what was your gut feeling the night of january 5? >> i believe i sent a flock message to someone along the lines of, when people are shooting each other tomorrow, i will try to rest in the knowledge that we tried. so i went to -- i don't know that i slept that night to be honest with you. i was on pins and needles. because for months i had been begging and anticipating and attempting to believe the reality that if nothing, if we made no intervention of what i saw occurring, people were going to die. on january 5, i realized that no intervention had come in. as hard as i tried to create one or implement one, there was nothing and we were at the whim and the mercy of a violent crowd. that was locked and loaded. >> just for the record, this was content that was echoing statements by the former president and proud boys and other known violent groups? >> yes. >> there were also concerns among members of congress. we have a recently released recording of a conversation that took place among republican members in the u.s. capitol on the eve of january 6. this is debby lesko from arizona, who left some of the unfounded results to the election. >> i also asked leadership to come up with a safety plan for members. i'm very concerned about this. we have who knows how many hundreds of thousands of people coming here. we have antifa. we also have quite honestly trump supporters that actually believe that we are going to overturn the election. when that doesn't happen most likely will not happen, they're going to go nuts. >> that same evening as president trump listened to the rally from the oval office, he was also working on his speech to be delivered the next day. based on documents that we received from the national archives and witness testimony, we understand how that speech devolved into a call the action and a call to fight. one of the first edit president trump made to his speech was to incorporate his 5:05 p.m. tweet revising his speech to say, all of us are here today do not want to see our election victory stolen by radical left democrats. our country has had enough. he also said we will stop the steal. president trump's edits continued into the morning of january 6. as you can see from the president's daily diary here, the president spoke to his chief speechwriter, stephen miller, over 25 minutes that morning. following his call with mr. miller, president trump inserted for the first time a line in his speech that said "and we will see if mike pence enters history as a truly great leader. all he has to do is refer illegally submitted votes back to the states so they can recertified. no prior version had referenced vice president pence or his role during the joint session january 6. these last-minute edits by president trump to his speech were part of the pressure campaign against his own vice president. not everyone wanted these lines regarding the vice president included in the president's speech including white house lawyer eric herschman. >> did you ever speak with the president based on the objection from counsel? >> maybe had a brief conversation about it with eric herschman. >> tell me about. what do you remember him saying? >> i just remember him saying that he had a -- trying not to get this wrong. something to the effect of thinking it will be counter productive, i think he thought, to discuss the matter publicly. >> so came up in the context of editing the president's speech on january 6? >> the conversation where eric knew it wasn't in the speech, so he had a side bar with me about it. >> so the speechwriters took that advice and removed the lines about vice president persons. later that morning at 11:20 a.m., president trump had a phone call with the vice president. as the committee detailed earlier, that phone call was by all accounts tense and heated. during the call, the vice president told the president that he would not attempt to change the outcome of the election. in response, the president called the vice president of the united states a wimp and other derogatory words. as you can see in this e-mail, after vice president pence told president trump that he would not unilaterally deliver him a second term in office, the speechwriters were directed to reinsert the mike pence lines. here's how one of the speechwriters described the president's last minute change to the speech. >> and as i recall, there was a very tough sentence about the vice president that was added. >> president trump wanted to use his speech to attack vice president pence in front of a crowd of thousands of angry supporters who had been led to believe the election was stolen. when president trump arrived at the elipse to deliver his speech, he was still worked up from his call with vice president pence. although -- ivanka trump would not say so, she gave some insight. >> you hoped to calm the president and keep him on an even keel. is that accurate? >> no. i don't know who said that or where that came from. >> what did she say to you about why it was concerning that her father was upset or agitated after that call with vice president pence in relation to the elipse rally? why did that matter? why did he have to be calmed down, i should say? >> well, she shared that he had called the vice president -- an expletive word. that bothered her. she could tell based on the conversations and what was going on in the office that he was angry and upset and people were providing disinformation. she felt like she might be able to help calm the situation down. at least before he went on the stage. >> the president did go on stage and then he gave the speech that he wanted to give. it included the formal changes that he requested the night before and in that morning, but also many important last-minute ad lib changes. a single scripted reference in the speech to mike pence became eight. a single scripted reference to the rally goers became four and president trump said he would join them at the capitol. added to the reference were fighting and the need for people to have courage and to be strong. the word peacefully was in the staff written script and used ones. here's some of the ad lib changes the president made. >> because you'll never take back our country with weakness. you have to show strength and you have to be strong. so i hope mike has the courage to do what he has to do and i hope he doesn't listen to the rinos and the stupid people he's listening to. we fight like hell. if you don't fight like hell, you wouldn't have a country anymore. we're trying to give our republican the weak ones because the strong won'ts don't need our help, we're going to try to give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country. so let's walk down pennsylvania avenue. >> white house counsel pat cipollone and his deputy did not attend the speech. they were concerned that the statements in the speech about the election were false. in fact, the message that president trump delivered that day was built on a foundation of lies. he lied to his supporters that the election was stolen, he stoked their anger, he called for them to fight for him, he directed them to the u.s. capitol, he told them he would join them and his supporters believed them and many headed to the capitol. as a result, people died. people were injured. many of his supporters lives will never be the same. president trump's former campaign manager brad parscal recognized that and this is what he said to katrina pearson. mr. parscal said "this is about trump pushing for uncertainty in our country. a sitting president asking or the civil war. when he said this week i feel guilty for helping him win, katrina pearson responded, you did what you felt right at that time and therefore it was right. mr. parscal added, yeah, but a woman is dead and, yeah, if i was trump and i knew my red rick killed someone. when mrs. pearson replied, it wasn't the rhetoric. mr. parscal said katrina, yes it was. thank you, mr. chairman. i yield back. gentle lady yields back. we're joined today by mr. jason tavenhold and mr. stephen ayers. mr. tavenhold is an artist, journalist and a spoker keeper of the oath keepers. he has been charged with sadicoius conspiracy in relation to the capitol attack. he broke with the oath keepers and has since spoken out against the violent group. mr. ayers is a former supporter of president trump. he answered the president's call to come to washington d.c. on january 6. he marched to the capitol on the president's orders. he pleaded guilty last month to disorderly and disrupt ty conduct at the capitol. mr. ayers, who is no longer supports president trump, came forward voluntarily to share his story as a warning. i will now swear in our witnesses. the witnesses will please stand and raise their right hand. do you swear or affirm under the penalty of perjury what you are about to testify is the truth, the whole truth so help you god? thank you. you may be seated. let the record reflect that the witnesses answered in the affirmative. i recognize myself for questions. today we discussed how president trump summoned an angry mob of supporters to washington d.c. many of whom came prepared to do battle against police and politicians alike. we're fortunate enough to be joined by two witnesses that can help us understand who was in the mob that day. both hardcore violent extremists like the oath keepers and proud boys and average trump supporters swept up in the fervor. mr. van tatenhold, can you help us understand who the oath keepers are? >> i can. thank you. my time with the oath keepers began back on the first standoff when i went to cover them as an independent journalist. i subsequently covered two more standoffs. the sugar pine standoff and the white hope standoff. it was at that time i was offered a job as a national media director for the web page. so i spent a few years with the oath keepers. i can tell you that they may not like to call themselves a malitia, but they are. they're a violent malitia. they are largely stewart rhodes. i think rather than try to use words, i think the best illustration for what the oath keepers are happened january 6 when we saw that stacked military formation going up the stairs of our capitol. i saw radicalization that started with my beginning of my time with them and continued over a period of time as the member base and who it was that stewart rhodes was courting drifted further and further right into the alt right world and into white nationalists. even straight-up racists. it came to a point that i could no longer work for them. but the oath keepers are a dangerous malitia that is in large part fed by the ego and drive of steward rhodes who at times saw himself as this paramilitary leader. i think that drove a lot of it. in my opinion, they're a very dangerous organization. >> thank you. you talked about that danger. so what is the oath keeper's vision for america and why should americans be concerned about it? >> we saw a glimpse of the vision of the oath keepers january 6. it doesn't necessarily include the rule of law. doesn't necessarily include -- it includes violence. it includes trying to get their way through lies, through deceit, through intimidation and through the lies and propaganda that can get swept up in these moments. and i'll admit, i was swept up at one point, too. but i don't know if that answers the question. >> it does. you talk about being swept up. at what point did you break with the oath keepers? >> there came a point -- there were many red flags. i probably should have broke with them earlier than i did. but the straw that broke the camel's back came when i walked in to a grocery store. we were living in the very remote town of eureka, montana. there was a group of core members of the group of the oath keepers and associates. they had a conversation at that public area where they were talking about how the holocaust was not real. that was for me something that i just could not abide. we were not -- we were not wealthy people at all. we were barely surviving. it didn't matter. i went home to my wife and my kids and i told them that i've got to walk away at this point. i don't know how we're going to survive or where we're going to do or what we're going to do, but i can no longer continue and put in my resignation. >> thank you very much. mr. ayers, there were many people in the crowd that day, january 6th, including you, who were not part of an extremist group. i'd like to start by having you tell the american people a little bit about yourself. can you tell us about your life before january 6? >> yeah. basically nothing but a family man and a working man. i worked at the company, a cabinet company in northeast ohio for going on 20 years. you know, family is my