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Jan. 6 updates: Biden tears into Trump for inciting Capitol attack

Speaking at the Capitol, Biden slammed Trump for "spreading a web of lies."

Last Updated: January 6, 2022, 8:01 AM EST

Thursday marks one year since the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and Democrats observed the anniversary with somber tributes at the building that's the symbol of American democracy.

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Homegrown: Standoff to Rebellion

A look at the days, events and conversations leading up to Jan. 6, 2021, from the eyes of anti-government groups, extremism experts and several ABC News correspondents who were at the Capitol that day.

The events in Washington included a panel discussion with historians, firsthand testimonies from lawmakers and a prayer vigil on the Capitol steps.

From Statuary Hall, which rioters stormed last year, President Joe Biden gave his most forceful rebuke of former President Donald Trump to date -- without calling him by name -- blaming him for the violence that erupted at the Capitol after he refused to accept a peaceful transfer of power for the first time in American history. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, were the only Republicans present in the House chamber for a moment of silence led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

A mob of supporters of President Donald Trump storm the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021.
Leah Millis/Reuters, FILE

ABC News Live will provide all-day coverage of Thursday's events at the Capitol and examine the continuing fallout for American democracy one year since the Jan. 6 siege.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Jan 06, 2022, 8:00 AM EST

Who placed the pipe bombs the night before the Capitol attack?

On the evening of Jan. 5, 2021, on a sleepy street a short distance from the U.S. Capitol, a mysterious figure loomed. Wearing a sweatshirt with the hood pulled up, a pair of Air Max Speed Turf shoes with a yellow Nike logo, a backpack and gloves, the suspect walked through alleyways and was equipped with what investigators say were two pipe bombs.

A full year later, the agency still has not caught the person who placed the bombs nor has it released information about a "person of interest."

The FBI released this image on March 9, 2021, asking the public for information about a suspect that placed pipe bombs in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 5, 2021.
FBI

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-ABC News' Luke Barr

Jan 06, 2022, 7:30 AM EST

How Trump's plot nearly succeeded: ANALYSIS

Beyond the riot, Jan. 6 was a dangerously close call. ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl asks: "What if Pence had followed Trump’s order? What would have happened if he had brought the gavel down during the joint session on Jan. 6 and thrown out Biden’s electoral votes in the states Trump had contested? What if he had declared Trump the winner of those states?"

J. Michael Luttig, a former federal appellate judge popular among conservatives, had advised Pence he would be violating the Constitution if he followed Trump’s order, and Luttig tells ABC News that if Pence had attempted to do it, he would have "plunged the country into a constitutional crisis of the highest order."

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-ABC News' chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl

Jan 06, 2022, 7:00 AM EST

Pence sheltered feet away from insurrectionists

As lawmakers returned the evening of Jan. 6 to certify the election following the attack, then-Vice President Mike Pence tweeted his thanks last year to the law enforcement officers who kept him safe, showing how he was rushed to a Capitol Hill parking garage during the attack.

In the subsequent weeks, video played at Trump’s second impeachment trial revealed just how close the rioters came -- some within 100 feet of Pence and his family, who were forced to take shelter in the Capitol.

In an interview with Trump for his book "Betrayal," ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl asked Trump at Mar-a-Lago last March if he was worried about the safety of his vice president.

"No, I thought he was well-protected," Trump said. "And I had heard that he was in good shape.”

When asked directly about the "’Hang Mike Pence’” chants on tape, Trump said, "Well, the people were very angry. Because it's -- it's common sense, Jon, it's common sense, that you're supposed to protect -- How can you, if you know a vote is fraudulent, right — how can you pass on a fraudulent vote to Congress?"

There is no evidence to support Trump’s claims that he won the election over Biden, despite dozens of failed court battles last year.

Jan 06, 2022, 6:30 AM EST

Democrats tie anniversary to renewed push for voting rights

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is expected to appear with Pelosi at the day's events, has tied the anniversary to a push for voting rights legislation that the House passed last year but which is stalled in the Senate.

Voting rights will also be a portion of Biden’s speech, according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

More than a third of all restrictive voting laws enacted since 2011 were passed in 2021, according to an analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice.

PHOTO: Supporters of former President Donald Trump wait for the start of a rally, June 26, 2021, in Wellington, Ohio.
Supporters of former President Donald Trump wait for the start of a rally, June 26, 2021, in Wellington, Ohio. Trump was in Ohio to campaign for his former White House advisor Max Miller.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

At least 19 states enacted 34 laws restricting access to voting in 2021, as of Dec. 7. More than 440 bills with provisions that restrict voting access were introduced in 49 states in 2021, according to an analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice.

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