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Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol
On June 12, 2022, the committee announced it has enough evidence to recommend that the Justice Department indict Trump.[2] The committee has argued that Trump knew he did not win the election and was thus perpetrating a fraud, and it has referred to a "criminal conspiracy" that led to the attack on the Capitol.[3][4]
The committee was formed through a largely party-line vote on July 1, 2021. Its membership was a point of significant political contention. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger were the only two House Republicans to serve on the committee, and the Republican National Committee eventually censured them for their participation.[5]
The investigation commenced with public hearings on July 27, 2021 when four police officers testified. By May 2022, the committee had interviewed more than 1,000 people.[6] Some members of Trump's inner circle cooperated with the committee, while others defied it.[7]Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro were indicted by federal grand juries for refusing to testify. Congress also held Mark Meadows and Dan Scavino in criminal contempt for refusing to testify, but the Justice Department said it would not prosecute them.[8][9]
Kristin Amerling as deputy staff director / chief counsel. Served as deputy general counsel at the Transportation Department and chief counsel of multiple congressional committees.
Hope Goins as counsel to the chairman. Served as top advisor to Thompson on homeland security and national security matters.
In August 2021, Denver Riggleman, a former U.S. House representative, and Joe Maher, a principal deputy general counsel at the Department of Homeland Security, were hired as staffers,[12] and Timothy J. Heaphy was appointed as the committee's chief investigative counsel.[13]
On June 30, 2021, the resolution to form the committee passed by a vote of 222 to 190, with all Democratic members and two Republican members, Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney, voting in favor. Sixteen Republican members did not vote.[19] The resolution empowered Pelosi to appoint eight members to the committee, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy could appoint five members "in consultation" with Pelosi.[20] Pelosi indicated that she would name a Republican as one of her eight appointees.[21]
On July 1, Pelosi appointed eight members, seven Democrats and one Republican, Liz Cheney (R-WY); Bennie Thompson (D-MS) would serve as committee chair.[22] On July 19, McCarthy announced the five members he would recommend as the minority on the select committee. He recommended that Jim Banks (R-IN) serve as Ranking Member, and minority members be Jim Jordan (R-OH), Rodney Davis (R-IL), Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), and Troy Nehls (R-TX).[23] Banks, Jordan, and Nehls voted to overturn the Electoral College results in Arizona and Pennsylvania. Banks and Jordan had also signed onto the Supreme Court case Texas v. Pennsylvania to invalidate the ballots of voters in four states.[24]
Logo of the committee
On July 21, Thompson stated in an interview that he would investigate Trump as part of the inquiry into Capitol attack.[25] Hours later, Pelosi said in a statement that she had informed McCarthy that she would reject the recommendations of Jordan and Banks, citing concerns for the investigation's integrity and relevant actions and statements made by the two members. She approved the recommendations of the other three.[26] McCarthy then pulled all of his picks for the committee and stated that he would not appoint anyone on the committee unless all five of his choices were approved.[27][28]
After McCarthy rescinded his recommendations, Pelosi announced on July 25 that she had appointed Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) to the committee.[29][30] Kinzinger was one of the ten House Republicans who voted for Trump's second impeachment.[31] Pelosi also hired a Republican, former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA), as an outside committee staffer or advisor.[12] Cheney voiced her support and pushed for both of their involvement.[31]
On February 4, 2022, the Republican National Committee voted to censure Cheney and Kinzinger, which it had never before done to any sitting congressional Republican. The resolution formally drops "all support of them as members of the Republican Party", arguing that they are, through their work on the January 6 House Committee, hurting Republican prospects in the midterm elections.[5][32]
Investigation
The committee's work is ongoing. Its investigative teams each focus on a specific area like funding, individuals' motivations, organizational coalitions, and how Trump may have pressured other politicians.[33] As of the end of 2021, it had interviewed more than 300 witnesses and obtained more than 35,000 documents.[34] By May 2022, those totals had surpassed 1,000 witnesses and 125,000 records.[3] Some interviews were recorded.[35] While the investigation is still in progress, the committee publicly communicates some, but not all, of the information it finds.
Ultimately, the committee's findings may be used to inform new legislation. For example, in October 2021, committee members were already collaborating to draft a bill that would clarify the procedures for certifying presidential elections.[36] Election certification is governed by the 1887 Electoral Count Act.
The committee's findings may also be used in arguments to hold individuals legally accountable. Liz Cheney, the committee's vice chair, is reportedly focused on Trump's responsibility.[3] She suggested in December 2021 that Trump may have committed a felony by obstructing the electoral certification proceedings, which could carry a maximum sentence of 20 years,[37] and she said in March 2022 that the committee was examining "additional enhanced criminal penalties" for what she described as Trump's "supreme dereliction of duty" in not stopping the riot.[38]Seditious conspiracy, a charge brought against individuals including the leader of the Oath Keepers,[39] is a possible charge for Trump.[40][41] The committee was also considering wire fraud criminal referrals against Republicans who raised money off assertions of a stolen election they knew to be untrue.[42][43] The U.S. Department of Justice has the authority to open criminal investigations and bring criminal charges against political leaders,[44] and it has long been anticipated that the committee will recommend that the Justice Department do so.[45] Congress sometimes recommends criminal charges, but a "recommendation" or "referral" has no legal force in itself.[46] Trump's lawyers have argued that the committee's investigation should be properly limited to matters that have a "valid legislative purpose" and that any interest in recommending criminal charges, when expressed by the committee, may suggest that the committee's focus is impermissibly turning toward "law enforcement".[47]
A conviction, in turn, may be used to bar individuals from running for office in the future, as insurrectionists are constitutionally ineligible to hold public office. It is, however, unclear who enforces that.[48][49] In January 2022, lawyers challenged Representative Madison Cawthorn's eligibility to run for reelection,[50][51] and, in March 2022, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene's eligibility was similarly challenged.[52]
The committee's work may also aid the state of Georgia if it decides to prosecute Trump for solicitation of election fraud. On May 2, 2022, Fulton County's District Attorney Fani Willis opened a special grand jury to consider criminal charges.[53]
In early March 2022, Elie Honig, a legal analyst for CNN, speculated that the Department of Justice was not yet actively investigating because typically they would have asked the congressional committee to stop interfering.[54] However, on March 30, it was reported that the Justice Department — which previously focused on prosecuting rioters — had a sitting grand jury to examine the activity of Trump's inner circle, particularly regarding the fake electors scheme, with the goal of helping prosecutors decide whether to bring charges.[55][56] On April 20, the Justice Department wrote to the committee asking for at least some existing interview transcripts—the number and identities of the interviewees were not reported—as well as "any additional interviews you conduct in the future.” The committee is negotiating for some of the Justice Department's evidence in exchange. Thompson, the committee chair, told reporters he did not intend to give the Justice Department "full access to our product" especially when "we haven’t completed our own work.”[57] In early June 2022, Carl Bernstein, a journalist famous for reporting on Watergate, said he believes the committee has enough evidence to prove Trump's sedition.[58]
Insofar as the Justice Department already has its own inquiries and investigations, the committee may focus on producing its final report.[59]