life. you know, i was a supervisor there. so that took up a lot of my other -- a lot of my free time. other than that, with my family, camping, playing basketball, playing games with my son. >> what any ordinary american citizen, family man would do. >> exactly. >> so this committee has reviewed thousands of hours of surveillance footage from january 6. during this review, we identified you entering the capitol as we see in this video. mr. ayers, why did you decide to come to washington on january 6? >> for me personally, you know, i was pretty hardcore in to the social media facebook, twitter, instagram. i followed president trump. all the websites. basically put out, you know, come to stop the steal rally. i felt like i needed to be down here. >> so you basically learned about the rally on social media and at some point made a decision to come to washington. >> yep, yep. i had some friend that found out we're coming down. i hopped on with them right at the tail end when i found out. i came down here with them. >> thanks very much. the chair recognizes the vice chair, mrs. cheney of wyoming of any questions she may have. >> thanks very much, mr. chairman. mr. ayres, when you entered the capitol last year, did you believe that the election had been stolen? >> at that time, yeah. you know, everything i was seeing online, i definitely believed that's exactly what that was the case. >> when you heard from president trump that the election was stolen, how did that make you feel? >> oh, i was very upset as were many of his supporters. you know, that's basically what got me to come down here. >> do you still believe the election was stolen? >> not so much now. i got away from the social media. when january 6 happened. basically deleted it all. i started doing my own research and everything. for me, for something like that to be that -- for that to actually take place, it's too big. there's no way you can keep something like that quiet as big as something like that -- with all the lawsuits being shot down one after another, that was mainly what convinced me. >> well, i think that's very important. we've also talked about today and previous hearings the extent to which the president himself was told that the election hadn't been stolen by his justice department, by his white house counsel, by his campaign. would it have made a difference to you to know that president trump himself had no evidence of widespread fraud? >> definitely. who knows, i may not have come down here, you know. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i yield back. >> gentle lady yields back. the chair recognizes mrs. murphy from florida. >> thank you, mr. chairman. you know, earlier today, we showed how donald trump's december 19th tweet summoned both extremist groups and rank and file supporters of president trump to come to washington d.c. average americans. he told them to "be there, we'll be wild" and they came. we show how president trump repeatedly told them fight, fight, fight and they marched to the capitol. mr. ayers, you were in that crowd at the rally and the crowd that marched to the capitol. when you arrived on the elipse, were you planning on going to the capitol? >> no, we didn't plan to go down there. you know, we went basically to see the stop the steal rally. that was it. >> so why did you decide to march to the capitol? >> well, basically the president got everybody riled up, told into head down. so we basically just following what he said. >> after the president's speech as you're marching down to the capitol, how did you feel? >> i was angry after everything that was basically said in the speech. a lot of the stuff he said, he already put out in tweets. i had seen it and heard it before. so i was already worked up. so were most of the people there. >> so as you started marching, did you think there was still a chance the election would be overturned? >> yeah, at that time i did. everybody was kind of like in the hope that vice president pence was not going to certify the election. also the whole time on our way down there, i kept hearing about this big reveal. i remember us talking about. we thought that was it. that hope was there. >> did you think that the president would be marching with you? >> yeah, i think everybody thought he was going to be coming down. he said it in his speech. you know, like he's going to be there with us. i believed it. >> i understand. so we know that you illegally entered the capitol that afternoon and left the capitol area later on. what made you decide to leave? >> basically when president trump put his tweet out. we literally left after that. you know, to me, if he would have done that at 1:30, i -- you know, we wouldn't maybe would be in this bad of a situation or something. >> thank you. mr. chairman, i yield back. >> chair recognizes mr. raskin from maryland. >> thank you. mr. van tatenhoft, stewart rhodes implored president trump to invoke the insurrection act, the law that allows the president to put up malitias to put down a rebellion against the united states. i want your thoughts about this in your prior relationship with stewart rhodes. i understand that you had conversations with rhodes about the insurrection act. why was he so fixated on that and what did he think it would enable the oath keepers to do? >> well. >> i think it gave him a sense of legitimacy that it was a path forward to move forward with his goals and agendas. i think we need to quit mincing words and just talk about truths and what it was going to be was an armed revolution. people died that day. law enforcement officers died this day. there was a gallos set up in front of the capitol. this could have been the spark that started a new civil war. no one would have won there. that would have been good for no one. he was always looking for ways to legitimize what he was doing, whether be wrapping it in the trappings of it's not a malitia. we're not a malitia. we're an educational outreach group. it's a veteran support group. again, we have to stop with this dishonesty and the mincing of words and call things for what they are. he's a malitia leader. he's got grand visions of being a paramilitary leader. the insurrection act would have given him a path forward with that. the fact that the president was communicating whether directly or indirectly messaging kind of -- that gave him the