Trump 'chose not to act' as mob attacked, Jan. 6 committee says

The House select committee highlighted strong reaction to a tweet by former President Trump about his vice president amid the riot.

"Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!" the tweet, posted at 2:24 p.m. on Jan. 6, stated.

"He put a target on his own vice president's back," Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., said after sharing the message.

Witness Matthew Pottinger, a deputy national security adviser, said it was in that moment that he decided to resign.

"It looked like fuel being poured on the fire," he told the committee. "I did not want to be associated with the events that were unfolding on the Capitol."

Witness and ex-staffer Sarah Matthews, who served as deputy press secretary, said she thought the tweet "was the last thing that was needed in that moment" from Trump.

"He should have been telling these people to go home, and to leave, and to condemn the violence that we were seeing," she said. "For him to tweet out the message about Mike Pence, it was him pouring gasoline on the fire, and making it much worse."

In a moment that's resonated from Thursday's hearing, the committee shared a photo of Missouri GOP Sen. Josh Hawley walking across the Capitol before protesters who had started to gather at the security gates.

"As you can see in this photo, he raised his fist, in solidarity, with the protesters," Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., said.

Luria said a Capitol police told the committee that the gesture "riled up the crowd."

"It bothered her greatly because he was doing it in a safe space, protected by the officers and the barriers," Luria said.

The committee then showed footage of Hawley, who had voted against certifying the results of the election, later fleeing "after those protesters he helped to rile up stormed the Capitol," Luria said.

The Jan. 6 committee played new audio of Secret Service radio traffic as the attack occurred.

The traffic indicated that officers were very concerned about safely evacuating Vice President Mike Pence after the Capitol was breached.

"If we lose any more time, we may lose the ability to leave. So, if we're going to leave, we need to do it now," one agent is heard saying.

An unidentified White House security official said in chilling testimony that members of Pence's detail "were starting to fear for their own lives."

"There were calls to say goodbye to family members," the official said in a recorded interview. "Whatever the reason was on the ground, the DCPD (D.C. police department) felt that it was going to be very ugly."

White House logs showed that former President Donald Trump "did not call to issue orders," according to Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va.

Senior law enforcement officials, military leaders, members of former Vice President Mike Pence's staff and D.C. government officials that the committee interviewed also said they did not hear from Trump that day, Luria said.

Call logs shown during the hearing indicated that Trump did not make any calls between 11:04 a.m and 6:54 p.m. that day.

Kayleigh McEnany, former White House press secretary, testified for the committee that Trump did want a list of senators to call.

"He was calling senators, to encourage them to delay, or object, the certification," Luria said.

The committee showed the testimony of Pat Cipollone, then-White House counsel, saying he was not aware of any calls Trump made to the U.S. attorney general or the secretary of Homeland Security.