The House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol wrapped up its likely last public hearing with a bang – not a whimper – when it voted to subpoena former US president Donald Trump to give evidence.
The move was the culmination, not just of the last hearing, but of the panel’s work so far in placing Trump dead at the center of a conspiracy to steal the 2020 presidential election and then to foment a violent riot in Washington DC aimed at preventing Democrat Joe Biden being certified as the winner.
It was another remarkable session of evidence that relied largely on recorded videos of testimony rather than any live witnesses. Here are the key points:
1) A direct clash with Trump is coming
In the final minutes of its two-and-a-half-hour hearing, the panel subpoenaed the former president, with committee member Jamie Raskin saying they hope his testimony will clarify aspects of the attack they haven’t been able to uncover. Trump responded by attacking the committee and likely plans to fight it.
2) More Secret Service details
The Secret Service is in for continued scrutiny, with committee member Pete Aguilar warning the panel may recall witnesses with knowledge of Trump’s allegedly explosive behavior on 6 January, when his protective detail declined to drive him to the Capitol. Aguilar also warned “the committee is reviewing testimony regarding potential obstruction on this issue”, and to expect more details about this in its forthcoming report.
3) Roger Stone and violence
Trump ally and notorious dirty tricks operator Roger Stone discussed the need for violence after the 2020 election and before 6 January 2021.
“I really do suspect that [the election result] will still be up in the air. When that happens, the key thing to do is to claim victory. Possession is nine-tenths of law. ‘No we won, fuck you. Sorry, you’re wrong, fuck you,” Stone said, in footage obtained from a Danish documentary film-maker.
In another clip, Stone said: “I say fuck the voting, let’s get right to the violence.”
4) Trump wanted to leave Somalia and Afghanistan
Even as he plotted to stop Joe Biden from taking over the White House, Trump acted like a man who had lost re-election, signing an order to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan and Somalia before his term was over, which would have been a huge undertaking.
5) Trump knew he lost the election
Trump privately admitted to losing the 2020 election even as he worked to undermine and change the results, according to two top aides who testified before the January 6 committee. Alyssa Farah, a former White House aide, who said that a week after the election was called in favor of Biden, Trump was watching Biden on the television in the Oval Office, and said: “‘Can you believe I lost to this effing guy?’”
In another new clip of testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson, a top aide to former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, shared that Trump told Meadows: “I don’t want people to know we lost, Mark. This is embarrassing. Figure it out.”
