The January 6th committee concluded the ninth day of its public hearings about the riots that took place on the day in 2021 at the US Capitol with issuing a subpoena for former US President Donald Trump. During the hearing, a number of evidences were put forward by the committee that showed how Trump wanted to be declared the winner of the 2020 elections despite knowing that he had lost the vote.
Besides the Trump subpoena, here are some key takeaways from the hearings:
Secret Service monitoring online rhetoric
Evidence was presented on the day showing that the Secret Service had been tracking activities on right-wing websites where they had come across a number of violent rhetorics directed against several members of the Congress. The Secret Service was reportedly tipped by the FBI the day before that the Proud Boys could march into Washington DC with arms.
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Threats targetting Mike Pence
The Secret Service had also found a number of online websites where former Vice President Mike Pence was being threatened. One such threat suggested that Pence would be “‘a dead man walking if he doesn’t do the right thing’”. It was Pence who refused to adhere to Trump’s instructions to stop Biden from being declared the winner of the presidential elections.
Previously unseen footage release
The Jan 6 committee, on October 13, also released a footage showing how leaders of the Congress, both Democrats and Republicans alike, had to go around Donald Trump to respond to the crisis. Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, can be seen in the video saying to then-acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, that the rioters were “breaking the law… at the instigation of the President of the United States.”
Also Read| January 6th committee releases unseen footage of Congressional leaders during riot: Watch
Elaine Chao speaks in recorded testimony
In a recorded testimony, Trump’s secretary of Transportation, Elaine Chao, who had resigned from her post, said, “I think the events at the Capitol, however they occurred, were shocking and it was something that, as I mentioned in my statement, that I could not put aside”.
Cassidy Hutchinson’s new testimony
Cassidy Hutchinson, the former aide to Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows, said in a recorded testimony that Trump was already aware that he had lost but wanted to keep trying to emerge as the winner. She said, “I remember looking at Mark, and I said ‘Mark, he can’t possibly think we’re going to pull this off. Like, that call was crazy.’ And he looked at me and just started shaking his head. And he’s like, ‘No, Cass, you know, he knows it’s over. He knows he lost. But we’re going to keep trying’”.
Hutchinson also spoke about a conversation between Trump and Meadows where she heard the former President say that they needed to figure out how to avoid losing and that he did not want the people to know that he had lost.