Jan. 6 hearing makes case Trump at 'center' of 'conspiracy' to overturn election

Thursday marked the House select committee's first prime-time hearing.

Last Updated: June 9, 2022, 8:48 PM EDT

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol held its first prime-time hearing on Thursday.

The hearing featured never-before-seen video footage and witness testimony as lawmakers aim to explain what they call a "coordinated, multi-step effort" by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Jun 09, 2022, 8:38 PM EDT

With Ivanka Trump tape, panel argues Trump was aware he lost

Using taped testimony from Trump officials including Attorney General Bill Barr and campaign attorney Alex Cannon, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., argued that Trump and his team were well aware that he lost the election but still carried out a plot to stay in power.

"In our second hearing, you will see that Donald Trump and his advisers knew that he had in fact lost the election," Cheney said, explaining how the committee will lay out its case. "But despite this, President Trump engaged in a massive effort to spread false and fraudulent information to convince huge portions of the U.S. population that fraud had stolen the election from him."

In a video clip from an interview with Barr, Trump's attorney general said he "repeatedly told the president, in no uncertain terms, that I did not see evidence of fraud and -- you know, that would have affected the outcome of the election."

The committee also aired a taped interview with Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump commenting on Barr's statement that the Justice Department found no fraud sufficient to overturn the election.

"It affected my perspective," Ivanka said of Barr's assessment. "I respect Attorney General Barr, so I accepted what he was saying."

PHOTO: Former White House Senior Adviser Ivanka Trump is seen on a video screen during the public hearing of the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., June 9, 2022.
Former White House Senior Adviser Ivanka Trump is seen on a video screen during the public hearing of the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., June 9, 2022.
Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters

Jun 09, 2022, 8:35 PM EDT

Cheney says Trump ‘lit the flame of this attack’

GOP Rep. Liz Cheney said Americans will learn new details about what Trump was doing before, during and after the attack at the Capitol in his effort to remain in power despite his 2020 election loss.

"Over multiple months, Donald Trump oversaw and coordinated a sophisticated seven-part plan to overturn the presidential election and prevent the transfer of presidential power," she said.

PHOTO: Chairman Representative Bennie Thompson speaks next to Vice Chair Representative Liz Cheney during the opening public hearing of the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack, in Washington, D.C., June 9, 2022.
Chairman Representative Bennie Thompson speaks next to Vice Chair Representative Liz Cheney during the opening public hearing of the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., June 9, 2022.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

The Wyoming Republican asserted Trump told his staff during the riot that it's what people "should be doing" and that he agreed with protesters urging violence against then-Vice President Mike Pence.

After the dust settled, Cheney said, Trump continued to ignore the statements from the Department of Justice, election officials and his own staff telling him the election result was legitimate.

"President Trump summoned the mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of this attack," she said in her opening statement.

Jun 10, 2022, 8:22 PM EDT

Committee places Trump at 'center of this conspiracy,' deems attack 'attempted coup'

In his opening statement, Chairman Bennie Thompson -- looking directly at the camera -- called Jan. 6 an "attempt to undermine the will of the people" and "only the beginning of what became a sprawling multistep conspiracy aimed at overturning the presidential election."

"Trump was at the center of this conspiracy, and ultimately, Donald Trump, the president of the United States, spurred a mob of domestic enemies of the Constitution to march down Capitol and subvert American democracy," he said.

Chairman U.S. Representative Bennie Thompson participates in the opening public hearing of the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., June 9, 2022.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Thompson said the attack on the Capitol was "the culmination of an attempted coup" and a "brazen attempt ... to overthrow the government"

"The violence was no accident," he said. "It represents President Trump's last stand, his most desperate chance to halt the transfer of power."

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds its first public hearing to reveal the findings of a year-long investigation, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., June 9, 2022.
Mandel Ngan, Pool via AP

Jun 09, 2022, 8:01 PM EDT

Historic hearing underway

Chairman Bennie Thompson has gaveled in the committee's first prime-time hearing intended to "remind you of the reality of what happened that day."

"But our work must do much more than just look backwards. Because our democracy remains in danger," Thompson will say in his opening statement, according to an excerpt released by the committee. "The conspiracy to thwart the will of the people is not over."

PHOTO: Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as people try to storm the US Capitol Building in Washington, on Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as people try to storm the US Capitol Building in Washington, on Jan. 6, 2021. Demonstrators breeched security and entered the Capitol as Congress convened to certify the 2020 presidential election.
Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images, FILE

Americans will hear live testimony from a Capitol Police officer and documentarian who were on the scene of the attack and watch never-before-seen video footage in a rare congressional hearing made for television.

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