January 6th Committee hearings - Day 3 (June 16th) summary and overview

After rescheduling the hearing that was supposed to happen yesterday, the January 6th Select Committee began the third day of its hearings on June 16, 2022.

Also, see our summaries of the previous hearings:

Day one

Day two

***

Day 3 of the hearings revolved around Trump's pressure on Vice President Pence to throw out legal electoral votes, and John Eastman's role in organizing that plot. Trump, and even John Eastman himself, were aware that the plan had no legal standing, but they moved forward with it anyway. Trump's focus on Pence led to Pence's life being at stake, and Trump continued to tweet threats to Pence even after Trump was aware of the violence engulfing the Capitol.

Video of the hearing can be found here. Time stamps are reported in Eastern Time.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?520944-1/president-trumps-campaign-influence-vice-president-pence

1:02 PM - Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson introduces the day's topic.

1:05 PM - Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney gives an overview of the previous hearing and today's hearing.

1:06 PM - Video of Vice President Pence giving a speech to the Federalist Society, on February 4, 2022, saying he had "no right to overturn the election".

1:07 PM - Testimony from Marc Short (Pence's Chief of Staff), saying that Pence had repeatedly told Trump that he did not have the power to overturn the election.

1:08 PM - Testimony from Greg Jacob (the Vice President's general counsel). Jacob testifies that on January 4, 2021, John Eastman had told Trump that his plan would violate the Electoral Count Act, and hence be illegal.

1:09 PM - Testimony from Greg Jacob that Mike Pence said following the law on January 6th would be the most important thing he's ever done.

1:10 PM - Committee member Pete Aguilar gives an opening statement summarizing the day's topic.

1:12 PM - Video of Trump at his January 6th rally targeting Mike Pence. Video of Insurrectionists saying they are going to drag politicians through the streets if Pence fails to follow through. Video of other Insurrectionists chanting "Hang Mike Pence".

1:14 PM - Bennie Thompson introduces the day's witnesses. Retired Judge J. Michael Luttig (who was appointed by George H. W. Bush to the US Court of Appeals), who provided advice to Pence. As well as Greg Jacob, who extensively researched the Electoral Count Act and was with Pence during January 6th. Both men gave legal advice to Pence, making clear the plot to overthrow the election was illegal.

1:18 PM - Live testimony from Greg Jacob explaining that Pence had become familiar with the various schemes planned for him by December 7, 2020. Pence asked Jacob for an overview of the rules regarding the process of counting electoral votes. Jacob says Pence's first instinct was that the Constitution could not allow the Vice President to unilaterally determine the President. Jacob concluded that it was indeed Unconstitutional for the Vice President to unilaterally determine the outcome of the election.

***

1:21 PM - Cheney begins asking questions to retired Judge Michael Luttig. She notes that Luttig released a statement to the Committee earlier today, which she encouraged everyone to read.

The 12-page statement can be read below:

https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/16/politics/read-luttig-statement/index.html

https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/22061497/jml-final.pdf

Here are some important passages from this document. Luttig's testimony today was quite anxiety-ridden and difficult to follow, but his written statement is very articulate.

"America was at war on that fateful day, but not against a foreign power. She was at war against herself. We Americans were at war with each other -- over our democracy.

January 6 was but the next, foreseeable battle in a war that had been raging in America for years, though that day was the most consequential battle of that war even to date. In fact, January 6 was a separate war unto itself, a war for America’s democracy, a war irresponsibly instigated and prosecuted by the former president, his political party allies, and his supporters. Both wars are raging to this day.

A peaceful end to these wars is desperately needed. The war for our democracy could lead to the peaceful end to the war for America’s cultural heart and soul. But if a peaceful end to the war for America’s democracy is not achievable, there is little chance for a peaceful end to that war.

[...]

These senseless wars are of our own making, and they are now being waged throughout the land, in our city centers and town squares, in our streets and in our schools, where we work and where we play, in our houses of worship -- even within our own families. These wars were conceived and instigated from our Nation’s Capital by our own political leaders collectively and they have been cynically prosecuted by them to fever pitch, now to the point that they have recklessly put America herself at stake.

America is now the stake in these unholy wars.

Serious thinkers about the American experiment who are not given to apocalyptic prophesying question whether America is on the verge of a literal civil war. But is even this figurative civil war to be our generation’s legacy to posterity?

[...]

The war on democracy instigated by the former president and his political party allies on January 6 was the natural and foreseeable culmination of the war for America. It was the final fateful day for the execution of a well-developed plan by the former president to overturn the 2020 presidential election at any cost, so that he could cling to power that the American People had decided to confer upon his successor, the next president of the United States instead. Knowing full well that he had lost the 2020 presidential election, the former president and his allies and supporters falsely claimed and proclaimed to the nation that he had won the election, and then he and they set about to overturn the election that he and they knew the former president had lost.

[...]

Soon thereafter, the rioters stormed the Capitol itself, breaching, occupying, and ransacking the temple of our democracy for seemingly endless wrenching hours -- at the precise democratic moment when the Congress of the United States convened in Joint Session to begin the constitutional counting of the votes for the presidency of the United States.

[...]

Over a year and a half later, in continued defiance of our democracy, both the former president and his political party allies still maintain that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” from him, despite all evidence -- all evidence now -- that that is simply false. All the while, this false and reckless insistence that the former president won the 2020 presidential election has laid waste to Americans’ confidence in their national elections.

[...]

... And almost two years thence, one of America’s two political parties cannot even agree whether that day was good or bad, right or wrong. Worse, it cannot agree over whether January 6 was needed, or not. Needed or not. Pause for a moment and reflect on that. The former president and his party cannot decide whether the revolt at the United States Capitol to disrupt and prevent the constitutional counting of the votes for the presidency was needed, and therefore whether another revolt might be needed at a future date to accomplish that which the previous revolt failed to accomplish.

