From left to right, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., are seated as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds its first public hearing to reveal the findings of a year-long investigation, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, June 9, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - Donald Trump was told the same thing over and over, by his campaign team, the data crunchers, and a steady stream of lawyers, investigators and inner-circle allies: There was no voting fraud that could have tipped the 2020 presidential election.
But in the eight weeks after losing to Joe Biden, the defeated Trump publicly, privately and relentlessly pushed his false claims of a rigged 2020 election and intensified an extraordinary scheme to overturn Biden's victory. When all else failed in his effort to stay in power, Trump beckoned thousands of his supporters to Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, where extremists groups led the deadly Capitol siege.
The scale and virulence of that scheme began to take shape at the opening House hearing investigating 1/6. When the panel resumes Monday, it will delve into its findings that Trump and his advisers knew early on that he had in fact lost the election but engaged in a 'œmassive effort'ť to spread false information to convince the public otherwise.
Biden spoke of the importance of the committee's investigation in remarks Friday in Los Angeles. 'œThe insurrection on Jan. 6 was one of the darkest chapters in our nation's history," the president said, 'œa brutal assault on our democracy.'ť
Americans, he said, must 'œunderstand what truly happened and to understand that the same forces that led to Jan. 6 remain at work today.'ť
The House panel investigating the 1/6 attack on the Capitol is prepared next week to reveal more details and testimony about its assessment that Trump was made well aware of his election loss. With testimony from some 1,000 interviews and 140,000 documents over the year-long probe, it will lay out how Trump was told repeatedly that there were no hidden ballots, rigged voting machines or support for his other outlandish claims. Nevertheless Trump refused to accept defeat and his desperate attempt to cling to the presidency resulted in the most violent domestic attack on the Capitol in history.
'œOver multiple months, Donald Trump oversaw and coordinated a sophisticated seven-part plan to overturn the presidential election and prevent the transfer of presidential power,'ť Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., told the hearing Thursday night. 'œTrump's intention was to remain president of the United States,'ť she said.
By Wednesday, the panel will hear testimony from the highest levels of the Trump-era Department of Justice - Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, his top deputy Richard Donoghue and Steven Engel, the former head of the department's Office of Legal Counsel - according to a person familiar with the situation and granted anonymity to discuss their appearances.
The testimony from the three former Justice Department officials is expected to center on a chaotic stretch in the final weeks of the administration when Trump openly weighed the idea of replacing Rosen with a lower-ranking official, Jeffrey Clark, who was seen as more willing to champion in court the president's false claims of voter fraud.
The situation came to a head in an hours-long meeting at the White House on Jan. 3, 2021, attended by Rosen, Donoghue, Engel and Clark, when top Justice Department officials and White House lawyers told Trump they would resign if he went ahead with his plan to replace Rosen. The president ultimately let Rosen finish out the administration as acting attorney general.
Thursday will turn to Trump's remarkable efforts to press Vice President Mike Pence to refuse to count electoral votes on Jan. 6, a scheme proposed at the White House by an outside lawyer, John Eastman. During the insurrection, rioters prowled the halls of the Capitol shouting 'œhang Mike Pence'ť when the vice president refused Trump's plan to overturn the 2020 election.
'œI'd like to see the truth come out," said Ken Sicknick, whose brother, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, died after suffering a stroke defending the Capitol, said Friday on CNN.
He said while the family received countless condolences after his brother died, including from the vice president, 'œnot one tweet, not one note, not one card, nothing'ť from Trump. "Because he knows he's the cause of the whole thing.'ť
The hearings may not change Americans' views on the Capitol attack, but the panel's investigation is intended to stand as its public record and could result in referrals for prosecution. With Trump considering another White House run, the committee's final report aims to account for the most violent attack on the Capitol since 1814.
Early Friday, Trump responded on his social media site, decrying the 'œWITCH HUNT!'ť even as he fully acknowledged he refused to accept defeat.
'œMany people spoke to me about the Election results, both pro and con, but I never wavered one bit,'ť he said, pushing his false claim of a stolen election.
Trump declared that Jan. 6 'œrepresented the greatest movement in the history of our country.'ť
The start of the monthlong hearings opened Thursday in prime-time with the panel laying the blame for the 1/6 insurrection squarely on Trump, saying the assault was not spontaneous but an 'œattempted coup'ť and a direct result of the defeated president's effort to overturn the 2020 election.
With a never-before-seen 12-minute video of extremist groups leading the deadly siege and startling testimony from Trump's most inner circle, the committee provided new detail of an imperiled democracy.
'œJan. 6 was the culmination of an attempted coup,'ť said Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chairman of the panel, during the hearing, timed for prime time to reach as many Americans as possible. "The violence was no accident.'ť
In a previously unseen video clip, the panel played a remark from former Attorney General Bill Barr, who testified that he told Trump the claims of a rigged election were 'œbull--.'ť
In another clip, the former president's daughter, Ivanka Trump, testified to the committee that she respected Barr's view that there was no election fraud. 'œI accepted what he said.'ť
Others showed leaders of the extremist Oath Keepers and Proud Boys preparing to storm the Capitol to stand up for Trump. One rioter after another told the committee they came to the Capitol because Trump asked them to.
In wrenching testimony U.S. Capitol Police officer Caroline Edwards told the panel that she slipped in other people's blood as rioters pushed past her into the Capitol. She suffered brain injuries in the melee.
'œIt was carnage. It was chaos,'ť she said.
The riot left more than 100 police officers injured, many beaten and bloodied, as the crowd of pro-Trump rioters, some armed with pipes, bats and bear spray, charged into the Capitol. At least nine people who were there died during and after the rioting, including a woman who was shot and killed by police.
