The House Jan. 6 committee on Thursday, after a months-long hiatus, held its ninth public hearing since June, and possibly its last in its investigation into the U.S. Capitol attack.
The panel focused on the role of former President Donald Trump, alleging he was front and center of a plot to overturn the 2020 election and in a historic development, voted unanimously to subpoena Trump to testify.
Trump was advised Pence didn’t have the right to overturn election
An email exchange dated Jan. 6, 2021, between Pence aide Greg Jacob and attorney John Eastman showed Trump had already been advised that former Vice President Mike Pence could not overturn the 2020 election results.
"Did you advise the President that in your professional judgment the Vice President DOES NOT have the power to decide things unilaterally?" Jacob sent to Eastman.
"He's been so advised," Eastman replied.
Oct 13, 2022, 2:07 PM EDT
Secret Service message: 'POTUS is pissed'
A Secret Service message unveiled during the hearing said that Trump was "livid" after the Supreme Court declined to hear a case challenging the election results.
"POTUS is pissed," the message read. "Supreme Court denied his lawsuit. He is livid now."
Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, also recounted how frustrated Trump was following the news.
The House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol begins their public hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 13, 2022.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
"The president was fired up about the Supreme Court decision," she told the committee. "The president just raging about the decision and how it's wrong and 'why didn't we make more calls' and his typical anger outburst at this decision."
"He said something to the effect of, 'I don't want people to know we lost, Mark. This is embarrassing. Figure it out,'" she said.
Oct 13, 2022, 2:05 PM EDT
Committee repeats highlights of previous hearings
As it wraps up its investigation, with a final report on findings and recommendations expected by the end of this year, the House committee on Thursday spent significant time rehashing points from their previous hearings.
One such finding was Trump's knowledge ahead of Election Day that mail-in ballots would favor Joe Biden and his plan ahead of time to declare victory that night.
Former President Donald Trump is shown on a screen as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 13, 2022.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., focused partly on the failed efforts by Trump to litigate his loss in court -- a major focus of the June 13 hearing.
"In the past hearings we said the committee identified 62 election lawsuits filed by the Trump campaign and allies between Nov. 4, 2020 and Jan. 6, 2021," Kinzinger said on Thursday. "Those cases resulted in 61 losses and only a single victory, which did not affect the outcome for any candidate."
Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., in her remarks about Trump's direct efforts to overturn the election, replayed previously seen deposition from former Attorney General Bill Barr. Barr told the committee that Trump's false allegations about voting machines was "crazy stuff" -- footage first aired in a June hearing.
Oct 13, 2022, 1:48 PM EDT
Stone on claiming victory: 'Possession is nine-tenths of the law'
Roger Stone, a political provocateur and longtime Trump adviser, voiced support for Trump declaring victory the night of the election regardless of whether he was in the lead.
"Let's just hope we're celebrating. I suspect it'll be, I really do suspect it will still be up in the air. When that happens, the key thing to do is to claim victory. Possession is nine-tenths of the law.
A video of Roger Stone during the US House Select Committee hearing to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the US Capitol, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on October 13, 2022.
Mandel Ngan/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
'No, we won,' Stone said in footage from a Danish documentarian featured in Thursday's hearing.
"I said, 'f*** the voting, let's get right to the violence,'" Stone said in a separate clip. "We'll have to start smashing pumpkins, if you know what I mean."
During testimony for the committee, Stone invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when asked if he had any role in planning for the violence the day of the insurrection.
