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

When President Trump recorded his message in the Rose Garden more than three hours after rioters stormed the Capitol, he went "off the cuff," according to committee testimony.

"His staff had prepared a script for him to read, but he refused to use it," Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., said.

The prepared script said, "NO ONE should be using violence or threats of violence to express themselves. Especially at the U.S. Capitol."

The committee shared raw footage from the recording, in which Trump told his supporters, "We love you. You're very special," while urging them to go home.

The committee juxtaposed the filming of this message with footage of the heavy violence still occurring on the Capitol at that moment.

Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and White House adviser, told the committee in taped deposition that House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy wanted help to stop the violence as rioters breached the U.S. Capitol building.

Kushner said McCarthy told him it was "getting really ugly."

"He was scared, yes," Kushner said of McCarthy's state of mind during their call.

The committee also discussed a tense phone call between Trump and McCarthy where Trump alleged it was Antifa at the Capitol -- an allegation that's been debunked by FBI Director Chris Wray and other intelligence officials. McCarthy told Trump it was "your people" and told him to call them off.

Text messages displayed by the committee show Donald Trump Jr. thought more needed to be done by his father besides his two tweets calling on rioters to "stay peaceful" even though violence had already begun.

Trump Jr. texted chief of staff Mark Meadows the message: "He's got to condemn this shit. Asap. The capitol police tweet isn't enough."

When Meadows responded that he was pushing hard for Trump to do so, Trump Jr. told him: "go to the mattresses." "They will try to f*** his entire legacy on this if it gets worse," Trump Jr. added.

Fox News personality Sean Hannity also texted Meadows to get Trump to instruct the mob to peacefully leave.

Sarah Matthews, the former deputy press secretary, testified White House staff had to ask several times for the president to include the word "peaceful" in his tweet on Jan. 6. She said it wasn't until Ivanka Trump said "stay peaceful" that he decided to include it.

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."