nod. all i can do is thank the gods that things did not go any worse that day. >> what did the oath keepers see in president trump? >> they saw a path forward that would have legitimacy. they saw opportunity, i think, in my opinion, to become a paramilitary force. >> last week the department of justice indicated that it has evidence of the oath keepers bringing not just firearms but explosives to washington ahead of january 6. the committee has learned that stewart rhodes stopped to by weapons on his way to washington and shipped roughly 7,000 worth of tactical gear to a january 6 rally planner in virginia before the attack. did you ever hear rhodes discuss committing violence against elected political leaders? >> yeah, i mean that went back from the very beginning of my tenure. one of the first assignments that he brought to me wanting me to do is more of a graphic artist function was to create a deck of cards. you may remember back to the conflict in the middle east where our own military created a deck of cards which was a who's who of the key players on the other side that they wanted to take out. stewart was very intrigued by that notion and influenced by it, i think. he wanted me to create a deck of cards that would include different politicians, judges, including up to hillary clinton as the queen of hearts. this is a project that i refused to do. but from the very start, we saw that. there was always the push for military training, including there were courses in that community that went over explosives training. yeah, this all falls in line. >> you say in your thoughtful written testimony that we received today that you fear what the next election cycle will bring. you also say that we have been exceedingly lucky we have not seen more bled shed so far. would you elaborate? >> i think as far as the luck goes, we've had the potential from bundy ranch on. being boots on the ground at these standoffs and they were standoffs where there were firearms pointed across lines at federal law enforcement agents. you know, whatever it may be with that particular standoff. but i do -- i think we've gotten exceedingly lucky that more bled shed did not happen. because the potential has been there from the start. and we got very lucky that the loss of life was and as tragic as it is, that we saw on january 6, the potential was so much more. again, all we have to look at is the iconic images of that day with the gallos set up for mike pence, for the vice president of the united states. you know? i do fear for this next election cycle because who knows what that might bring. if a president that is willing to try to instill and encourage to whip up a civil war amongst his followers using lies and deceit and snake oil, regardless of the human impact, what else is he going to do if he gets elected again? all bets are off at that point. that is a scary notion. i have three daughters, i have a granddaughter. i fear for the world that they will inherit if we do not start holding these people to account. >> thank you for your testimony. mr. ayres, i first want to ask you about what finally caused you to leave on january the 6th. we know that the medieval-style combat with our police, the occupation of the building, this was going on for several hours until the president issued at 4:17 a tweeted, i believe, that included a video telling people to go home. did you see that and did that have any effect on what you were doing? >> when we were there, as soon as that come out, everybody started talking about it. it seemed like it started to disburse, you know, some of the crowd. once we got back to the hotel room, we seen it was still going on, but it disbursed a lot of the crowd. >> did you leave? >> yeah, we left. >> so in other words, that was the key moment when you decided to leave, when president trump told people to go home? >> yeah, yeah, we left when that come out. >> you were not a member of an organized group like the oath keepers on the proud boys as most of the crowd wasn't. i wonder on january 6, was it your view that these far-right groups like the oath keepers and proud boys were on your side? did you have any reservations about marching with them and rallying with them? >> well, i definitely didn't have a problem. i was probably following them online myself. i thought, hey, they're on our team. good. that's how i looked at it at the time. you know, i didn't have a problem with it. i thought it was a good thing. >> i'm interested in hearing about what has happened to you since the events of january 6. you told the vice chair that you no longer believe trump's big lie about the election, but that's what brought you originally to washington. looking back on it now, how do you reflect on the role that you played in the crowd that day and what is going on in your life? >> basically, you know, i lost my job. since this all happened, pretty much sold my house. so everything that happened with the charges, thank god a lot of them got dismissed because i was just holding my phone. at the same time, i was there. so it changed my life. not for the good. definitely not for the better. that's all i can say. >> president trump is still promoting the big lie about the election. how does that make you feel? >> makes me mad. because i was hanging on every word he was saying. every word he pull out, i was following it. if i was doing it, hundreds of thousands or millions of other people are doing it. it's like he just said about that, you know, he got people following and doing that. who knows if the next election could come out, they could be down the same path that we are right now. just don't know. >> your wife has joined you today and welcomed you to washington. we know this has been difficult on you both. and your family. what lessons do you want the american people to learn from the way you and your family have suffered as a result of these events? >> biggest thing is i consider myself a family man and i love my country. i don't think anyone man is bigger than either one of those. i think that's what needs to be taken. people dive in to the politics and for me, i felt like i had horse blinders on. i was locked in the whole time. biggest thing for me is take the blinders off. step back and see what's going on before it's too late. >> well, i want to thank you for your testimony and for appearing both