If one of our national political parties -- one of the two political guardians of our democracy -- cannot agree even as to whether the violent riot and occupation of the United States Capitol, inspired by the President of the United States and carried out by his followers to prevent Congress from counting the votes for the presidency of those same United States, was reprehensible insurrection or needed, legitimate political discourse, we all can agree on nothing.

[...]

America is at a perilous crossroads. Who is it that we have become and what is it that America has become? Is this who we want to be and what we want America to be? And if not, just who is it that we Americans want to be? And just what is it that we want our America to be?

[...]

On the other hand, if we fail to learn the lessons that are there to be learned, or worse, deny even that there are lessons there to be learned, we will consign ourselves to another January 6 in the not-too-distant future, and another after that, and another after that. While for some, that is their wish, that cannot be our wish for America."

While Judge Luttig's statement is very powerful, I will take a moment to remind everyone that January 6th and the Republican coup attempt were only possible because of democracy in the first place. It is the very partisan nature of democracy itself which has divided Americans almost 50-50 into different factions. It is democracy itself which allowed for the narrative of a "rigged and stolen election". It was the democratically-elected state legislatures, the democratically-cast electoral votes, and democratically-elected Congress and Vice President which were at the core of Eastman's plan to overthrow the government.

If the president served for life (like Founding Fathers such as Alexander Hamilton argued in favor of), January 6th never could have happened. Without democracy, someone as insane and unqualified as Trump never would have been up for election in the first place, ffs.

The majority of the Republican Party voted to reject the lawful electoral votes on January 6th. It was not a handful of rogue individuals. It was a highly-coordinated effort that relied on elected members of Congress and elected members of state legislatures. If we never had political parties in the first place, the conspiracy could not have grown as large as it did.

The battle over the soul of America will persist as long as we have democratic factionalism poisoning our freedom and liberties.

"As in all things, the essence of our participation in democracy is not knowledge, but judgment -- studied, discerning judgment. No more so is this true than in the Constitution and in the Law.

[...]

Reeling from twin wars, leaderless, and rudderless, America is in need of help. Our polarized political leaders have shamefully and shamelessly failed us. They have summoned our worst demons at the very moment when we needed summoned our better angels.

[...]

But today our politicians live in a different world from the rest of us, and in a different world than that ordained by the Constitution. They live in a fictional world of divided loyalties between party and country, a world of their own unfaithful making."

I think the poor quality of judgment from voters, Republican politicians, and Democratic politicians speaks for itself. So, why do we allow unqualified demons to elect other unqualified demons to run our nation?

"As a consequence, America finds itself in desperate need of either a reawakening and quickening to the vision, truths, values, principles, beliefs, hopes, and dreams upon which the country was founded and that have made America the greatest nation in the world -- a revival of America and the American spirit.

Or, if it is to be, we are in need of a revival around a new vision, new truths, new values, new principles, new beliefs, new hopes and dreams that hopefully could once again bind our divided nation together into the more perfect union that “We the People” originally ordained and established it to be.

[...]

We cannot hobble along much longer, politically paralyzed and hopelessly divided, directionless and undecided as to which revival it will be -- if any at all.

Where do we begin? This is the easier question. Who has the patriotic and political courage to go first? This is the harder question."

Yes, we need a revival around a new vision. It starts here. We Dare to Dream for America and will not let the dream die.

The difficult truth is that the only way for freedom, liberty, and justice to endure is to replace democracy with a superior form a government. At no time in our nation's history has democracy ever been able to uphold the most basic liberty or justice. Slavery, ethnic cleansing of Native Americans, Jim Crow, colonialist wars, Trumpism...the list goes on and on.

We have been duped into thinking democracy is an unchangeable part of being American. But many early Americans such as Alexander Hamilton readily acknowledged that alternatives to democracy would likely be far better suited to upholding liberty and justice.

***

Luttig also gave a nearly-three-hour interview with PBS Frontline on May 25, 2022, which was easier to follow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9YrPe2Vr84

In the interview linked above, Luttig says the Constitution functioned perfectly throughout the Trump administration despite the pressure put on it. That seems a bit baffling for anyone who knows the definition of "functional" (or for anyone who noticed that courts ruled certain "Acting" executive branch officials were serving illegally, yet continued to occupy office), and speaks to how ideologically conservative Luttig is on Constitutional matters. In other words, it is something of high significance for someone as ideologically conservative as Luttig to be willing to go on the record about the severity of the coup attempt and the danger of future coup attempts.

Additionally, on April 27, 2022, Luttig published an article titled "The Republican blueprint to steal the 2024 election". Luttig warns that the only way to stop the Republican coup attempt in 2024 is for the Supreme Court to reject the "independent state legislature doctrine":

https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/27/opinions/gop-blueprint-to-steal-the-2024-election-luttig/index.html

1:22 PM - Live testimony from Luttig. At 1:26 PM Luttig says, had Pence gone through with the plot, the US would have been plunged into a revolution over the most profound Constitutional Crisis the US has ever faced.

1:28 PM - Cheney refers to the Chesebro emails, which discusses the "alternate electors" plot. On December 13, 2020, Chesebro wrote to Rudy Guiliani with his memo outlining ideas to reject the official electoral votes and accept "alternate electors" instead.

1:29 PM - Regarding the Chesebro Memo, a federal judge concluded, "The draft memo pushed a strategy that knowingly violated the Electoral Count Act ..." "The memo is both intimately related to and clearly advanced the plan to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2021." Days after the Chesebro Memo was transmitted, John Eastman continued developing the plot to obstruct the Joint Session with "dual slates" of "alternate electors".