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows did not provide a complete set of requested documents,[60] but provided thousands of emails and text messages[61][60] which revealed how certain people participated in efforts to overturn the election results:
The day after the election, former Texas governor and former Secretary of Energy Rick Perry sent Meadows a proposed strategy for Republican-controlled state legislatures to choose electors and send them directly to the Supreme Court before their states had determined voting results.[62][63]
Fox News host Sean Hannity exchanged text messages with Meadows suggesting that Hannity was aware in advance of Trump's plans for January 6. The committee wrote Hannity asking him to voluntarily answer questions.[64][65]
Representative Jim Jordan asked Meadows if Vice President Mike Pence could identify "all the electoral votes that he believes are unconstitutional".[66]
The day after the riot, one text stated that "We tried everything we could in our objections to the 6 states. I'm sorry nothing worked."[67][66]
Meadows also participated in a call with a Freedom Caucus group including Rudy Giuliani, Representative Jim Jordan, and Representative Scott Perry during which they planned to encourage Trump supporters to march to the Capitol on January 6.[68]
Meadows also exchanged post-election text messages with Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, in which they expressed support of Trump's claims of election fraud. Ginni Thomas emailed Arizona lawmakers on November 9 to encourage them to choose different electors, and she attended the rally on January 6.[69][70]
Some of the communications revealed Trump allies who privately expressed disagreement with the events of January 6 while defending Trump in public:
Donald Trump Jr. pleaded with Meadows during the January 6 riot to convince his father that "it has gone too far and gotten out of hand."[71]
Similarly, Fox News hosts Brian Kilmeade, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham asked Meadows to persuade Trump to appear on TV and quell the riot.[72]
The committee has obtained firsthand testimony from multiple people in Trump's inner circle who say he was repeatedly advised during the riot to address the nation to stop the violence. His delay in doing so is being characterized as a possible "dereliction of duty".[73] In mid-2022, CNN spoke to over a dozen people who had texted Meadows that day, and all of them said they believed that Trump should have tried to stop the attack.[74]
One of the most revealing documents provided by Meadows was a PowerPoint presentation[75][76] describing a strategy for overturning the election results. The presentation had been distributed by Phil Waldron, a retired Army colonel (now owning a bar in Texas)[77] who specialized in psychological operations and who later became a Trump campaign associate. A 36-page version appeared to have been created on January 5,[78][75] and Meadows received a version that day.[79][80][81] He eventually provided a 38-page version to the committee.[78] It recommended that Trump declare a national security emergency to delay the January 6 electoral certification, invalidate all ballots cast by machine, and order the military to seize and recount all paper ballots.[79][80] (Meadows claims he personally did not act on this plan.[79]) Waldron was associated with former Trump national security advisor Michael Flynn and other military-intelligence veterans who played key roles in spreading false information to allege the election had been stolen from Trump.[82][77]Politico reported in January 2022 that Bernard Kerik had testified to the committee that Waldron also originated the idea of a military seizure of voting machines, which was included in a draft executive order dated December 16.[83][84] The next month, Politico published emails between Waldron, Flynn, Kerik, Washington attorney Katherine Friess and Texas entrepreneur Russell Ramsland that included another draft executive order dated December 16. That draft was nearly identical to the draft Politico had previously released and embedded metadata indicated it had been created by One America News anchor Christina Bobb. An attorney, Bobb had also been present at the Willard Hotel command center.[85][86]
Obstacles
One of the main challenges to the committee's investigation was Trump's use of legal tactics to try to block the release of the White House communication records held at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).[87] He succeeded in delaying the release of the documents for about five months. The committee received the documents on January 20, 2022.[88][89]
Some of the documents had been previously torn up by Trump and taped back together by NARA staff.[90] Trump is said to have routinely shredded and flushed records by his own hand, as well as to have asked staff to place them in burn bags, throughout his presidency.[91][92] Additionally, as the presidential diarist testified to the committee in March 2022, the Oval Office did not send the diarist detailed information about Trump's daily activities on January 5 and 6, 2021.[93]
Trump's phone records from the day of the attack, as provided by NARA to the committee, have a gap of seven-and-a-half hours that spans the time when the Capitol was being attacked. It is not that pages were removed from his call logs; rather, no calls during this period were ever logged.[93] The apparently missing records suggest he was using a "burner" cell phone during that time.[94] He is said to have routinely used burner phones during his presidency.[95] The committee had not subpoenaed his personal phone records as of early February 2022.[96]
The committee began its request for the NARA records in August 2021.[97][98] Trump asserted executive privilege over the documents.[99] Current president Joe Biden rejected that claim,[100][101] as did a federal judge (who noted that Trump was no longer president),[102] the DC Circuit Court of Appeals,[103] and the U.S. Supreme Court.[104][105] While the request for NARA documents was being litigated, the committee agreed to a Biden administration request that they forgo obtaining certain documents from NARA relating to sensitive national security matters that had no bearing on events of January 6.[106]
Another difficulty is that Trump has told Republican leaders not to cooperate with the committee.[107][108][109][110] While hundreds of people have testified voluntarily,[111] the committee has also had to issue dozens of subpoenas[112] to legally compel certain uncooperative individuals to testify. Some people who were subpoenaed nevertheless refused to testify: Roger Stone and John Eastman pleaded their Fifth Amendment rights, while Steve Bannon and Mark Meadows were found in contempt of Congress. In December 2021, Michael Flynn sued to block a subpoena for his phone records and to delay his testimony, though a federal judge dismissed his suit within a day.[113]
The American Conservative Union is providing legal defense funds for some people who resist the committee. The organization says it only assists people who do not cooperate with the committee and who oppose its mission, according to chairman Matt Schlapp.[114]
Though the Republican National Committee has long insisted that the committee is invalid and should not be allowed to investigate, a federal judge found on May 1, 2022 that the committee's power is legitimate.[115]
Bill Stepian, Donald Trump's final campaign manager, cancelled his plans to testify for the second hearing, under subpoena, an hour before it started, due to his wife's going into labor, resulting in a delay of 45 minutes while the Select Committee scrambled to rearrange its presentation, with Bill Stepian's lawyer to read a statement for him. [116][117]
Public hearings
A series of five scheduled hearings began on June 9, 2022. The first and fifth hearing were scheduled in the evening so that they could be broadcast on prime time television.[118] House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy plans to lead a response in Congress in defense of Trump.[119]
The first hearing was carried live by the major broadcast television networks ABC, CBS and NBC, as well as cable channels such as C-SPAN, CNN, Fox Business Network, MSNBC, and Newsmax, as well as various live streaming outlets. Fox News did not carry the hearing live; its regular programming of Tucker Carlson Tonight and Hannity was aired without commercial breaks. During the weeks following the 2020 election, Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity had often amplified Trump's election falsehoods on their programs; previously disclosed text messages between Hannity and White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany were presented during the hearing.[120][121][118][122][123]Nielsen Media Research estimates that at least 20 million households watched the first hearing on traditional television, comparable to the average rating for NBC Sunday Night Football, which ranks as television's number one program.[124] Fox News did carry the second hearing.