of you today. mr. chairman, i yield back to you. >> gentleman yields back. i want to thank our witnesses for joining us today. the members of the select committee may have additional questions for today's witnesses. we ask that you respond expeditiously in writing to those questions. without objections, members will be permitted ten business days to submit statements for the record including opening remarks and additional questions for the witnesses. without objection, the chair recognizes the gentleman from maryland, mr. raskin, for a closing statement. >> thank you, mr. chairman. when donald trump sent out his tweet, he became the first president ever to call for a crowd to descend on the capitol city to block the constitutional transfer of power. he said off an explosive chain reaction. seizing upon his invitation to fight, they assembled their followers for a show down against congress and the vice president. january 6, trump knew the crowd was angry, he knew the crowd was armed and he sent them to the capitol anyway. you might imagine our founders would have been shocked to learn that an american president would come to use political violence against our own institutions and knowingly send an armed mob to attack the capitol to userp the will of the people. the founders were wise about certain things. at the start of the republic, they warned everyone about donald trump. not by name, of course, but in the course of advising about the certain prospect that ambitious politicians would try to mobilize violent mobs to tear down our own institutions in service of theirambitions. in the very first federalist paper, alexander hamilton observed that history opportunities opportunistic politicses that desire to rule at all costs will begin first as demagogues but end up as tyrants. a violent insurrection is not an acc extract thing. hundreds of people were bloodies, injured and wounded in the process, including more than 150 police officers. some of them sitting in this room today. i want to give you an update on one officer that was badly wounded in the attack and is well-known to the members of this committee. he testified before us last year. sergeant goodnell spent an active duty in iraq war and 16 years on the capitol force. nothing he saw in combat in iraq prepared him for the insurrection where he was beaten, punched, pushed, stomped and sprayed with chemicals along with other officers by members of a mob carrying hammers, knives, bad tons and police shields taken by force and wielding the american flag against police officers as a dangerous weapon. last month, on june 28th, the sergeant's teams of doctors told him that permanent injuries that he suffered to his left shoulder and right foot make it impossible for him to continue as a police officer. he must leave policing for good and figure out the rest of his life. sergeant gonell, we wish you and your family all the best. we're here for you. we salute you for your valor, your eloquence and beautiful commitment to america. i wonder what former president would say to someone like sergeant gonell who has to go about remaking his life? i wonder if he could understand what motivates a patriot like sergeant gonell. in his inaugural address, trump introduced one commanding image. american carnage. although that turn of phrase explained little about our country before he took office, it turned out to be an excellent prophecy of what his rage would come to visit on our people. mr. ayres just described how the trust he played in president trump as a camp follower derailed his life and nearly wrecked his reputation and his family. a few weeks ago, we heard shea moss and ruby freeman speak of the georgia secretary state describe how hate-filled intimidations campaigns by trump an his followers made them prisoners in their homes and drove stress and anxiety to new heights when they renewed to do trump's bidding. american carnage, that is trump's true legacy. his desire to seize the presidency, interrupt the counting of votes nor the first time in american history, nearly toppled the constitutional order and brutalized hundreds and hundreds of people. the water gate break-in was like a cub scout meeting compared to this assault on our people and our institutions. mr. chairman, these hearings have been significant for us and americans of americans and in our hearing next wouldn't will be a profound moment of reckoning for america. the crucial step is this committee, what we'll do to fort fight our democracy against coups, political violence and campaigns to steal elections away from the people. unlike mr. ayres and mr. van tatenhove, people that have recovered and evolved from their december sent to the hell of fanaticism, donald trump expanded his big lie to cover january 6 itself. he says the insurrection was the real election. he says his mob greeted our police officers on january 6 with hugs and kisses. he threatens to take one of america's two major political parties with him down the road to authoritarianism and as abraham's lincoln's party no less. the political scientists say authoritarian parties have two essential features in common in history and around the world. they don't accept the results of democratic elections when they lose and embrace political violence as legitimate. and the problem of incitement to political violence has only grown more serious in the internet age as we have just heard. this is not the problem of one party. it is the problem of the whole country now. american democracy, mr. chairman, is a precious inheritance, something rare in the history of the world and even on earth today, constitutional democracy is the silver frame as lincoln put it upon which the golden apple of freedom rests. we need to defend both our democracy and our freedom with everything that we have and declare that this american carnage ends here and now in a world of resurgent authoritarianism and racism and anti-semitism. let's all hang tough for american democracy. thank you, mr. chairman. i yield back. >> gentleman yields back. without objection, the chair recognizes the gentle woman from florida, mrs. murphy for a closing statement. >> thank you, mr. chairman. at one of our first hearings, chairman thompson explained one of the members of our committee wouldn't spend much times talking about ourselves rather we would let the evidence