1:30-1:31 PM - Excerpt from the Eastman Memos about the "alternate electors".

1:31 PM - Cheney mentions that Eastman knew the "alternate electors" did not have legal authority. On December 19, 2020 (days before Eastman transmitted his second memo), Eastman admitted in an email that the "alternate electors" had no legal significance.

1:32 PM - Judge Luttig testifies that there is no legal support for the "alternate electors". Luttig mentions that Eastman claimed there was both legal and historic precedent for utilizing "alternate electors", but that both claims are incorrect.

1:36 PM - John Wood (senior investigative counsel for the January 6th Committee) questions Luttig about the Eastman Memo's claim that Pence could unilaterally reject electoral votes. Wood mentions that both he and Eastman formerly served as law clerks for Judge Luttig.

Luttig mentions a tweet he posted on September 21, 2021, which briefly outlined his rationale for why Eastman's plot had no standing:
https://twitter.com/judgeluttig/status/1440523765285224456

1:44 PM - Wood asks Jacob about the process of researching the Vice President's role in counting electoral votes. Jacob found that there was no legal or historical reason to believe the Vice President had authority to object to or reject electoral votes. Jacob says Eastman told him that Vice President Gore in 2000 did not, and should not have had, the ability to declare himself the winner in the disputed election. (But Eastman wanted Pence to do so nevertheless).

1:50 PM - Testimonies from Trump administration legal advisors that they knew the Eastman Memo was illegal and that the Vice President didn't have authority to reject the election outcome.

Marc Short says Mark Meadows knew the Vice President didn't have the authority to reject the election outcome. Jason Miller and Eric Herschmann detail conversations with Eastman and others. They did not believe that the Vice President had the power to determine the election's outcome.

1:54 PM - Texts from Sean Hannity to Mark Meadows, where he was concerned the entire White House counsel's office could quit if Trump continued pressuring Pence.

1:55 PM - Testimony from Jared Kushner that he did not take seriously Pat Cipollone's threats to resign. Kushner also said, "my interest at that time is I'm trying to get as many pardons done." Yikes.

1:55 PM - Testimony from Eric Herschmann about the morning of January 6th. He had a conversation with Rudy Giuliani about Eastman's plan, and Giuliani conceded that it was likely the plan was not supportable.

1:57 PM - Video of Rudy Giuliani at Trump's January 6th rally, saying that everything planned is "perfectly legal". He introduces John Eastman and says his plan is legal and that the Vice President can reject electoral votes or send them back to state legislatures.

1:58 PM - Video of John Eastman at Trump's January 6th rally. He says he wants Pence to send the electoral votes back so the state legislatures can determine the final outcome.

1:59 PM - Jacob testifies that he had a 1.5-2 hour conversation with John Eastman on January 5th. Eastman acknowledged that not a single Supreme Court judge would support Eastman's legal arguments if the matter came before the court.

2:00 PM - A draft letter from October 2020 is shown. Eastman wrote comments on the draft saying that the Vice President cannot unilaterally reject electoral votes. In other words, he knew the legal arguments in his memo were incorrect.

2:00 PM - Luttig testifies. At 2:04 Luttig says the supposed historical precedent was the most critical role of Eastman's argument, not arguments based in law.

2:07 PM - Video of Al Gore saying it's a pretty easy choice not to overthrow the election.

2:08 PM - Jacob testifies that Eastman acknowledged Vice President Gore did not have the authority to overturn the election in 2000, and that he believed Vice President Harris should not have that authority in 2024.

2:09 PM - Testimony from Marc Short about receiving a phone call from former Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. Ryan called to voice his view that Pence could not overturn the election.

2:11 PM - Video of Trump on January 4, 2021, saying he hopes Pence "comes through for us".

2:11 PM - Video of Marc Short, Rudy Giuliani, Steve Bannon, John Eastman, and Jason Miller about how all eyes were on Pence leading up to January 6th. Miller said on Fox News leading up to the election that he hoped Pence would "do the right thing" to ensure the election wasn't handed to "the Democrats and the people who cheated and stole their way through this election." Now Miller is trying to save himself by testifying to the Committee about how Trump and others knew the plots to overthrow the election were illegal...

2:13 PM - Trump retweeted a plot on December 23, 2020, about how Pence should refuse to certify the election. This is one of the earliest examples of Trump publicly pressuring Pence.

2:14 PM - Aguilar summarizes the times Trump pressured Pence over a "multi-week campaign".

2:15 PM - Jacob testifies about what Eastman said at a January 4th meeting (which included Trump, Pence, Eastman, and others). Eastman argued Pence had two options: he could reject electoral votes outright, or he could suspend the proceedings and declare a 10 day recess during which "disputed" state legislatures could change their electoral votes. Eastman favored the second option, as he believed it was more likely to be publicly accepted.

2:17 PM - Jacob testifies that Pence never wavered on his position. In the January 4th meeting, Jacob mentioned Eastman's plan would violate several provisions of the Electoral Count Act. Eastman acknowledged that his plan would indeed violate the Electoral Count Act, but he believed it didn't matter since the Electoral Count Act was supposedly Unconstitutional. Despite the courts customarily being the final arbiters of what is Unconstitutional, Eastman believed the the courts would decline to hear the matter and just let them get away with it.

The next morning, Jacob and Eastman discussed further about whether the Supreme Court would support the argument, and Eastman agreed not a single Supreme Court judge would support it.

2:19 PM - Video of Trump during a rally in Georgia on the evening of January 4, where he publicly pressured Pence despite knowing Pence did not want to overturn the election.