The committee panel noted that Donald Trump attempted to overturn a free and fair democratic election by promoting a seven-part conspiracy.[128][129] According to Bennie Thompson, chairman of the committee, "Jan. 6 was the culmination of an attempted coup, a brazen attempt, as one rioter put it shortly after Jan. 6, to overthrow the government ... The violence was no accident. It represents Trump’s last stand, most desperate chance to halt the transfer of power.” Trump, according to the committee, "lied to the American people, ignored all evidence refuting his false fraud claims, pressured state and federal officials to throw out election results favoring his challenger, encouraged a violent mob to storm the Capitol and even signaled support for the execution of his own vice president."[128][129]
False claims of vote fraud
The committee revealed clips of videotaped testimony:
A senior adviser to the Trump campaign, Jason Miller, testified that Trump was internally advised he had lost the election. According to Miller, the campaign's top data aide, Matt Oczkowski, told Trump very shortly after the election "in pretty blunt terms, that he was going to lose".[130]
Trump campaign lawyer Alex Cannon testified he'd spoken to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in November 2020 soon after the election and told Meadows there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud. According to Cannon, Meadows replied: "So there's no there there".[131]
Attorney general Bill Barr said, regarding Trump's desire to put out the message that "the election was stolen": "I told the president [it] was bullshit."[131]
Ivanka Trump said she "accepted" Barr's assessment.[131]
Jared Kushner claimed that he had deemed White House counsel Pat Cipollone to be "whining" when Cipollone and other members of his team threatened to resign on principle.[132]
Representative Liz Cheney, vice chair of the committee, said that Representative Scott Perry and other Republican members of Congress had "sought Presidential pardons for their roles in attempting to overturn the 2020 election."[127] Jared Kushner, in his videotaped testimony, admitted to fast-tracking pardon requests during the administration's final weeks.[132]
Attack on the Capitol
Compilation of video from the January 6 attack, which was released by the committee and played during the first hearing
The committee showed video, much of it never before seen by the public, of the mob charging the Capitol and battling police. The video began with scenes of roughly 200 Proud Boys leading the assault on the Capitol. As later scenes showed a violent rampage, audio was overlaid of Trump later saying, "The love in the air. I’ve never seen anything like it." As the attack lasted several hours, the video contained timestamps to illustrate the timeline.[133]
Live, in-person testimony was given by documentary filmmaker Nick Quested, who was embedded with the Proud Boys on January 6, and Capitol police officer Caroline Edwards, injured in violence instigated by the Proud Boys on January 6.[134]
Quested testified that he joined the Proud Boys at the Mall at 10:30 a.m., and that the Proud Boys walked past the Capitol at 11:52 a.m. He noted there was "only one police officer on the barricades that subsequently are overrun by the protesters. We then walked around the Capitol, and then we doubled back...around 12:45, we walked over to the peace circle and we stopped." He added, "I don't know if violence was a plan, but I do know that they weren't there to attend the rally because they had already left the rally by the time the president had started his speech."[127]
The committee revealed videotaped testimony of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley. According to Milley, it was Pence who directly ordered the National Guard to respond on January 6, yet the White House told him to say that the order came from Trump.[131]
Second hearing (June 13, 2022)
Witnesses scheduled to testify include Bill Stepien, a longtime Republican operative who joined Trump's 2016 campaign, later becoming the White House political director, before becoming Trump's campaign manager two months before the 2020 election. He was involved in the Stop the Steal effort, including spreading false information about voting machines despite a staff memo finding the allegations were false. Stepien had provided the committee a deposition under subpoena in December 2021, and was appearing under subpoena for this hearing.[135][136] Stepien's testimony was canceled shortly before the hearing due to a family emergency; his attorney was to read a statement on his behalf.[137]
Former U.S. attorney from Atlanta BJay Pak is also scheduled to testify. Pak resigned his position days before the January 6 attack; he later told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the White House informed him Trump would fire him if he did not publicly state his office had found election fraud in Georgia.[138][139]
Ben Ginsberg, a longtime Republican election attorney, will testify about the failure of Trump's election lawsuits amidst the absence of any evidence of widespread fraud.[140]
Al Schmidt, the Republican former city commissioner of Philadelphia will testify. He had drawn Trump's ire for refusing to publicly announce the city's election results were rife with fraud. He resigned in 2021, saying he had received death threats.[142]
Final report
Following public hearings in June 2022, the committee may release an interim report.[143] The committee is expected to hire a writer to help produce its final report, which will be presented in a multimedia format,[144][143] and to release the report in September 2022 before the midterm elections.[145]
Timeline of proceedings
2021
July 27: The committee holds its first public testimony, and hears from four police officers who were in the front line as rioters attacked the Capitol. The whole committee prepped the day before. Thompson and Cheney give opening statements.[146][147]
Michael Fanone, a Metropolitan Police Department officer, said rioters pulled him into the crowd, beat him with a flagpole, stole his badge, repeatedly tased him with his taser and went for his gun.[148][151][152] He supported the creation of the January 6 commission and criticized those who downplayed the attack.[148][150]
Harry Dunn, a private first class of the U.S. Capitol Police, spoke about the racial abuse he and other officers experienced during the attack.[148][150]
Aquilino Gonell, a U.S. Capitol Police sergeant, said he was beaten with a flagpole and chemically sprayed.[148][150]
August 23: CNN reports committee investigators would seek phone records of several people, including members of Congress.[153]
August 25: The committee seeks records of at least thirty members of Trump's inner circle from seven government agencies and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), which preserves White House communication records. The committee's letter explains it is repeating requests that "multiple committees of the House of Representatives" made on March 25, 2021.[97][98]
August 27: The committee demands records from 15 social media companies going back to the spring of 2020.[154]
September 1: The Guardian reports that the committee seeks to identify any White House involvement in planning the Capitol attack and whether Trump had advance knowledge of the riot.[155]
September 13: The Guardian reports that White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is included in the records preservation requests, in addition to Republican members of Congress.[156]
September 22: The Guardian reports that the committee is considering issuing subpoenas for call records or testimony of senior Trump administration officials including Meadows, Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino and former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale.[157]
September 23: The committee issues subpoenas to Meadows, Scavino, chief strategist Steve Bannon, and Pentagon official and former Devin Nunes aide Kash Patel.[158] Documents are demanded by October 7.[159] Bannon and Patel are instructed to testify before the committee on October 14, and Meadows and Scavino on October 15.[160][161] Meadows is granted a postponement and rescheduled for November 12.[162]
September 29: Amy Kremer and ten others affiliated with her organization Women for America First, which held the permit for the Stop the Steal rally that preceded the Capitol attack, are subpoenaed by the committee.[163] Among these eleven people is Katrina Pierson, national spokesperson for Trump's 2016 campaign.
October 6: The Guardian reports that Trump and his attorneys were instructing the four Trump aides subpoenaed on September 23 to defy the orders and not comply with both the requests for documents and testimony.[107]
October 7: Politico and Bloomberg report that an attorney for Trump formally instructed the four aides to defy the orders and to provide neither documents nor testimony.[108][109] Later that day, as the committee issues further subpoenas to Stop the Steal LLC, Stop the Steal campaign organizer Ali Alexander, and fellow rally organizer Nathan Martin,[164][165] Trump announces that he would assert executive privilege to withhold the documents the committee had requested in August.[99]
October 8:
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki says Biden would not honor Trump's request to assert executive privilege to stop NARA from providing these documents.[100][166][167] Nevertheless, Trump writes NARA asserting privilege over about forty documents.[100] The same day, White House counsel Dana Remus advises NARA archivist David Ferriero that the challenged documents were to be released following a 30-day courtesy warning to Trump.[168][169]
A lawyer for Bannon says in a letter to the committee that Bannon would not comply with the subpoena for his testimony, because Trump had asserted executive privilege and instructed him to defy the subpoena.[110]
October 13: The committee subpoenas Jeffrey Clark and schedules him to provide documents and testimony later in the month. As assistant attorney general, Clark angled for a promotion to attorney general by promising Trump he would help overturn the election results. Former acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen, who resisted Clark's efforts to interfere with the election outcome, is interviewed by the committee.[170][171]
October 14: After Bannon does not appear for his scheduled deposition, the committee says it would initiate proceedings to hold Bannon in criminal contempt.[172] The committee also announces that Patel and Meadows were "engaging" with their investigation, and postpones both their depositions scheduled for October 14 and 15 respectively.[173] Scavino, meanwhile, also has his October 15 deposition postponed because the committee was unable to locate him,[174] and he did not formally receive the subpoena until October 8.[175][176][173]