play the leading role. the chairman is right. this is not about promoting ourselves as individuals. it's about protecting the country that we love and preserving what makes america great. the rule of law, free and fair elections and the peaceful transfer of power from one elected leader to the next. if i may say a word about myself and why i'm proud to serve on this committee, i'm the only member of this committee who is not blessed to be born an american. i was born in vietnam after the vietnam war and my family and i fled a communist government and rescued by the u.s. navy and given sanctuary in america. my patriotism is rooted in my gratitude for america's grace and generosity. i love this country. on january 6, four decades after my family fled a place where political power was seized through violence, i was in the united states capitol fleeing my fellow americans. members of the angry mob had been lied to by a president and the other powerful people that tried to convince them without evidence that the election had been stolen from them. some of them then tried to use physical violence to overturn the outcome of a free and fair election. our committee's overriding operatives is to fight fiction with facts, to create a full account for the american people and for the historical record. to tell the truth of what happened and why it happened. to make recommendations so that it never happens again. to defend our democracy. to me, there's nothing more patriotic than that. thank you. mr. chairman, i yield back. >> gentle lady yields back. without objection, the chair recognizes the gentle woman from wyoming, mrs. cheney for a closing statement. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, let me put what you have seen today in a broader context. at the very outset of our hearings, we described several elements of president trump's multipart plan to overturn the 2020 election. our hearings have covered all but one of those elements. an organized campaign to persuade millions of a falsehood that the 2020 election was stolen by widespread fraud. a corrupt effort to pressure vice president pence to refuse to couldn't electoral votes and an effort to corrupt the u.s. department of justice, efforts to pressure state election officials and legislators to change state election results, a scheme to create and submit fake electoral slaves from multiple states. and today you saw how president trump summoned a mob to washington for january 6 and then knowing that that mob was armed, directed that mob to the united states capitol. everyone of these elements of the planning for january 6 is an independently serious matter. they were all ultimately focused on overturning the election. they all have one other thing in common. donald trump participated in each substantially and personally. he oversaw or directed the activity of those involved. next week, we will return to january 6 itself as we have shown in prior hearings donald trump and his legal team led by rudy guliani were working on january 6 to delay or halt congress' counting of electoral votes. the mob attacking and invaded the capitol on that afternoon of january 6 was achieving that result. for multiple hours, donald trump refused to intervene to stop it. he would not instruct the mob to leave or condemn the violence. he would not order them to evacuate the capitol and disburse. the many pleas for help from congress did no good. his staff insisted that president trump call off the attack. he would not. here are a few of the many things that you will hear next week from mr. cipollone. >> was it necessary to continue to push for a statement directing people to leave all the way through that period of time until -- >> i felt it was my obligation to i don't to push for that. others felt it was their obligation as well. >> would it have been possible at any moment for the president to walk down to the podium and the briefing room and talk to the nation at any time between when he first -- would have it been possible? >> yes, it would have been possible. >> and you will hear that donald trump never picked up the phone that day to order his administration to help. this is not ambiguous. he did not call the military, the secretary of defense received no order, he did not call his attorney general, he did not talk to the department of homeland security. mike pence did all of those things. donald trump did not. we will walk through the events of january 6th next week minute by minute. one more item. after our last hearing, president trump tried to call a witness in our investigation. a witness you have not yet seen in these hearings. that person declined to answer or respond to president trump's call and instead alerted their lawyer to the call. their later alerted us. this committee has applied that information to the department of justice. let me say one more time, we will take any effort to influence witness testimony very seriously. thank you, mr. chairman. i yield back. >> thank you. gentle lady yields back. in my opening, i mentioned how we look to our leaders to serve as a fail-safe if people in this country refuse to accept the results of an election. that is part of the way those in positions of public trust uphold their oath. how they show fidelity to the constitution. in the run up to january 6, donald trump had an obligation to tell his supporters to accept the results of the election. instead, he urged them to further along the path toward mob violence. the idea of mob violence makes me think of another sort of failsafe. all across this country, there's different ideas about what role the federal government should play in our lives. in fact, up here on this dias, there's plenty of different ideas. but there's moments when the institutions of our federal government are the failsafe. i am from a part of the country where had it not been for the federal government and the constitution, my parents and many more americans like them would have continued to be treated as second class citizens. the freedom to vote without harassment, travel in relative safety and dine and sleep where you choose is because we have a government that looks over the well-being of its citizens. this is especially important in moments of crises. when we have a natural disaster, that state government can't handle on their own. when there's an emergency that cries