2:20 PM - Tweet from Trump on January 5, 2021, where Trump declared that the Vice President could throw out electoral votes.

2:21 PM - Jacob testifies further about the January 5th meeting with Eastman. At this meeting, the first thing Eastman requested is that Pence reject the electoral votes outright. (The previous day Eastman had argued this was a less favorable and more high-stakes route).

2:23 PM - Notes written by Jacob during the meeting with Eastman.

2:25 PM - Jacob testifies that Eastman acknowledged Vice President Jefferson did not have the authority to reject electoral votes, and therefore there was no historical precedent. Nevertheless, Eastman claimed Jefferson did at Trump's January 6th rally.

2:27 PM - Jacob says that Republican leaders in state legislatures put out statements saying they had no intention of reversing the outcome of the elections.

Eastman believed the courts would not get involved if Pence overturned the election. Jacob says he told Eastman that, if Pence had overturned the election and the courts did not get involved, this would mean the outcome of the election would be "decided in the streets".

2:30 PM - Jacobs had at least two other conversations with Eastman on January 5th. Eastman seems to have realized the resistance against rejecting outright, so he circled back to the plan of sending electoral votes back to the states.

2:34 PM - Aguilar reads a passage from the book "Peril" by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, about a conversation where Trump privately pressured Pence.

2:35 PM - Testimony from Marc Short corroborating part of that conversation.

2:36 PM - On January 5th, Trump issued a statement falsely claiming that Pence agreed he could overturn the election.

2:37 PM - Testimony from Marc Short and Jason Miller about the statement that was issued.

2:40 PM - Marc Short talked with the head of Pence's Secret Security staff to inform him that Trump would "lash out" against Pence.

2:55 PM - Trump tweeted at Pence at 1:00 AM on January 6th pressuring Pence, and Trump sent another tweet around 8:00 AM.

2:57 PM - Testimony from Jacob. Trump called Pence on the morning of January 6th.

2:58 PM - Testimony from Eric Herschmann, Ivanka Trump, Nicholas Luna (assistant to Trump), General Keith Kellogg (National Security Advisor to Pence), and Julie Radford (Ivanka Trump's Chief of Staff) about the heated phone call.

3:01 PM - Aguilar mentions that the draft of Trump's January 6th rally speech did not include a mention of Pence, but Trump edited it to place pressure on him.

3:02 PM - Video of Trump's statements about Pence at the January 6th rally (which occurred after his heated phone call). Trump repeatedly insists that Pence needs to send the electoral votes back to the states.

3:03 PM - Aguilar states that testimony made clear that Pence was one of the primary targets of the Insurrectionists.

3:03 PM - Video of the Capitol being breached at 2:13 PM on January 6th.

3:04 PM - Aguilar states Mark Meadows had been notified about the violence at the Capitol by 2:00 PM, and likely earlier. Meadows quickly notified Trump. Despite this knowledge, Trump tweeted at 2:24 PM, which again pressured Pence.

3:05 PM - Video of Insurrectionists talking about how Pence "betrayed" Trump.

3:06 PM - Testimony from Ben Williamson (aide to Mark Meadows) and Sarah Matthews (White House Deputy Press Secretary). They testified that Meadows informed Trump about the violence before Trump issued his 2:24 PM tweet. They further state that they believed Trump needed to put out a statement about the violence, but were dismayed that Trump tweeted about Pence instead.

3:09 PM - Aguilar states that the investigation has revealed Trump's tweet significantly increased the intensity of the siege of the Capitol. Crowds both outside and inside of the Capitol grew, and Pence was escorted to a secure location.

Video about Pence's whereabouts in the Capitol and how the Insurrectionists came within 40 feet of Pence. By 2:24 PM, the Secret Service moved Pence to an office. Soon after, Trump released his tweet. Within a minute, Insurrectionists were on the floor below Pence. He was escorted downstairs to a secure location. During this time, he came within 40 feet of Insurrectionists.

3:12 PM - Aguilar states that Pence's life was indeed danger. An informant in the Proud Boys testified to the Department of Justice that the Proud Boys would have killed Pence, Pelosi, and other politicians if the Proud Boys came into contact with them.

3:13-3:14 PM - Never-before-seen photos of Pence sheltering from the Insurrectionists. Jacob testifies about how Pence refused to leave the Capitol.

3:16 PM - Marc Short testifies that Representative Kevin McCarthy had spoken with someone at the White House and was frustrated that they weren't taking the situation seriously.

3:17 PM - Email conversation between Jacob and Eastman. Eastman claims the Insurrection was Pence's fault for not following through with things.

3:18 PM - As part of this email conversation, Eastman told Jacob that Trump had been informed the plot had no legal backing, but Trump decided to go through with it anyway.

3:20 PM - Jacob testifies that Eastman asked once again if Pence could suspend the counting of electoral votes and send them back to the states. This email was sent on 11:44 PM on January 6th--after the Insurrection! Excerpt of the email is shown.

3:26 PM - Testimony from Eric Herschmann about receiving a call from Eastman on January 7th. Herschmann told Eastman he better get a good criminal defense lawyer.

3:27 PM - Eastman emailed Giuliani requesting to be on a list of pardons.

3:28 PM - John Eastman's deposition to the January 6th Committee.

3:29 PM - Aguilar reads several excerpts from the court case Eastman v. Thompson, written by Judge David Carter.

Page 36:

"Based on the evidence, the Court finds it more likely than not that President Trump corruptly attempted to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2021."

Page 40:

"Based on the evidence, the Court finds that it is more likely than not that President Trump and Dr. Eastman dishonestly conspired to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2021."