October 18: Trump sues to prevent NARA from turning over the records to the committee or at least to allow him "to conduct a full privilege review of all of the requested materials" so he can choose which records NARA provides. His lawsuit, submitted by attorney Jesse R. Binnall, complains that the records request is "illegal, unfounded, and overbroad" and amounts to a "fishing expedition."[177][178] Meanwhile, NARA plans to release the documents on November 12.[179]
October 19: The committee votes unanimously to adopt a contempt of Congress report against Bannon and refer it to the full House for a vote.[180]
October 21: All 220 House Democrats and 9 House Republicans vote in favor of the resolution to hold Bannon in contempt of Congress, a majority that refers Bannon's case to the Justice Department. The Justice Department is deciding whether to prosecute Bannon.[181][182] A conviction could take years, according to Stanley Brand, former general counsel to the House of Representatives.[183]
October 22: CNN reports that Cheney and Kinzinger have interviewed former Trump director of strategic communicationsAlyssa Farah. She had resigned in December 2020 and told CNN after the January 6 attack that Trump had lied to the American people about the election results.[184]
October 25: Biden once again says he would not assert executive privilege; this regarded a second batch of documents the committee had requested from NARA.[101]
October 26: The Washington Post reports that more people are expected to be subpoenaed, including legal scholar John Eastman, who supported Trump's claims about the 2020 election.[185][186]
October 29: Jeffrey Clark, having parted ways with his attorney several days previously, does not appear for his scheduled deposition.[187]
October 30: In a court filing, NARA details what Trump demanded be withheld from the committee. Trump sought to block about 750 pages of documents among the nearly 1,600 requested by the committee. These included hundreds of pages of statements and talking points made by Trump press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, as well as daily presidential diaries, schedules, appointment information and White House visitor, activity, and phone logs from on and around January 6. Trump also sought to block drafts of speeches, remarks, and correspondence relating to the Capitol attack, as well as handwritten notes made by chief of staff Mark Meadows.[188]
November 5: Jeffrey Clark and his new attorney meet with investigators to state Clark would not cooperate unless compelled by a court order, asserting that Trump's "confidences are not his to waive," citing attorney-client privilege. In a letter to the committee, Clark's attorney cites a letter from a Trump attorney specifically stating Trump would not try to block Clark's testimony.[187][189][190]
November 6: The Guardian reports the committee was preparing to subpoena a number of Trump officials connected to the "war room" operation at the Willard hotel, including John Eastman.[191]
November 8: The committee issues subpoenas for six people: Trump 2020 campaign manager Bill Stepien; campaign senior advisor Jason Miller; former Trump national security advisor Michael Flynn; conservative lawyer and former professor John Eastman; Angela McCallum, executive assistant to the campaign; and Bernard Kerik, a Trump ally who participated in meetings at the Willard Hotel regarding efforts to overturn the election.[192][193] Ten other Trump officials and aides are subpoenaed the next day: former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany; senior advisor for policy Stephen Miller; Trump bodyman Nicholas Luna; White House personnel director John McEntee; Kenneth Klukowski, senior counsel to assistant attorney general Jeffrey Clark; deputy chief of staff Chris Liddell; Oval Office operations coordinator Molly Michael; special assistant for legislative affairs Cassidy Hutchinson; Benjamin Williamson, senior advisor to chief of staff Mark Meadows; and Mike Pence's national security advisor, Keith Kellogg.[194][195] All 16 people were required to provide documents by November 23 and scheduled to testify under oath through December.[193][196]
November 9: Federal judge Tanya Chutkan denies Trump's October 18 request to stop NARA from releasing documents. Trump's claim "that he may override the express will of the executive branch," she wrote in a 39-page ruling, "appears to be premised on the notion that his executive power 'exists in perpetuity'. But Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President."[197][102] (The previous evening, Trump had filed an emergency request for a preemptive injunction against Chutkan's forthcoming decision, but Chutkan rejected it two hours later as legally defective and premature.)[198][199] Trump immediately asks Chutkan for an injunction, which she denies.[200][201] However, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals grants Trump's request for an injunction on November 11 and schedules oral arguments before a three-judge panel for November 30.[202]
November 12: Meadows does not appear for his testimony as scheduled.[162] Bannon is federally indicted on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress the same day[203] and surrenders to the FBI on November 15.[204]
November 22: Subpoenas are issued for InfoWars host Alex Jones and longtime Republican operative Roger Stone, as well as two Stop the Steal organizers, Dustin Stockton and Jennifer Lawrence, and Trump spokesman and Save America PAC communications director Taylor Budowich.[205][206] Warrants for Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, and their respective leaders Enrique Tarrio and Stewart Rhodes, are issued the following day.[207] Robert Patrick Lewis, chairman of 1st Amendment Praetorian, a group alleged to have provided security at several rallies before January 6, is also subpoenaed that day.[208]
November 24: In advance of the hearing scheduled for November 30 regarding the release of NARA records, Trump's attorneys submit a reply brief. They claim that Biden's willingness to release the records served his "own political advantage" and "will result in permanent damage to the institution of the presidency."[209]
November 30:
As scheduled, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals heard Trump's argument. Trump's lawyers ask the judges to review each document and decide separately whether to release each one to Congress. The three judges deny this request. Judge Patricia Millett points out that the dispute, in her analysis, has not been "about the content of the documents" but rather "what happens when the current incumbent president says I'm not going to invoke executive privilege" to stop NARA from providing material to Congress. Millett indicates that, were the court to rule against Trump, it might nevertheless further delay the release of the documents to allow him to appeal to the Supreme Court.[210]
The Guardian reported that on the night before the January 6 attack, Trump made several calls to his associates at the Willard Hotel, where a command center or "war room" had been established in a set of rooms and suites.[211] Present at the Willard was a team led by Trump personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, Bannon, Eastman, and Boris Epshteyn. Michael Flynn, Roger Stone and Bernard Kerik were also present. Trump called to convey that Pence would not agree to employ the Pence Card to overturn the electoral vote, as proposed by Eastman and discussed in an Oval Office meeting on January 5. He discussed ways to delay the certification in order to get alternate slates of electors for Trump sent to Congress, as he, Giuliani and Eastman had discussed by conference call with 300 state legislators on January 2. The Guardian reported that Trump discussed some topics only with lawyers at the Willard so as to preserve the confidentiality afforded by attorney-client privilege.[212][213]
December 1:
The committee votes unanimously to hold Jeffrey Clark in contempt of Congress.[214] However, he is also given a new deposition date of December 4. This is because Clark has said that he plans to invoke the Fifth Amendment, which protects people from being forced to self-incriminate.[215] Due to Clark's report of a "medical condition," his deposition was postponed twice in December, to an undetermined date.[216] If Clark does not testify and does not properly invoke the Fifth Amendment, the full House may vote on whether to hold him in contempt.
A 36-page memorandum by Colonel Earl G. Matthews is sent to the committee contesting the findings of the DoD Inspector General report on the response to the riot. The memorandum accuses two principal sources of the report of perjury in an attempted coverup of acting Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy's inaction during the riot.[217]
December 7: In a letter from his attorney, Mark Meadows says he will cease cooperating. By then, Meadows has already provided 2,300 text messages, including his text messages from January 6 in which he informed others what Trump was doing during the riot, and some 6,800 pages of emails.[61][60] Among the documents was a January 5 38-page PowerPoint presentation entitled "Election Fraud, Foreign Interference & Options for 6 JAN" to be provided "on the hill;" a November 6 text exchange with a member of Congress in which Meadows reportedly said "I love it" in a discussion about the possibility of appointing alternate electors in certain states; and a November 7 email discussing the appointment of alternate slates of electors as part of a "direct and collateral attack" after the election.[218][219][220] Meadows objects to news that the committee has subpoenaed telecom carriers for the call and text metadata of more than 100 people, including Meadows and others in Trump's inner circle.[221] As the committee prepares to hold Meadows in contempt of Congress, he sues Nancy Pelosi, the committee and its members to block his subpoena as well as the subpoena issued to Verizon for his phone records.[222][223] NARA says it is working with Meadows' lawyers to obtain any additional documents that Meadows might not have provided.[60]
December 9: A reporter for The Guardian, Hugo Lowell, tweeted slides from a PowerPoint presentation that recommended Trump declare a national security emergency to return himself to office and was reportedly referenced in emails Meadows turned over to the committee.[224][225] Also on December 9, a three-judge panel of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rules to reject Trump's appeal to have his White House records withheld from the committee. NARA must continue to withhold the records for another 14 days, however, to allow Trump sufficient time to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.[103]
