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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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