Page 44:

"Dr. Eastman and President Trump launched a campaign to overturn a democratic election, an action unprecedented in American history. Their campaign was not confined to the ivory tower--it was a coup in search of a legal theory."

3:31 PM - Aguilar reads an excerpt from Judge Luttig's written statement from earlier today:

"... the most reckless, insidious, and calamitous failures in both legal and political judgment in American history."

3:32 PM - Aguilar reads his closing statements. Trump was aware of the illegality of the plot to overthrow the election.

3:33 PM - Cheney makes closing statements, summarizing today's hearing and the topic of an upcoming hearing (pressure on state legislatures).

3:37 PM - Thompson reads an excerpt from Judge Luttig's op-ed about the in-progress 2024 coup attempt and allows him to give further thoughts.

"I have written, as you said, Chairman Thompson, that today, almost two years after that fateful day in January 2021, that still, Donald Trump and his allies and supporters are a clear and present danger to American democracy. That's not because of what happened on January 6th. It's because, to this very day, the former President, his allies, and supporters pledge that in the presidential election of 2024, if the former president or his anointed successor as the Republican Party presidential candidate were to lose that election, that they would attempt to overturn that 2024 election in the same way that they attempted to overturn the 2020 election, but succeed in 2024 where they failed in 2020.

I don't speak those words lightly. I would have never spoken those words ever in my life, except that that's what the former president and his allies are telling us. As I said in that New York Times op-ed, wherein I was speaking about the Electoral Count Act of 1887, the former president and his allies are executing that blueprint for 2024 in open and plain view of the American public. I repeat, I would have never uttered one single one of those words, unless the former president and his allies were candidly and proudly speaking those exact words to America."

3:45 PM - Committee adjourned.

***
***

As always, we must warn that the danger is not over until every last organizer of the coup attempt and every single coup participant in Congress is put in prison. Judge Luttig has echoed this same sentiment.

In the year and a half since the Insurrection, the Republican Party and other far-right terrorists have constantly warned us that they are in the process of organizing another coup--one which will be far more bloody than the last.

All non-treasonous Americans need to (legally) arm ourselves so we can prepare to defend ourselves in the scenario that the Republican Party follows through on the bloodshed it has continuously been promising. Until every last one of them is put in prison, we are not safe.

January 6th Committee hearings - Day 2 (June 13th) summary and overview

On June 13, 2022, the January 6th Select Committee began the second of its Congressional hearings presenting the findings from their investigation.

Also, see our summary of Day 1.

***

Day 2 of the hearings was about Trump's propaganda campaign to convince the public he won (the Big Lie). Behind the scenes, Trump was fully aware that there was no electoral fraud and that legal avenues for challenging the outcome consistently showed that he lost. Not only did Trump use the Big Lie as a pretext for the coup attempt, but he used it to extract over $250,000,000 in fundraising from his supporters.

Video of the hearing can be found here. Time stamps are reported in Eastern Time.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?520804-1/hearing-investigation-capitol-attack

10:50 AM - Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney begins discussing about today's topic. It was made clear to Trump by both the courts and his advisors that there was no electoral fraud and that he lost.

10:53 AM - Testimony from Eric Herschmann (former White House lawyer) who says he never saw any evidence for the Dominion voting machine conspiracy pushed by Trump.

10:53 AM - Testimony from Matt Morgan (Trump campaign team top lawyer) who says there was not sufficient evidence of electoral fraud that could have changed the outcome of the election.

10:54 AM - Cheney makes clear that hundreds of Insurrectionists have already been charged and sentenced, because they came to the Capitol at the direction of Trump.

10:56 AM - Cheney says the Committee has more evidence than they can reasonably present at a single hearing regarding the Big Lie.

10:56 AM - Committee member Zoe Lofgren begins explaining the Big Lie plot. Trump and his advisors knew the claims of election fraud were false, but they promoted them anyway. Trump also used the Big Lie to extract hundreds of millions of dollars in donations from his supporters.

10:58 AM - Trump began preparing the Big Lie as early as April 8, 2020 (months prior to the election), claiming that the only way he would lose the election is if it was rigged and involved fraud. Videos of Trump from April 8, 2020; August 17, 2020; and September 29, 2020.

10:59 AM - Lofgren explains how Barr and other senior advisors to Trump told him claims of election fraud were baseless. Nevertheless, Trump pursued challenges to the election outcome in court. Despite losing these challenges, he refused to accept them and instead pursued the Big Lie narrative to convince his followers the election was stolen.

11:03 AM - Testimony from Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Jason Miller (Trump campaign senior advisor), Bill Stepien (Trump campaign manager), and Rudy Giuliani about the atmosphere on election night (November 3-4, 2020). Fox News was the first network to call that Arizona had been won by Biden, causing the campaign to be very disappointed in Fox.

Miller says Giuliani suggested that Trump should make a speech to declare victory outright, despite the all the votes not yet being counted and the election not yet being called. On the day of November 4, 2020, Trump made a speech declaring victory and declaring the impending Biden victory a fraud.

11:11 AM - Live testimony from from Chris Stirewalt (former Fox News political editor), saying Trump had no basis to declare victory on election night.

11:12 AM - Stirewalt explains the "Red Mirage" effect, where reported Republican votes would be higher on election night, while mail-in votes favoring Democrats would be counted in the following days. He claims Fox News election coverage had been warning viewers of the mirage effect and that the reported counts on election night were not the final outcome.

11:14 AM - Testimony from Attorney General Bill Barr about how Trump's team had been aware of the "Red Mirage" effect for weeks.

11:16 AM - Testimony of Stepien, where he explains how Trump was informed that votes would continue to be counted in the coming days.