December 10: The Guardian reported that Meadows had turned over a 38-page PowerPoint presentation entitled "Election Fraud, Foreign Interference & Options for 6 JAN" to the committee as well as the email referring to the presentation. The Guardian reviewed a 36-page version of the presentation, which had the same title and made the same recommendations for Trump to declare a national security emergency to delay the January 6 certification of electors, reject all ballots cast by machine, and have paper ballots secured by U.S. marshals and National Guard troops to conduct a recount, according to the newspaper.[78][226]The New York Times reported that Meadows's attorney said the PowerPoint presentation his client provided to the committee came to his email inbox, but Meadows did not act on it. The Washington Post reported the next day that the presentation, which detailed an elaborate theory that China and Venezuela had taken control of voting machines, had been distributed by Phil Waldron, a retired Army colonel who specialized in psychological operations during his career. Waldron said he had spoken to Meadows "maybe eight to 10 times" and had attended a November 25 Oval Office meeting with Trump and others, and that he also had briefed several members of Congress on the presentation. Waldron was a Trump campaign associate who made false assertions of election fraud as an expert witness during hearings alongside Rudy Giuliani in Arizona, Georgia, and Michigan.[81]
December 12: The committee released a report revealing that Meadows had sent an email on January 5 promising that the National Guard would "protect pro Trump people".[227] The report also included what the committee said were an email and text messages to members of Congress discussing how Trump might persuade legislators of some states to change their certified elector slates from Biden to Trump, writing Trump "thinks the legislators have the power, but the VP has power too." Meadows asked the members how Trump could contact such legislators, which the president did via a conference call with 300 of them on January 2, providing them purported evidence of fraud they might use to decertify their election results. Three days later, dozens of legislators from Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin wrote Pence asking him to postpone the January 6 certification of electors for ten days "affording our respective bodies to meet, investigate, and as a body vote on certification or decertification of the election."[228][229]
December 13: Before the committee voted unanimously to recommend a contempt of Congress charge against Meadows to the full House, Cheney read aloud a selection of text messages Meadows received on and around January 6. Two Fox News allies of Trump texted that the Capitol attack was destroying the president's legacy. Donald Trump Jr. told Meadows that the president needed to make an Oval Office address because "He has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand." One unnamed lawmaker, later self-identified as Jim Jordan, texted in part that Pence "should call out all electoral votes that he believes are unconstitutional as no electoral votes at all." On January 7, an unnamed lawmaker texted, "Yesterday was a terrible day. We tried everything we could in our objections to the 6 states. I’m sorry nothing worked."[67][230] After reading the texts, and again the next day, Cheney made allusions to a federal statute to suggest Trump may have committed a felony by corruptly obstructing the electoral certification proceedings.[42][37]
December 14: The House voted 222–208 to find Meadows in criminal contempt of Congress and to refer the matter to the Justice Department. The only two Republicans to join Democrats in the vote against Meadows were Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both of whom serve on the committee.[231] Prior to the vote, more text messages to Meadows were presented on the House floor, including one sent on the day after the election that proposed a strategy to send electors selected by Republican-controlled legislatures in three states directly to the Supreme Court before voting results had been determined in those states.[232] CNN later reported that the committee believed the text came from Rick Perry, the former Texas governor and secretary of energy during the Trump administration. Though a Perry spokesman denied Perry sent the text, CNN had evidence that it came from Perry's phone. Committee member Jamie Raskin acknowledged that the text's author had been initially misidentified as a lawmaker.[62]
December 16: The White House counsel's office agreed in writing to delay their pursuit of NARA's release of some documents. Although Biden rejected Trump's claim of executive privilege, the White House nevertheless had its own concerns about the records request and said it should be narrowed so as not to expose highly classified or irrelevant information.[233] The committee on December 16 also moved to subpoena Waldron, the purported author of the PowerPoint presentation turned over by Meadows.[234]
December 17: Roger Stone appeared before the committee and asserted his Fifth Amendment rights to refuse to answer questions. Through his legal team, he claimed he was avoiding the "elaborate trap" of the committee's "loaded questions".[235]
December 20: Committee chair Thompson wrote to Representative Scott Perry asking him to provide information about his involvement in the effort to install Jeffrey Clark as acting attorney general. Thompson believed Perry had been involved in the effort to install Clark, given witness testimony from former acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen and his deputy Richard Donoghue, as well as communications between Perry and Meadows.[236][237][238] Perry declined the request the next day.[239] Among the text messages to Meadows the committee released on December 14 was one attributed to a "member of Congress" dated January 5 that read "Please check your signal," a reference to the encrypted messaging system Signal. In his letter to Perry, Thompson mentioned evidence that Perry had communicated with Meadows using Signal, though Perry denied sending that particular message.[240][241]
December 22: Thompson wrote a letter to congressman Jim Jordan requesting a meeting to discuss his communications with Trump and possibly his associates on and around January 6.[242][243]
December 23:
The Washington Post reported that the committee was considering a recommendation to the Department of Justice of opening a possible criminal investigation into Trump for his activities on January 6.[45]
Trump appealed to the Supreme Court to block NARA from releasing documents to the committee, which Trump's lawyers claimed would cause him "irreparable harm". Later that day, the committee asked the court to prioritize its decision on whether it would hear Trump's case.[244][245][246] (The court would eventually reject Trump's emergency request a month later, which allowed the committee to receive the records, and it would also decline to hear his case a month after that.)
December 24: While suing to block a subpoena of his bank records from JP Morgan, current Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich said in a court filing that he had cooperated extensively with the committee by providing 1,700 pages of documents and about four hours of sworn testimony relating to the planning and financing of Trump's speech outside the White House on January 6.[247] The subpoena of JP Morgan had not been public knowledge until Budowich's lawsuit revealed it. It is the first time this committee has been known to subpoena a bank directly.[33]
December 27: Thompson told The Guardian that the committee would investigate a call Trump made to his associates at the Willard Hotel on the night before the January 6 attack. The Guardian had reported the call on November 30.[248]
December 29: Trump's attorney complained to the Supreme Court that, if the committee's work had any "legislative purpose," it was merely a pretext for "what is essentially a law enforcement investigation". This would invalidate the investigation, according to Trump's lawyers, since the congressional mandate requires a legislative purpose.[47] Trump's attorney cited a Washington Post interview with Thompson from the previous week, in which the committee chair had argued that a criminal referral could be warranted.[47]
December 31: Bernard Kerik provided documents to the committee, including a "privilege log" describing attorney work product documents he declined to provide. One document in the log was described as a draft letter from the president to seize election-related evidence for national security reasons. The document was dated December 17, the day before Trump, Flynn, Giuliani and others met in the Oval Office to discuss the president's options, which included seizing voting machines; it was not clear if those discussions and that document were related. Another document detailed a sweeping nationwide communications plan to persuade Republican representatives at the state and federal level "to disregard the fraudulent vote count and certify the duly-elected President Trump."[249]
2022
January 4: The committee asks former Vice President Mike Pence to speak to them voluntarily. They seek information about Trump's pressure campaign to stop Pence from certifying the election results and about Pence's personal experience in Washington on January 6 when the crowd chanted for his execution.[250] Pence's former chief of staff Marc Short, and perhaps others close to Pence, were reported in December to be cooperating with the committee. Short had been subpoenaed, though he and others may have received "friendly" subpoenas to supersede any legal barriers to their voluntary cooperation.[251][252]
January 8:The Guardian reported the committee was examining whether Trump had overseen a criminal conspiracy that connected efforts to block Biden's election certification with the Capitol attack.[253]
January 9: Representative Jim Jordan declined the committee's December 22 request for an interview.[254]
January 10:
Politico reported the committee was attempting to retrace Trump's efforts to subvert the election at the state level, especially in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania. The committee had acquired thousands of documents and interviewed state officials. Secretaries of state in Arizona and Michigan provided the committee with forged certificates of ascertainment created by unauthorized individuals that falsely asserted Trump won their states' electoral votes; the Arizona document used the official state seal. The unauthorized individuals had sent the fraudulent documents to NARA, which rejected them.[255]
The New York Times reported that the committee considered Pence's testimony particularly important because after he refused on January 5 to play the Pence Card, Trump harshly attacked him verbally and told his January 6 rally crowd "If Mike Pence does the right thing, we win the election." The Times reported federal prosecutors were asking defense attorneys of indicted rioters if their clients would admit in sworn statements that they stormed the Capitol believing Trump wanted them to stop Pence from certifying the election. One member of Proud Boys who pleaded guilty said he had conspired with other members to "send a message to legislators and Vice President Pence." Another rioter stated in her guilty plea that she marched on the Capitol specifically after hearing Trump encourage Pence to "do the right thing."[256]
January 12:
The committee asked Republican House minority leader Kevin McCarthy to voluntarily provide information; McCarthy said hours later he would not cooperate. In a letter to McCarthy, the committee noted that he spoke to Trump before the attack, reportedly advising him that attempts to object to the election results were "doomed to fail," and during the attack, imploring him to intervene, but after meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago on January 28 the tone of McCarthy's public comments "changed markedly." Six days after the attack, McCarthy said in a radio interview that he supported a bipartisan commission and grand jury to investigate and that Trump "told me personally that he does have some responsibility." The next day, McCarthy stated on the House floor that Trump "bears responsibility for Wednesday's attack on Congress by mob rioters." The committee asked if Trump or his aides discussed the change in tone with McCarthy in consideration of an impeachment proceeding or subsequent investigation. McCarthy ultimately opposed the formation of a bipartisan January 6 commission and the House committee.[257][258][259][260][261][262]
CNN reported the committee was investigating fraudulent certificates of ascertainment created by Trump allies in seven states in late December 2020. The documents had been published by the watchdog group American Oversight in March 2021 but received little attention until January 2022. Michigan attorney general Dana Nessel announced on January 14 that after a months-long investigation she had asked the U.S. Justice Department to open a criminal investigation.[263][264][265] Deputy attorney general Lisa Monaco confirmed several days later that the department was reviewing the matter.[266]
January 19: The Supreme Court ruled that NARA could release the Trump White House documents to the committee.[267] It did not provide a reason, stating simply that it "denied" Trump's request. However, it did make a comment: As the Court of Appeals had acknowledged it would have denied Trump's request even had he still been in office, anything the Court of Appeals said about "Trump’s status as a former President" was legally "nonbinding". The votes of the justices were not disclosed, except for the dissent of Justice Clarence Thomas.[268][269] (Thomas's wife, Ginni Thomas, had attended the January 6 rally, which was not reported until two months after the Supreme Court's decision.)[270]
January 20:
The Guardian reported that former Trump White House aide Stephanie Grisham had testified to the committee about secret meetings that Trump held in the White House residence in the weeks before the Capitol attack. The report also said Grisham told the committee that Trump's intentions to march to the Capitol on January 6 would likely be reflected in the presidential line-by-line document disseminated to the US Secret Service.[271]
The committee asked Ivanka Trump for a voluntary interview and alerted reporters shortly before doing so. (The committee proposed the first week in February; ultimately, she was interviewed on April 5.)[272][273]
In the evening, the committee received the documents from NARA that they had been seeking since August.[88][89]
January 23: Thompson disclosed the committee had been talking with former U.S. attorney general William Barr, as well as some Pentagon officials. (Months later, it was further clarified that the committee's vice chair, Liz Cheney, had spoken to Barr informally, at his home, for two hours in the fall of 2021.)[274] Barr had been a staunch ally of Trump until his December 1, 2020, announcement that the Justice Department had not found evidence of significant election irregularities. Trump was angered by the finding and announced Barr's resignation on Twitter two weeks later.[275][276][277]
January 24: In an effort to withhold 19,000 emails subpoenaed by the committee, an attorney for John Eastman told a federal judge that they were protected by attorney-client privilege because Eastman had been representing Trump while participating in the January 2 conference call with legislators; the January 3 Oval Office meeting with Trump and Pence; and while working at the Willard Hotel. Eastman had not previously asserted privilege. The emails were stored on servers at Eastman's former employer, Chapman University, which had been subpoenaed and did not object to their release. The judge ordered the emails released to Eastman's legal team to identify which they asserted were privileged, before allowing a third party to scrutinize them.[278]
January 26: Marc Short, who had been Pence's chief of staff, was interviewed by the committee.[279] They asked him about a conversation on January 5, 2021 in which he'd predicted that Trump would very soon publicly turn against Pence, likely posing a security risk to Pence. Short had spoken to Pence’s lead Secret Service agent on that day to advise him of the risk.[280]
January 28:
The committee subpoenaed fourteen Republicans in seven states who falsely asserted they were the chairperson and secretary on slates of Trump electors presented on bogus certificates of ascertainment.[281]
Former Trump deputy press secretary Judd Deere was subpoenaed. The committee stated in a letter to Deere that he had helped with "formulating White House's response to the January 6 attack as it occurred" and it wanted to discuss a January 5 Oval Office staff meeting he attended with Trump.[282]
January 31:The New York Times reported there were two executive orders drafted in mid-December to allow Trump to order the seizure of voting machines, predicated on baseless allegations of foreign tampering advanced by Waldron, Flynn and Powell. One document ordered the Defense Department to seize the machines, while the other called for the Department of Homeland Security to conduct the seizures. Giuliani persuaded Trump to avoid the former, but at Trump's direction he asked Ken Cuccinelli, the second in command at DHS, if seizures were possible; Cuccinelli responded DHS did not have the authority. Trump had also suggested to attorney general Bill Barr in November that the Justice Department could conduct the seizures, which Barr quickly said the department would not do. The Times reported the next day that the committee was scrutinizing Trump's involvement.[283][284]
February 1: NARA notified Trump that it planned to deliver some of Pence's records to the committee on March 3.[285]
February 2:Politico reported that in January 2022 the committee had subpoenaed the phone records of Arizona Republican Party chair Kelli Ward and her husband. The Wards filed suit on February 1 to preclude their phone carrier from releasing the records on February 4, asserting that as practicing physicians their confidential communications with patients would be compromised. Both Wards were "alternate electors" who signed the false Arizona certificate of ascertainment. Kelli Ward was among the most prominent of Republican officials who worked with Trump to stoke claims of election fraud and later was involved in sending the false certificates to Congress.[286]
February 9: The committee subpoenaed Peter Navarro, a top Trump trade and manufacturing policy advisor, who had publicly said after the election that he worked with Steve Bannon and other Trump allies in an "operation" to delay the final certification of the election results in an effort to change the outcome.[287]
February 15: Biden rejected Trump's claim of executive privilege over the White House visitor logs for dates including January 6, 2021. NARA had provided these visitor logs to the Biden White House for review. The day after Biden's approval, NARA notified Trump that they would deliver the visitor logs to the committee on March 3.[288]
February 22: The Supreme Court declined to hear Trump's challenge to the release of the NARA records. The records had already been delivered to the committee on January 20 after the court denied Trump's emergency request. The Supreme Court was now saying it would not hear Trump's case at all. It did not disclose its reasoning or decision process.[105]
February 24:Politico reported a woman who was awaiting sentencing for breaching the Capitol asserted she also had extensive ties with the Pennsylvania Republican party, and had testified to committee investigators four times since October 2021. She said she had attended events "surrounded by Congressman, Senators, even Trump advisers" and was "promised future benefits, including a possible White House job." She also stated a "Trump adviser" asked her to help solicit affidavits alleging election fraud. She was the first indicted person to publicly disclose that her involvement extended beyond the attack and into the Republican establishment.[289]
March 1: The committee subpoenaed six attorneys who worked on various aspects of Trump's efforts to overturn the election, including by filing lawsuits, pressuring local election officials to change the results and drafting proposed executive orders to seize voting machines.[290]
March 2:Document 160 from the John C. Eastman v. Bennie G. Thompson et al. case The committee stated in a federal court filing (document 160 in the John C. Eastman v. Bennie G. Thompson et al. case being heard in Southern Division of the United States District Court for the Central District of California) that the evidence it had acquired "provides, at minimum, a good-faith basis for concluding" Trump and his campaign violated multiple laws in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States by attempting to prevent Congress from certifying his defeat. The filing was made in the District Court for the Central District of California and included excerpts of depositions from multiple individuals. The filing was a challenge to Eastman's court efforts to shield his emails from the committee, as he asserted attorney-client privilege.[291][292][293] It contained a January 6, 2021 email exchange in which Pence's chief counsel Greg Jacob rebuked Eastman for his proposal to have Pence stop the vote certification. Jacob said that, "as a legal framework, it is a results-oriented position that you would never support if attempted by the opposition, and essentially entirely made up."[294]
March 3: Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr.'s fiancée, was subpoenaed. The committee believed she was active in fundraising for the rallies preceding the attack and was in the Oval Office that day. She had abruptly ended a February voluntary interview because committee members chose to attend, while alleging that word of the interview had been leaked to the press.[295]
March 4: Rudy Giuliani's attorneys suggested that he may not comply with his subpoena, given the committee's treatment of Eastman. Giuliani has asserted attorney-client privilege, the type of privilege that the committee asked a judge on March 2 to waive for Eastman.[296]
