The committee said he did nothing to stop the Capitol assault for 187 minutes.
The House Jan. 6 committee's second prime-time hearing focused on what it said was then-President Donald Trump's "187 minutes" of inaction -- from the time he left the rally at the Ellipse, to then watching the attack on the U.S. Capitol on TV at the White House until he finally called on his violent supporters to go home.
Committee vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., has sworn in the hearing's witnesses -- ex-staffers Matthew Pottinger, who was a member of the National Security Council, and Sarah Matthews, who served as deputy press secretary.
Both witnesses, seen as Trump White House insiders and supporters, resigned from their positions on Jan. 6 in the wake of the riot.
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., gaveled in the committee around 8 p.m. as Chairman Bennie Thompson participates virtually after testing positive for COVID-19.
Cheney, the committee's vice chair, will preside over the hearing. Thompson said she will be responsible for maintaining order and swearing in witnesses.
Thompson also gave a preview of what's in store tonight as the committee analyzes Trump's response to the attack as it unfolded on Jan. 6, 2021.
"For 187 minutes, this man of destructive energy could not be moved," Thompson said of Trump. "He could not be moved to rise from his dining room table, and walk the few steps down to the press room."
Thompson said the committee's work won't stop here, stating it will reconvene in September.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., will chair the committee remotely after testing positive for COVID-19. He announced his diagnosis on Monday.
"Gratefully, I am fully vaccinated and boosted," he said at the time. "I am continuing to follow CDC guidelines and will be isolating for the next several days."
During Thursday's hearing, the House select committee is expected to show outtakes from former President Donald Trump's recorded message delivered on Jan. 7, in which he condemned the attack on the Capitol and pledged a "seamless transition of power."
But sources familiar with their contents tell ABC News that Trump had to be pressured to condemn the attack, taking about an hour to record this message: "The demonstrators who infiltrated the Capitol have defiled the seat of American democracy. To those who engaged in the acts of violence and destruction, you do not represent our country."
Sources say Trump argued with aides as the statement was being written and wanted to call the attackers patriots. -- ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl
