The ninth hearing of the Capitol Riots on Wednesday was all about how Donald Trump played a pivotal role in planning, organising, and executing the insurrection on January 6, 2021.
The House Select Committee investigating the incidents of January 6 presented new evidence at the trial today that provided a broader context on Trump’s “state of mind”, “intention” and “motivation” behind the riots, as per Committee Chair Bennie Thompson’s opening statement.
Among the evidence presented today was an email exchange between Donald Trump and the conservative activists Tom Fitton. Representative Zoe Lofgren showed the emails and said that Trump planned well in advance to declare his election victory irrespective of the actual results.
The email memo sent on October 31, 2020 – a little more than two months before the riots, read: “We had an election today – and I won. The email also presented an elaborate plan to make sure that only the votes “counted by the Election Day deadline” matters in the final results.
Stephanie Murphy, another member of the committee, presented texts by one of the organisers of the ‘Stop The Steal’ rally held on January 4, 2021, only two days before the Riots. The texts were sent to Trump’s close ally and the CEO of My Pillow, Mike Lindell.
In the texts the organiser told Lindell: “POTUS is going to have us March there/ the Capitol” and the call is going to come “unexpectedly”.
Murphy also played a video testimony of Ronna McDaniel, Chair of the Republican National Committee. In the video, McDaniel claimed that Trump called her to arrange for fake voters to “meet and rehearse the process of casting fake votes”.
The former president also introduced her to his attorney John Eastman during the call who told her how important it is for the Republican National Committee to help arrange fake voters in the event that then-ongoing legal challenges changed the election results of any state.
Cassidy Hutchinson, the top aide of Donald Trump’s chief of staff at the White House had testified before the committee earlier. Her video testimony was also replayed to show the former president that some of the protestors who marched into Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021, were armed.
Also read: Jan 6 hearings: Lofgren says Trump planned with Tom Fitton to declare premature victory
She said in the video that she heard the former president “say something to the effect of”: “You know, I don’t f**ing care that they have weapons. They’re not here to hurt me. Take the f**ing mags away.
The committee unanimously voted to subpoena Donald Trump for the Capitol Hills Riots.