A federal judge said he would review 111 of John Eastman's emails from Jan 4–7, 2021 to determine whether they are protected by attorney-client or attorney work-product privilege.[299]
March 28: Document 260: 28 March 2022 Order of Judge David O. Carter from the John C. Eastman v. Bennie G. Thompson et al. case
The committee voted unanimously to hold Dan Scavino and Peter Navarro in contempt for refusing to testify.[300] The full House will vote on whether to refer them to the Department of Justice.[301]
Judge David O. Carter reviewed Eastman's emails and said "the illegality of the plan was obvious" and ordered 101 emails to be turned over to the committee. Although neither Eastman nor Trump had been charged with a crime, the judge also wrote: "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."[302] Carter also wrote, referring to Kenneth Chesebro's December 13, 2020 email to Rudy Giuliani and others: "President Trump's team transformed a legal interpretation of the Electoral Count Act into a day-by-day plan of action. The draft memo pushed a strategy that knowingly violated the Electoral Count Act".[303][304] Chesebro's email was later found to have included a proposal for Pence to recuse himself as president of the Senate for the electoral certification, claiming a conflict of interest because he was a candidate in the election, allowing Chuck Grassley or another senior senate Republican to assume his role. Upon opening the Arizona envelopes to find two conflicting elector slates, the senator would halt the certification and provide Arizona three ways to remedy the conflict, including allowing the Republican-controlled state legislature to appoint electors. Grassley's office said neither he nor his staff had been aware of the proposal.[305]
Three days after the publication of 29 text messages Ginni Thomas exchanged with Mark Meadows in the days after the election imploring him to seek ways to overturn the election, CNN reported the committee would seek to interview her.[306]
March 29: Committee chair Thompson called it "concerning" that no record of telephone calls made by President Trump from 11:17 a.m. to 6:54 p.m. on January 6 had been found in eleven pages of records turned over to the committee. The committee was investigating whether Trump used other phones or whether the complete phone log had been submitted.[307]
March 31: Jared Kushner voluntarily spoke to the committee for six hours. He was the highest-ranking Trump administration official interviewed to date, as well as the first Trump family member to be interviewed.[308]
April 5: Ivanka Trump voluntarily spoke to the committee for eight hours.[309]
April 8:
The Guardian reported the committee had found evidence the Capitol attack included a coordinated assault by the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, as well as possible coordination with Save America rally organizers.[310]
CNN reported that documents the committee obtained included a text message Donald Trump Jr. sent to Meadows two days after the election. The text outlined paths to subvert the Electoral College process and ensure his father a second term. Trump Jr. wrote, "It’s very simple. We have multiple paths. We control them all. We have operational control. Total leverage. Moral high ground. POTUS must start second term now." He continued, "Republicans control 28 states Democrats 22 states. Once again Trump wins," adding, "We either have a vote WE control and WE win OR it gets kicked to Congress 6 January 2021." Biden had not yet been declared the winner at the time of the text.[311]
April 10:The New York Times reported committee members were in agreement that they had sufficient evidence to make a criminal referral to the Justice Department, but had grown divided on whether to do so. Previously the committee intended to make a referral to spur the Justice Department to conduct a criminal investigation, amid appearances it was hesitant, but recently concern arose that a referral might politically taint such an investigation that was now rapidly expanding. The need for a referral was also influenced by a ruling from federal judge David Carter regarding John Eastman two weeks earlier in which Carter stated it was "more likely than not" that Trump and Eastman had committed federal crimes. Carter also described the actions of Trump and Eastman as "a coup in search of a legal theory".[59][55][312] According to Republican committee member Liz Cheney in an interview, "It's absolutely clear that what President Trump was doing, what a number of people around him were doing, that they knew it was unlawful ... I think what we have seen is a massive and well-organized and well-planned effort that used multiple tools to try to overturn an election."[313][314]
NARA archivist David S. Ferriero gave Trump advance notice that he planned to turn over more documents to the committee on April 28.[316]
April 15: CNN published extensive Meadows text messages the committee had obtained, focused on communications with senator Mike Lee, as well as congressman Chip Roy. Both men were initially supportive of Trump's efforts to challenge the election but ultimately backed away. Lee was hopeful that Sidney Powell, whom he described to Meadows as a "straight shooter," would present strong evidence of election fraud during a press conference, but later grew disillusioned with her wild claims. He continued to express support for Eastman's proposal, endorsing the plan to have "a very small handful of states" submit an alternate slate of electors for Trump. Upon seeing no state legislatures convening to pursue that plan, Lee backed away from it and ultimately voted to approve the official electoral results. He then criticized senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley for continuing to challenge the results.[317][318]
April 18: A court filing by Eastman indicated that he was still trying to withhold 37,000 pages of emails. Federal judge David Carter will again consider his request.[319]
April 20: The Justice Department wrote to the committee with a broad request for transcripts of witness interviews "and of any additional interviews you conduct in the future”, acknowledging that they could be used "as evidence in potential criminal cases, to pursue new leads or as a baseline for new interviews conducted by federal law enforcement officials." Kenneth Polite, assistant attorney general for the criminal division, and Matthew Graves, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, wrote the committee's lead investigator Timothy Heaphy, advising him that the transcripts "may contain information relevant to a criminal investigation we are conducting."[6]
May 1: U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly rejected the RNC's attempt to protect its Salesforce fundraising data from being released to the committee. The committee had claimed that the RNC and the Trump campaign had sent emails through Salesforce to spread claims of election fraud which in turn "motivated" the attack on the Capitol. Acknowledging the committee's position, the judge ruled that the committee has the constitutional right to seek information through a subpoena, and he rejected the RNC's argument that the First Amendment shields its information.[320]
May 2: The committee requested voluntary interviews with Representatives Mo Brooks of Alabama, Andy Biggs of Arizona, and Ronny Jackson of Texas.[321] All three declined.[322]
May 6: Rudy Giuliani, scheduled to testify on this day, backed out after requesting and being denied the right to record his testimony.[323]
May 12: The committee issued subpoenas to House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy and Republican congressmen Jim Jordan, Mo Brooks, Scott Perry and Andy Biggs. The subpoenaing of House members by a committee had no modern precedent, apart from those of the House Ethics Committee. Unlike other subpoenas issued by the committee, the scope and contents of these were not disclosed, including whether documents or communications records were demanded.[324][325]
May 17: The New York Times reported the committee was negotiating with the Justice Department to exchange the witness interview transcripts for information the DOJ has. This was also the first news report about the April 20 request.[6]
May 19:
The committee asked Republican congressman Barry Loudermilk to voluntarily meet with investigators, writing, "we believe you have information regarding a tour you led through parts of the Capitol complex" the day before the attack, adding that "reporting and witness accounts indicate some individuals and groups engaged in efforts to gather information about the layout of the U.S. Capitol, as well as the House and Senate office buildings, in advance of January 6, 2021."[326] In Loudermilk's same-day reply, he said he gave a tour to a family with young children. He denied that it was "a suspicious group or ‘reconnaissance tour'", and he did not indicate whether he intended to cooperate with the committee.[327]
Former attorney general Bill Barr was reportedly in active negotiations to provide sworn testimony and formal transcribed testimony.[328][274]
John Eastman revealed that he sometimes spoke directly with Trump about a strategy to overturn the election but also had six intermediaries who could reach Trump for him. In a court filing, Eastman sought to block the committee from receiving two of Trump's handwritten notes, communications from seven state legislators, a document discussing possible "scenarios for Jan. 6", and a document discussing possible election-related lawsuits.[329]
May 20: Giuliani spoke with the committee for more than nine hours.[330]
June 2: Bill Barr gave in-person testimony behind closed doors for two hours.[331]
June 3: The FBI arrested Peter Navarro. A grand jury's indictment for contempt of Congress was dated the previous day.[9] It was reported that the Justice Department had, by contrast, decided not to prosecute Mark Meadows and Dan Scavino, both of whom Congress had also held in contempt months earlier.[332] Chairman Thompson and Vice Chair Cheney commented: "While today’s indictment of Peter Navarro was the correct decision by the Justice Department, we find the decision to reward Mark Meadows and Dan Scavino for their continued attack on the rule of law puzzling. Mr. Meadows and Mr. Scavino unquestionably have relevant knowledge about President Trump’s role in the efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the events of January 6th. We hope the Department provides greater clarity on this matter. If the Department’s position is that either or both of these men have absolute immunity from appearing before Congress because of their former positions in the Trump Administration, that question is the focus of pending litigation. As the Select Committee has argued in District Court, Mark Meadows’s claim that he is entitled to absolute immunity is not correct or justified based on the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel Memoranda. No one is above the law.”[333]
