Jan. 6 hearing key takeaways: The riot was Trump's last hope, and the next day, he still refused to say the election was over
As a violent mob overran the Capitol after his rally Jan. 6, then-President Donald Trump wasn't sorry or alarmed, the House Jan. 6 committee showed in a public
As a violent mob overran the Capitol after his rally Jan. 6, then-President Donald Trump wasn't sorry or alarmed, the House Jan. 6 committee showed in a public hearing Thursday night.
The attack served as his last, slim hope of retaining power by delaying certification of Joe Biden’s victory, the committee argued. And Trump didn’t want to see the riot quelled too quickly as Congress met to tally the electoral votes.
So, Trump watched the melee unfold on Fox News in his private dining room off the Oval Office. Aides came in and implored him to make a statement condemning the violence and calling on the rioters to go home. Instead, he watched more television. He called a senator about delaying the presidential vote count; he phoned his private attorney Rudy Giuliani. But he didn’t summon the Pentagon, deploy the National Guard, or mobilize any of the law enforcement agencies needed to quash the riot and permit the transfer of power central to a functioning democracy.
That wasn’t an accident or a bout of indecision on Trump’s part, the committee members said. It was part of a deliberate plan.
"Rather than uphold his duty to the Constitution, President Trump allowed the mob to achieve the delay he hoped would keep him in power,” said Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., a committee member.
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