11:17 AM - Video of Trump saying he wanted mail-in votes to stop being counted.

11:18 AM - Lofgren says Stepien was highly concerned about Trump's anti-mail-in voting stance, and that he met with Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy and Trump to defend mail-in voting. Testimony of Stepien explaining this.

11:20 AM - Stirewalt explains why Fox called the outcome of Arizona earlier than other networks.

11:24 AM - Audio of Stepien testifying about how in the days following election night, it became clearer that Biden was gaining a stronger lead. Trump was informed that his chances of winning were minimal.

11:26 AM - Audio of Stepien testifying about the allegations of fraud in Arizona which had been flowing to Trump. After the campaign team reviewed some of these claims, it became clear they were baseless.

11:29 AM - Stepien testifies that Giuliani became the head of the campaign's legal matters after Trump became dissatisfied with Stepien's team not pursuing the baseless claims.

11:33 AM - Rudy Giuliani interview on Fox News pushing insane election fraud conspiracies about shopping carts full of Biden ballots.

11:34 AM - Giuliani testimony to the January 6th Committee where he claims he still believes there was a massive amount of fraudulent ballots.

11:34 AM - Video clip of Sidney Powell on November 19, 2020, pushing insane election fraud conspiracies about voting machine algorithms "flipping" votes from Trump to Biden.

11:34 AM - Testimony from Powell saying she was informed by Mark Meadows that there was no evidence that any vote had been "flipped", but she was apparently unwilling to accept the truth.

11:34 AM - Testimony from Eric Herschmann (former White House attorney) about how he believed all the election fraud claims about foreign interference, etc., were crazy.

11:35 AM - Testimony from Jared Kushner. Kushner told Trump he shouldn't follow Giuliani's strategy.

11:35 AM - Matt Morgan says law firms were not comfortable pushing Giuliani's arguments about election fraud.

11:36 AM - Testimony from Attorney General Barr saying he told Trump the election fraud claims were "bullshit". Barr resigned in large part because he did not want to be part of an administration which was pushing fake claims about election fraud.

11:36 AM - Lofgren reminds us that Powell attempted to defend herself in a defamation lawsuit by arguing that no reasonable person would believe her statements.

11:38 AM - Testimony from Attorney General Barr about his opinion about the baselessness of election fraud claims. Barr says he spoke to Trump. Trump rambled on about the alleged fraud and said the Justice Department should do more to investigate the "fraud". Barr says Mark Meadows and Jared Kusher said Trump was getting "more realistic", and they were trying to wind him down from his Big Lie narrative.

11:43 AM - Video of Trump on Fox News ranting about how the FBI and Department of Justice might be involved in stealing the election since they weren't helping him.

11:43 AM - On December 1, 2020, Barr told the Associated Press there was no evidence of election fraud. Testimony from Barr about his statement to the press and the meeting with Trump after his statement was published. Barr says Trump was angrier than he had ever seen him, but he told Trump once again that the election fraud claims about Detroit and Dominion voting machines were "bullshit". Barr was aware that the Big Lie about voting machines had been having a big impact on the public.

11:46 AM - The day after the meeting, on December 2, 2020, Trump gave an angry presentation where he repeated the fraud claims Barr just told him were baseless. (Video of Trump's presentation).

11:48 AM - On December 14, 2020, Barr once again told Trump the claims of fraud were baseless. Testimony from Barr. Trump said he received a report with "absolute proof" about Dominion voting machine fraud, which was substantial enough that he would be guaranteed a second term. Barr says he believed Trump had become "detached from reality" if he truly believed this narrative. Barr gives his analysis of why the "2000 Mules" propaganda film by Dinesh D'Souza was nonsensical.

11:53 AM - Audio testimony from Jeffrey Rosen ("Acting" Attorney General after Barr resigned), explaining how Trump was again informed the allegations were baseless.

11:53 AM - Derek Lyons (Counselor to the President), explaining how Trump was informed the allegations were baseless.

11:54 AM - Testimony from Alex Cannon (Trump campaign lawyer), explaining how Peter Navarro was informed the allegations were baseless in November. Cannon also had a brief conversation with Vice President Pence in November, where Pence was told there wasn't fraud substantial enough to change the outcome of the election.

11:58 AM - Audio of Richard Donoghue (former "Acting" Deputy Attorney General) explaining how he told Trump the allegations were baseless. Trump kept inquiring about specific examples of alleged fraud, and whether they had been investigated. No matter how many allegations Donoghue had debunked, Trump kept moving his attention to other allegations.

12:01 PM - Lofgren asks to include in the record reports from the Department of Homeland Security Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency, Michigan Senate Oversight Committee, a statement by 59 US election security scientists, and 5 other reports, all of which confirmed there was no widespread fraud into the record.

12:16 PM - Committee returns from recess and introduces witnesses BJay Pak, Al Schmidt, and Benjamin Ginsberg.

12:18 PM - Lofgren introduces BJay Pak. He was appointed by Trump to serve as the US Attorney of the Northern District of Georgia. Attorney General Barr told Pak he had seen no widespread evidence of election fraud, but asked Pak to investigate the "suitcase full of ballots" allegation made by Rudy Rudy Giuliani.

12:20 PM - Pak testifies the "suitcase" allegedly full of fake ballots was just an official ballot box, and explains the result of his investigation.

12:22 PM - Audio testimony of "Acting" Deputy Attorney General Donoghue saying he told Trump several times that the "suitcase full of ballots" allegation was false.

11:24 PM - Testimony of Attorney General Barr addressing the false election fraud claims in Philadelphia.