action by a public health services or our military, we have a federal government. what happened on january 6, 2020, was another one of those moments in history that test the strength of our federal government. january 6 was an attack on our country. it was an attack on our democracy, on our constitution. a sitting president with a violent mob trying to stop the peaceful transfer of power from one president to another. it still makes my blood boil to think of it. in a moment like that, what would you expect to see? you expect to see the president of the united states sitting behind a resolute desk in the oval office assuring the american people that the attack would be repelled and a threat would be dealt with. you expect to be re-assured that there was a failsafe. instead, the president of the united states sent the mob, he disregarded the advice of the people who had taken an oath to the constitution. he oversaw a scheme aided by people whose loyalty was only to donald trump. there's nothing that we can compare that to. there's nothing that our great nationist history has ever come close to that betrayal and dereliction. thank good any our system held many spite of a commander-in-chief that worked in opposition to what the constitution designed. when this committee reconvenes, we'll tell that story by the dereliction by the commander-in-chief, how close we came to a catastrophe for our democracy and how we remain in serious danger. the chair will request those in the hearing room will remain seated until the capitol police will escorted members from the room. without objection, the committee stands adjourned. >> martha: okay. with that, we bring in constitutional attorney and fox news contributor, jonathan turley, andy mccarthy with me, former federal prosecutor and fox news contributor. what was accomplished here and what is the goal in the end? >> i think the goal is to show that goal is unfit for office. i can't help but think that this is what we should have seen 17 months ago during the impeachment proceedings. it doesn't advance a criminal case. if they're trying to show he's unfit, you know, thompson talked about dereliction of duty at the end there. that was the impeachment case that they should have brought but didn't bring. >> martha: yeah. jonathan, it does feel like that. feels like we have a lot of testimony, very compelling much of it. and then in the end, we're told here's what you should think about what you just saw. >> yeah, i think the most telling moment at the end was congressman raskin saying where do we go from here. i was waiting for that answer. because it was raskin and others saying this is all about a criminal case. we believe we have evidence of a crime. we have one hearing to go. that case has not been made at least not completely, but people see different things in this testimony. you have the harvard professor that said that the tribe could be attempted with the attempted murder of vice president pence. that's how extreme that people can take this evidence and detach themselves from the criminal code. we didn't see there in the end, raskin's question was left dangling. maybe we'll hear if they want to try a referral. the problem with making referral, that you might not get it and you might get push back from prosecutors that this makes a good political case, but not necessarily a good criminal case. >> martha: 40 second left. you heard congress woman cheney at the end make the tampering charge that they've talked about before. seems like maybe they want to hang something on that. >> they're trying to brush back the interference with the witnesses. but they haven't made a criminal
Related Keywords
Georgia , United States , United States Capitol , District Of Columbia , Montana , Iraq , Wyoming , Washington , Vietnam , Republic Of , Florida , Whitehouse , Maryland , Virginia , Americans , America , American , Stewart Rhodes , Stephen Miller , Debby Lesko , Andy Mccarthy , Katrina Pearson , Ruby Freeman , Lines , Crowd , Election , Hearing , Communication , President , Things , Some , Us , Plaza , Sound , Music , Freedom Plaza , Open Door , Sat , Country , Nothing , Flight , Epic Struggle , Godly , Trust Me , Fight , Godless , Evil , Darkness , America Will , 1000 , People , Soil , Dover , Members , Won Ts Don T , Congress , Fire , House Of Representatives , United States Senate , Lie , We The People , Body , 1776 , Option , Degenerateses , Freedom Plaza Rally , Blocks , 05 , 5 , Committee , Victory , Oval Office , Democrats , Gathering , January 5 , Something , Violence , Witness , Twitter , Efforts , Concerns , Gut , Someone , Flock Message , Mother , Knowledge , Pins And Needles , Begging , Reality , Intervention , One , Mercy , Whim , Record , Boys , Statements , Content , U S Capitol , Conversation , Place , Groups , Recording , Yes , Republican , Results , Leadership , Safety Plan , Eve , Arizona , 6 , January 6 , Supporters , Thousands , Hundreds , Antifa , Trump , Doesn T , Rally , Evening , Nuts , Speech , The Call , Documents , Witness Testimony , Action , The National Archives , Ivanka Trump , Hang Tough For American Democracy , Tweet , Credit , Edits , Steal , Left Democrats , Mr , Line , Time , 25 , Mike Pence , Votes , States , Great Leader , Vice President , Part , Campaign , Pressure , Role , Version , Recertified , Everyone , Eric Herschman , White House , Objection , Counsel , Matter , Effect , Context , Wrong , Speechwriters , Editing , Wasn T , Advice , Side Bar , Phone Call , Persons , 20 , 11 , Words , Outcome , Response , Wimp , E Mail , Office , Term , Sentence , Vice President Pence , Elipse , Front , Led , Call , Insight , Keel , Relation , Elipse Rally , Father , Word , Conversations , Disinformation , Situation , Ago On Stage , Least , Stage , Changes , Reference , Fighting , Need , Rally Goers , Eight , Four , Staff , Courage , Ones , Script , Ad Lib , Mike , Strength , Weakness , Rinos , Fight Like Hell , Help , Pat Cipollone , Kind , Pride , Boldness , Deputy , Pennsylvania Avenue , Fact , Message , Foundation Of Lies , Result , Danger , Many , Brad Parscal , Lives , Same , Civil War , Uncertainty , Woman , Fred Rick , Chairman , Katrina , Mrs , It Wasn T , Rhetoric , Pearson , Gentle Lady , Journalist , Jason Tavenhold , Stephen Ayers , Oath Keepers , Keeper , Conspiracy , Spoker , Sadicoius , Attack , Group , Supporter , Borders , Ty Conduct , Witnesses , Story , Warning , Hand , Truth , Perjury , Penalty , God , Angry Mob , Questions , Affirmative , Reflect , Politicians , Police , Battle , Two , Van Tatenhold , Hardcore , Fervor , Extremists , Standoff , Sugar Pine Standoff , Hope Standoff , Standoffs , Malitia , Job , Media Director , Web Page , Violent Malitia , Capitol , Stairs , Illustration , Military Formation , Radicalization , Beginning , Member Base , Racists , Courting , Nationalists , Salt , Point , Dangerous Malitia , Work , Lego , Fed , It , Much , Paramilitary Leader , Drive , Who , Steward Rhodes , My Fellow Americans , Vision , Opinion , Oath Keeper , Organization , It Doesn T , Rule Of Law , Glimpse , Way , Lies , Deceit , Intimidation , Propaganda , Question , Straw , Grocery Store , Flags , The Camel S Back , Score Members , Town , Associates , Eureka , Area , Holocaust , Wife , Kids , It Didn T Matter , Resignation , Including You , January 6th , Life , Extremist Group , Family Man , Cabinet Company , Company , Working Man , Northeast Ohio , Family , Camping , Supervisor , Playing Basketball , Citizen , Son , Games , Video , Footage , Review , Social Media , Facebook , Websites , Instagram , Decision , Friend , Yep , Chair , Vice Chair , Thanks , Cheney , Everything , Cayres , Case , Research , Another , Lawsuits , Hearings , Hadn T , Extent , Evidence , Fraud , White House Counsel , Difference , Justice Department , Murphy , Donald Trump , Extremist Groups , December 19th Tweet , Rank And File , December 19th , 19 , Stop , Everybody , Head , Riled Up , Most , Marching , Tweets , Stuff , Hope , Like , Chance , Reveal , Bad , 30 , 1 , Congressman Raskin , Van Tatenhoft , Insurrection Act , Malitias , Thoughts , Relationship , Rebellion , Path , Forward , Legitimacy , Goals , Agendas , Sense , Spark , Law Enforcement Officers , Truths , Gallos Set Up , Armed Revolution , No One , Ways , Doing , Educational Outreach Group , Support Group , Trappings , Veteran , Leader , Visions , Mincing , Dishonesty , Malitia Leader , Nod , Gods , Opportunity , Force , Firearms , Explosives , Weapons , 7000 , Leaders , Rhodes , Rally Planner , Gear , Military , Assignments , Conflict , Tenure , Graphic Artist Function , Deck Of Cards , Middle East , Cards , Deck , Who S , Notion , Side , Players , Project , Hearts , Queen , Hillary Clinton , Courses , Push , Military Training , Community , Testimony , Election Cycle , Explosives Training , Falls , Potential , Luck , Bundy Ranch On , Bled , Ground , Law Enforcement Agents , Boots , Shed , More , Start , Loss , Images , Fear , Cycle , Followers , Human Impact , Snake Oil , Bets , World , Granddaughter , Daughters , Three , January The 6th , Combat , Building , Occupation , 4 , 17 , Home , Come Out , Hotel Room , Member , Reservations , View , Problem , Team , Thing , Events , Big Lie , Charges , House , Phone , Good , Better , Millions , Ijust Don T Know , Lessons , Oman , Anyone , Politics , Blinders , Horse Blinders On , Gentleman , Both , Objections , Writing , Closing Statement , Remarks , Ten , Power , Transfer , Capitol City , Chain Reaction , Invitation , Show , Founders , Institutions , Will , Republic , Course , Prospect , Service , Name , Mobs , Theirambitions , Desire , Politicses , Paper , Costs , Federalist , Alexander Hamilton , Insurrection , Extract Thing , Process , Bloodies , Demagogues , Tyrants , Injured , Acc , Police Officers , Update , Officer , Room , 150 , Goodnell , Duty , Iraq War , Capitol Force , 16 , Police Shields , Officers , Knives , Chemicals , Mob Carrying Hammers , Bad Tons , Punched , Weapon , Flag , On June 28th , 28 , June 28th , Policing , Police Officer , Injuries , Teams , Shoulder , Foot , Doctors , Sergeant Gonell , Commitment , Best , Figure , Brest , Eloquence , Valor , Patriot , Address , American Carnage , Image , Rage , Prophecy , Phrase , Camp Follower , Trust , Reputation , Shea Moss , Estate , Intimidations , Georgia Secretary , Is Trump , Bidding , Stress , Homes , Anxiety , Heights , Order , Counting , Presidency , Water Gate Break In , Wouldn T , Meeting , Assault , Cub Scout , Elections , Democracy , Step , Campaigns , Reckoning , Coups , Van Tatenhove , Fanaticism , December , Mob , Hugs And Kisses , Authoritarianism , Party , Lincoln , Political Parties , Parties , Road , Features , Scientists , Abraham , History , Serious , Incitement , Around The World , Internet , Inheritance , American Democracy , History Of The World , Freedom , Frame , Apple , Constitutional Democracy , Earth Today , Carnage , Here And Now , Anti Semitism , Racism , Let , Times , Individuals , Chairman Thompson , Preserving , America Great , Government , Sanctuary , Vietnam War , U S Navy , Generosity , Patriotism , Grace , Gratitude , Facts , Operatives , Fiction , Account , Recommendations , Outset , Elements , Plan , 2020 , Effort , Corrupt Effort To Pressure , Couldn T , Falsehood , Scheme , State Election , Officials , State Election Results , Legislators , Slaves , Planning , Mob To Washington , Common , Substantially , Activity , Team Led , Mob Attacking , Rudy Guliani , Few , Pleas , Obligation , Statement , Others , Briefing Room , Nation , Podium , Administration , Attorney General , Secretary , Defense , Department Of Homeland Security , Item , Investigation , Lawyer , Person , One More Time , Information , Failsafe , Opening , Country Refuse , Constitution , Oath , Positions , Up To , Public Trust , Mob Violence , Idea , Ideas , Sort , Edias , Plenty , Citizens , Class , Parents , Safety , Well Being , Sleep , Harassment , Crises , State Government , Emergency , Public Health Services , Natural Disaster , January 6 2020 , Blood , Desk , Threat , Loyalty , Dereliction , Thank , Nationist , Betrayal , System , Commander In Chief , Spite , Committee Reconvenes , Opposition , Catastrophe , Hearing Room , The Room , Capitol Police Will , Martha , Contributor , Prosecutor , Attorney , Fox News , Jonathan Turley , Goal , The End , Impeachment Proceedings , Impeachment Case , Didn T , Feels , Dereliction Of Duty , Where Do We Go From Here , Saw , Crime , Answer , Harvard , Professor , Tribe , Attempted Murder , In The End , Raskin S Question , Criminal Code , Referral , Criminal Case , Prosecutors , Martha 40 Second Left , 40 , Interference , Haven T , Tampering Charge ,
comparemela.com © 2020. All Rights Reserved.