Cheney says committee will show Trump's 'direct and personal role' in fake electors scheme
Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., in her opening statement, said the committee will provide evidence that Trump "had a direct and personal role" in a scheme to have key states send fake electors to Congress and for Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the results, "as did Rudy Giuliani, as did John Eastman."
"In other words, the same people who were attempting to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to reject electoral votes illegally, were also simultaneously working to reverse the outcome of the 2020 election at the state level," Cheney said.
Cheney said the public will learn about calls Trump made to officials of Georgia and other states, and asked, "As you listen to these tapes, keep in mind what Donald Trump already knew at the time he made those calls -- he had been told over and over again that his stolen election allegations were nonsense," she said, going on to play video testimony of Trump's attorney general Bill Barr.
Also raising threats of violence to election workers, Cheney said, "Donald Trump didn’t care about the threats of violence" and "made no effort to stop them; he went forward with his fake allegations anyway."
"Do not be distracted by politics," she added, as the former president and GOP allies continue to attack the committee's investigation. "This is serious. We cannot let America become a nation of conspiracy theories and thug violence."