11:27 PM - Al Schmidt (Republican member of the City of Philadelphia's commission which oversaw the election) is introduced. He investigated claims of voter fraud in Pennsylvania, and testifies there was no evidence to support them.

11:28 PM - Video of Rudy Giuliani claiming dead people sent mail-in ballots. Testimony of Eric Herschmann saying Giuliani likely knew these claims were false.

12:30 PM - Schmidt describes the threats he and his family received due to Trump tweeting out against him.

12:32 PM - Benjamin Ginsberg is introduced. He has served as a prominent member of Republican campaign legal matters, including the Bush v. Gore lawsuit. He explains the typical process of election analysis and observation.

12:36 PM - Ginsberg explains how the Trump lawsuits over the election were lacking in evidence to begin with.

12:37-39 PM - Lofgren summarizes the 62 court cases the Trump team launched over the election.

12:41 PM - Lofgren outlines the steps Trump took to push the Big Lie even after his campaign lost in the courts. The motivation for this included the desire for Trump to continue receiving fundraising money from his duped supporters.

12:42 PM - Video summarizing Trump's use of the Big Lie to fundraise. The Trump team even made up a fake organization called the "Official Election Defense Fund". Trump quickly raised $250,000,000 in fundraising. Most of the money raised went to the "Save America PAC", which funneled the money into various organizations, including Event Strategies Inc., which ran Trump's January 6th rally. The Trump team continued to send fundraising emails up to 30 minutes before the Capitol was breached.

12:46 PM - Cheney makes closing statements.

12:47 PM - Testimony of White House lawyer Eric Herschmann about his conversation with John Eastman on January 7th. (A preview of a video which will be shown at an upcoming hearing.)

12:49 PM - Video of Insurrectionists, where they indicate they came to the Capitol because they believed the Big Lie.

12:50 PM - Committee adjourned.

***
***

As always, we must warn that the danger is not over until every last organizer of the coup attempt and every single coup participant in Congress is put in prison.

In the year and a half since the Insurrection, the Republican Party and far-right terrorists have constantly warned us that they are in the process of organizing another coup--one which will be far more bloody than the last.

All non-treasonous Americans need to (legally) arm ourselves so we can prepare to defend our communities in the scenario that the Republican Party follows through on the bloodshed it has continuously been promising. Until every last one of them is put in prison, we are not safe.

January 6th Committee hearings - Day 1 (June 9th) summary and overview

On June 9, 2022, the January 6th Select Committee began the first of its Congressional hearings presenting the findings from their investigation.

In the days and months ahead, there will likely be an abundance of journalism putting together all the pieces from what they've revealed, what has already been known, and the questions that still remain.

Without attempting to give an exhaustive analysis ourselves, let's summarize what the Committee revealed.

***

Video of the hearing can be found here. Time stamps are reported in Eastern Time.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?520282-1/open-testimony-january-6-committee

After the introductory remarks, Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney stated that, "Over multiple months, Donald Trump oversaw and coordinated a sophisticated seven-part plan to overturn the presidential election and prevent the transfer of presidential power" (8:20 PM). She gave an overview of the topics of the coming hearings.

Day 1's hearing gave a brief overview of the role of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers in breaching the Capitol. It included live testimony from a Capitol Police officer who was attacked on January 6th and a documentary maker who had been allowed access to Proud Boys leadership.

Day 2 (June 13) - Trump and his advisors knew he lost the election, but engaged in a massive misinformation campaign about election fraud.

Day 3 (June 16) - Trump planned to use the Justice Department in the coup attempt, including by making Jeffrey Clark "Acting" Attorney General.

Day 4 - Trump's pressure for Pence to refuse to count electoral votes, and John Eastman's involvement in this plot.

Day 5 - The plots for state officials to change the election results. Including Trump's call to Georgia and the "alternate electors" scheme.

Day 6 and 7 - Trump's incitement and direction of the Insurrection, and his refusal to tell his supporters to stop the violence. This will include a moment-by-moment timeline of events showing Trump was aware of the carnage.

***

8:04 PM - The hearing began with Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson explaining that the oath of office requires that members of the government swear to defend America against both foreign and domestic enemies.

8:06 PM - Thompson states domestic enemies stormed the Capitol at the direction of President Trump.

8:08 PM - The Committee played an interview with former Attorney General Bill Barr, where Barr gives his testimony of how he told Trump the election was not stolen.

8:11 PM - Thompson declares that Trump "spurred a mob of domestic enemies of the Constitution to march down to the Capitol". Thompson declares that "January 6th was the culmination of an attempted coup" and an attempt to "overthrow the government". Although Thompson did not mention treason, his wording quite strongly implies that the domestic enemies committed it.

8:13 PM - Thompson warns us that the danger is not over, because politicians sitting in the same room continue to seek power at all costs.

8:15 PM - Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney began outlining the events of January 6th, starting with one of Trump's infamous tweets in support of the Insurrectionists. At 8:17 PM she quotes a White House staffer who testified that Trump thought Insurrectionists had "the right idea" when they wanted to hang Vice President Pence, because he "deserves it". She goes on to give an overview of the sources that the Committee will present.

8:19 PM - Cheney specifies that the events of January 6th were the results of a seditious conspiracy. Members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers have already been charged with seditious conspiracy.

8:21 PM - Cheney describes the topic of the 2nd hearing. Interviews are played from several Trump campaign members and administration officials (including Attorney General Barr), showing that Trump and his team were aware that he had definitively lost the election. Moreover, Trump's team knew that the allegations about voting machines being rigged were completely unsupported.

8:26 PM - Ivanka Trump testifies that she accepted Barr's statements about the outcome of the election.