June 7: Judge David Carter ruled that Eastman must disclose an additional 159 sensitive documents to the committee. Ten documents related to three December 2020 meetings by a secretive group strategizing about how to overturn the election, which included what Carter characterized as a "high-profile" leader. Carter noted one email in particular that contained what he found was likely evidence of a crime and ordered it disclosed under the crime-fraud exception of attorney-client privilege. The email content in question was a comment by an unidentified attorney that litigating a case regarding the January 6 session in Congress might "tank the January 6 strategy" and so the Trump legal team should avoid the courts.[334]
June 9: The first of several public hearings by the committee are held. New footage of the attack is shown, and the first witnesses testified publicly.[335]
June 12: The night before the second public hearing, the committee announced it has enough evidence to recommend that the Justice Department indict President Donald Trump.[2]
Subpoenas
Some people testify and provide documents voluntarily, while others are legally compelled by subpoenas.[336][112][337] The committee does not always publicly announce the subpoenas it issues.[61] One notable subpoena requested the telephone records of more than 100 people,[338] some of whom sued.[339]
On May 12, 2022, the committee subpoenaed five House Republicans, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.[324] Representative Thompson, the committee chair, had told NBC's Meet the Press on January 2, 2022 that they would have "no reluctance" to subpoena sitting members of Congress once they determined they had the authority.[340][341]
In May 2022, the committee reportedly was still debating whether to call Trump and Pence,[342] although Thompson had told reporters on April 4 they would not bother with this, especially having already confirmed important information through Pence's former aides Marc Short and Greg Jacob.[309]
According to several reports, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy had warned Republican members that if they allowed Speaker Pelosi to appoint them to the select committee, they would be stripped of all their other committee assignments and should not expect to receive any future ones from Pelosi. In an interview with Forbes, Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) said "Who gives a shit" and added, "When you've got people who say crazy stuff and you're not gonna make that threat, but you make that threat to truth-tellers, you've lost any credibility."[400]
House Leader McCarthy called the rejection of his initial recommendations "unprecedented" in a phone call with Pelosi. In a press conference, he labeled her a "lame duck speaker" out to destroy the institution. The Freedom Caucus pushed for McCarthy to file a motion to vacate the speakership, and punish Cheney and Kinzinger for accepting their appointments to the committee.[401][402] McCarthy later dubbed them "Pelosi Republicans."[146][147] Republicans also stated that if they won the House majority in the 2022 midterm elections, they would come after Democratic committee assignments, targeting Eric Swalwell and Ilhan Omar.[402]Steve Scalise stated that Pelosi had removed any credibility from the committee for rejecting their recommended members and opted instead for a political narrative.[402] Republicans Scott Perry, Chip Roy, and Kelly Armstrong expressed their disdain for both Cheney and Kinzinger and questioned their loyalty to the House Republican Conference, pushing for them to be stripped of their committee assignments.[401][146]Jim Banks and Mike Rogers stated that the two GOP committee members would be stuck to Pelosi's narrative of events.[146] Cheney and Kinzinger both dismissed comments from their colleagues.[146]
After Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected two of Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's picks for the committee, The Wall Street Journal editorial board criticized Pelosi's rejection of McCarthy's picks. It acknowledged that McCarthy's picks were partisan, but claimed that Adam Schiff, who was appointed by Pelosi, had "lied repeatedly about the evidence concerning the Trump campaign’s collusion with Russia." The editorial board posited, "if Mrs. Pelosi thinks the evidence for her conclusion is persuasive, why would she not want to have it tested against the most aggressive critics?"[403] On the other hand, the San Francisco Chronicle editorial board said: "Pelosi's chief mistake was not also rejecting Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas, who, like Jordan, Banks and a majority of House Republicans, voted to overturn the election on the day of the insurrection. No serious investigation of the riot can be undertaken by those who shared the goals of the rioters." It added that "McCarthy and company killed an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate the attack even though the Republicans' top negotiator agreed to the terms."[404]
After committee formation
Some House Republicans—including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Representative Jim Jordan—said they did not watch the committee's first hearing on July 27, 2021. Representative Matthew M. Rosendale said he watched Representative Liz Cheney speak (and was "quite disappointed") but did not watch the police officers' testimony. Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik would not say whether she watched.[405]
In late August 2021, after the committee asked telecommunications and social media companies to retain certain records, McCarthy declared that if the companies "turn over private information" to the House committee, then the companies are "in violation of federal law and subject to losing their ability to operate in the United States", and that a future Republican legislative majority will hold the companies "fully accountable".[406] In response to McCarthy's comment, the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint on September 3 with the chief counsel of the Office of Congressional Ethics. CREW noted that the subpoena was legally valid and claimed that McCarthy was illegally obstructing the investigation insofar as he was "threatening retaliation" against the telecommunications companies.[407] Eleven House Republicans who were associated with the January 6 "Stop the Steal" rally sent a September 3 letter to thirteen telecommunications companies stating they "do not consent to the release of confidential call records or data" and threatened legal action against what they asserted were unconstitutional subpoenas.[408][409][410][411]
During a September 2 television interview, McCarthy was asked about "how deeply [Trump] was involved," to which he replied that the FBI and Senate committees had found "no involvement."[412] He and other Republicans had cited an exclusive Reuters report that unnamed current and former law enforcement officials said the FBI had found "scant evidence" of an organized plot to overturn the election. In a September 4 statement, Thompson and Cheney said the committee had queried executive branch agencies and congressional committees investigating the matter and "it's been made clear to us that reports of such a conclusion are baseless."[413][414]
On October 16, The Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson criticized the committee's glacial progress, stating that "I don't believe that they're pursuing this with the degree of vigor that merits the type of targets they're talking about. We're dealing with people like Steve Bannon and Roger Stone and Ali Alexander ... They've had three months, they've done almost nothing."[415]
Representative Scott Perry said on December 21 that he would not cooperate with the committee because, in his view, the committee itself was "illegitimate, and not duly constituted under the rules of the US House of Representatives."[416] Similarly, on January 23, 2022, Newt Gingrich said on Fox News that he believed the committee was breaking laws, but he did not specify which laws.[417]
In June 2022, Fox News announced that it would not carry live coverage of the hearings, relegating it to its sister channel Fox Business and local Fox network affiliates.[120][121][419] Fox News instead carried special editions of Tucker Carlson Tonight and Hannity (the former notably airing commercial-free) that largely featured criticism of the hearing,[419][420] with Carlson deeming it "propaganda", and lower thirds describing it as a "sham", "show trial" and "political theater".[421]
Polling
According to a poll conducted in July 2021 by Politico, a majority of Americans support the January 6 investigation, with 58% overall supporting and 29% opposing; 52% of Republicans polled opposed it.[422] When Politico repeated the poll in December 2021, again, three-fifths supported the committee, including 82% of Democrats, 58% of independents, and 40% of Republicans.[423]
In an August 2021 Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll, 58% of American voters said they thought the committee was biased, while 42% thought it was fair.[424] In September 2021, a Pew Research poll found that only 11% of American adults said they were very confident the committee would be fair and reasonable while another 34% were somewhat confident, while a 54% majority said they were not too confident (32%) or not at all confident (22%). Confidence was highly partisan: Nearly two-thirds of Democrats and less than a quarter of Republicans said they were at least somewhat confident.[425]
Just greater than half of Americans believe that Trump should face criminal charges for his role in the attack. A Washington Post–ABC News poll taken a week after the attack found 54% giving this response, and over a year later, it hadn't changed substantially, as 52% gave the same response to the same organization's poll conducted April 24–28, 2022. The division is partisan: 5 out of 6 Democrats support charging Trump, while 5 out of 6 Republicans oppose doing so.[426]
NBC News found that the percentage of Americans who believe that Trump was solely or mainly responsible for the January 6 attack dropped from 52% in January 2021 to 45% in May 2022. A decrease was found within all subgroups: Democrats, Republicans, and independents.[427]
See also
Eastman memos – Memos outlining debunked legal theories to overturn the 2020 US presidential election
^Folkenflik, David (June 10, 2022). "Only one major cable news channel did not carry the Jan. 6 hearing live: Fox News". National Public Radio. As it turned out, the hearings would also have repeatedly required Fox to have broadcast flat contradictions of what many leading Fox News personalities have told their audiences in the past year and a half — including Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity. Instead, their prime-time shows continued without commercial interruption Thursday, offering an alternate reality to a hearing that showed vivid and bloody detail of a national crisis.
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