Court documents show that members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers were discussing as early as November a need to fight to keep Trump in office. Leaders both groups and some members have since been indicted on rare sedition charges over the military-style attack.
The Justice Department has arrested and charged more than 800 people for the violence that day, the biggest dragnet in its history.
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Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Farnoush Amir, Kevin Freking, Michael Balsamo and Zeke Miller in Washington and Alanna Durkin Richer in Boston contributed to this report.
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For full coverage of the Jan. 6 hearings, go to https://www.apnews.com/capitol-siege.
The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds its first public hearing to reveal the findings of a year-long investigation, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 9, 2022. (Jabin Botsford//The Washington Post via AP, Pool)
The Associated Press
Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., gives her opening remarks as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds its first public hearing to reveal the findings of a year-long investigation, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, June 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
The Associated Press
This image from video from a police worn body camera from the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, was played as a committee exhibit as the House select committee investigating the the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, held a hearing Thursday, June 9, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (House Select Committee via AP)
The Associated Press
This image from video from a police worn body camera from the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, was played as a committee exhibit as the House select committee investigating the the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, held a hearing Thursday, June 9, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (House Select Committee via AP)
The Associated Press
This image from video from a Tweet by then-President Donald Trump, was played as a committee exhibit as the House select committee investigating the the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, held a hearing Thursday, June 9, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (House Select Committee via AP)
The Associated Press
A video showing former White House Advisor Ivanka Trump speaking during an interview with the Jan. 6th Committee is shown as committee members from left to right, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., look on, as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds its first public hearing to reveal the findings of a year-long investigation, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, June 9, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The Associated Press
U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Harry Dunn tears up as a video of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol is played during a public hearing of the House select committee investigating the attack is held on Capitol Hill, Thursday, June 9, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
The Associated Press
A video of former Vice President Mike Pence speaking is shown as committee members from left to right, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., look on, as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds its first public hearing to reveal the findings of a year-long investigation, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, June 9, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The Associated Press
Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., gives her opening remarks as Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., left, looks on, as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds its first public hearing to reveal the findings of a year-long investigation, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, June 9, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The Associated Press
U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Harry Dunn, right, and Sandra Garza, the long-time partner of Capitol Hill Police Officer Brian Sicknick who died shortly after the Jan. 6 attack, left, react as a video of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol is played during a public hearing of the House select committee investigating the attack is held on Capitol Hill, Thursday, June 9, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
The Associated Press
A video showing former White House Senior Advisor Jared Kushner speaking during an interview with the Jan. 6th Committee is shown as committee members from left to right, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., look on, as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds its first public hearing to reveal the findings of a year-long investigation, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, June 9, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The Associated Press
U.S. Capitol Police officer Caroline Edwards, left, and British filmmaker Nick Quested, are sworn in as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds its first public hearing to reveal the findings of a year-long investigation, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 9, 2022. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool via AP)
The Associated Press
U.S. Capitol Police officer Caroline Edwards testifies as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds its first public hearing to reveal the findings of a year-long investigation, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
The Associated Press
Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., speaks as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds its first public hearing to reveal the findings of a year-long investigation, on Capitol Hill, Thursday, June 9, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
The Associated Press
This combination of photos shows the members of the House select committee tasked with investigating the Jan. 6, attack. Top row from left, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., and Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif. Bottom row from left, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. (AP Photo)
The Associated Press
Sandra Garza, the long-time partner of fallen Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, right, hugs U.S. Capitol Police officer Caroline Edwards as they leave after the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol held its first public hearing to reveal the findings of a year-long investigation, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
The Associated Press
U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Harry Dunn, right, Sandra Garza, the longtime partner of fallen Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, center, and Serena Liebengood, widow of Capitol Police officer Howie Liebengood, left, react as a video of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol is played during a public hearing of the House select committee investigating the attack is held on Capitol Hill, Thursday, June 9, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
The Associated Press
Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., stand together during a break as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds its first public hearing to reveal the findings of a year-long investigation, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, June 9, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The Associated Press
British filmmaker Nick Quested testifies as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds its first public hearing to reveal the findings of a year-long investigation, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
The Associated Press
Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., gives her opening remarks as Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., left, and Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., look on, as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds its first public hearing to reveal the findings of a year-long investigation, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, June 9, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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Serena Liebengood, widow of Capitol Police officer Howie Liebengood, cries as a video of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol is played during a public hearing of the House select committee investigating the attack is held on Capitol Hill, Thursday, June 9, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
The Associated Press
A video showing former White House Senior Advisor Jared Kushner speaking during an interview with the Jan. 6 Committee is shown at the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, hearing Thursday, June 9, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
The Associated Press
An image of Ivanka Trump is displayed on a screen as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds its first public hearing to reveal the findings of a year-long investigation, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 9, 2022. (Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP)
The Associated Press
In this image from video released by the House Select Committee, former White House senior adviser Jared Kushner is interviewed by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, displayed at the hearing Thursday, June 9, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (House Select Committee via AP)
The Associated Press
In this image from video released by the House Select Committee, an exhibit shows Ivanka Trump during a video deposition to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, at the hearing Thursday, June 9, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (House Select Committee via AP)
The Associated Press
Committee chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., gives opening remarks as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds its first public hearing to reveal the findings of a year-long investigation, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, June 9, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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President Joe Biden speaks about inflation and supply chain issues at the Port of Los Angeles, Friday, June 10, 2022, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
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President Joe Biden waits before speaking about inflation and supply chain issues at the Port of Los Angeles, Friday, June 10, 2022, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
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