8:27 PM - Trump's lawsuits over the election were continuously rejected. Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani had his law license suspended and a court ruled he "communicated demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers and the public at large in his capacity as lawyer for former President Donald J. Trump".

8:27 PM - Cheney discusses the topic of the 3rd hearing. (Using the Justice Department in the coup attempt, including placing Jeffrey Clark as "Acting" Attorney General).

8:30 PM - Cheney mentions Representative Scott Perry was involved in the Clark plot. He and several other politicians sought pardons from Trump.

8:31 PM - Cheney discusses the topic of the 4th hearing. Trump's pressure on Pence to refuse to count the electoral votes, including John Eastman's role in planning the coup attempt.

8:34 PM - Cheney mentions how a federal judge concluded pressuring Pence likely violated two federal statutes. Moreover, the judge says he fears there will be more coup attempts.

8:35 PM - Cheney discusses the topic of the 5th hearing. The plot for state governments to change the election results, including Trump's call to Georgia and the "alternate electors" scheme.

8:36 PM - Cheney discusses the topic of the 6th and 7th hearings. Trump's incitement and direction of the Insurrection.

8:36 PM - Cheney mentions the Committee's investigation is still ongoing and the evidence revealed publicly does not include all of the information that will be in their final report.

8:37 PM - Cheney mentions the December 18, 2020, meeting where General Michael Flynn, Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani and others met. At this meeting, plans discussed included a military coup plan. An hour after the meeting ended, Trump sent his initial tweet telling his supporters to stage a "wild" riot on January 6th. Cheney says this tweet is what led to a chain of events which ended with far-right militias storming the Capitol.

8:39 PM - Cheney mentions that the White House had received information leading up to January 6th that groups had been planning for violence.

8:39 PM - A clip of Steve Bannon on January 5, 2021, saying "all hell is going to break loose tomorrow", indicating he knew what would occur.

8:39 PM - Cheney mentions that the Committee will present evidence of what the White House knew leading up to January 6th and reasons why the police were not better prepared.

8:40 PM - Cheney further discusses the topic of the final hearing. This will include a moment-by-moment account of January 6th, showing Trump was aware of the violence and that many told Trump he needed to condemn the rioters.

8:41 PM - Trump did not give orders to deploy the National Guard or deploy law enforcement. It was indeed Pence who gave those orders.

8:42 PM - Audio of General Milley testifying that Pence called multiple times ordering the National Guard to be deployed. Milley testified that Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows called him and said they needed to stop the narrative that Pence was the one in charge and calling in the National Guard.

8:44 PM - Trump's cabinet discussed the 25th Amendment, and Trump's inner circle instead tried to talk Trump down to stabilize the administration.

8:51-9:01 PM - Video montage of the events of January 6th.

9:12 PM - Committee resumes after a 10 minute break. Thompson introduces Officer Caroline Edwards, one of the Capitol Police officers injured on January 6th, and Nick Quested, a documentary maker who captured much footage of January 6th.

9:16 PM - Officer Edwards introduces herself.

9:19 PM - Nick Quested introduces himself.

9:21 PM - Video of how Trump's statements emboldened far-right groups leading up to January 6th. In the words of Proud Boys members, Trump's "Proud Boys, stand back and stand by" statement led to an increase in membership. Oath Keepers similarly amplified their plans and believed Trump was "calling them to duty". The Oath Keepers created a "quick reaction force" in order to quickly arm themselves if Trump invoked the Insurrection Act and turned the Insurrection into a full-on military coup. The video includes an overview of the times each part of the Capitol was breached.

9:27 PM - As part of Quested's documentary, he was able to gain access to the Proud Boys' leadership. Quested gives testimony about his time filming the Proud Boys.

9:37 PM - Video of Officer Edwards being knocked unconscious as the first barricades were breached during the Insurrection. She begins her testimony.

9:52 PM - Video of Insurrection participants stating their motivations. They mention that they were "called" there by Trump and acted on his orders.

9:54 PM - Committee adjourned.

***
***

In the coming months, we can only hope that the Justice Department uses this information to pursue criminal charges against the politicians and Trump administration members who organized the coup attempt at the highest levels. We can only hope that Congress will uphold the 14th Amendment and all Republican politicians who participated in the coup attempt will not be seated in the 118th Congress in January 2023.

The hearings will be meaningless if no consequences result from the investigation. If ALL organizers of the coup attempt are not indicted with criminal charges, and if ALL 147+ members of Congress who participated in the coup attempt are not barred from holding office, then this will mean the Democratic Party is complicit in the cover up of the coup attempt. This will mean Republicans WILL attempt more coups in the future, since they know they will face no consequences.

Whatever the Democratic Party decides to do, the Republicans have already tripled down on their strategy... Until the day comes when the government bothers to uphold the laws and enforce the Constitution, we are not safe, because the coup organizers have openly promised future bloodshed and future coup attempts. This includes multiple Republicans currently in Congress. The leadership of the Republican Party itself has declared the coup attempt and bloody Insurrection was a "legitimate political discourse", and it has attempted to oust members of the party who speak out against the Big Lie and the illegitimacy of the coup attempt. Trump has urged his supporters to launch a literal civil war if he faces and legal consequences for the coup attempt (and promised to pardon them once he retakes office).

All non-treasonous Americans need to (legally) get armed so we can prepare for the worst case scenario that Republican politicians and far-right militias have been warning us will unfold. Every day we wait is another day they have to organize themselves. If we don't prepare ourselves now, it will be too late when they come knocking on our door to slaughter us.

The hearings make clear just how corrupt, grave, and insane the events of the recent past were. But how much worse will it get in the near future? It can still get much worse, which is why we need to prepare to defend ourselves and our communities in case it does.