Jan. 6 Hearing Shows Rioters Repeating Trump’s Baseless Election Claims — Even As Former White House Lawyer Called Allegations ‘Nuts’

Topline

The House Select Committee investigating the riot at the Capitol used its second hearing on Monday to show how former President Donald Trump ignored advice from top aides and officials that his claims of a stolen election were false—with former Attorney General Bill Barr saying it was like playing “whack-a-mole” trying to investigate “silly” and “bogus” claims—and how the Trump campaign cashed in on spreading misinformation about the election results.

A video of former President Donald Trump is seen on a screen at the second hearing held by the House … [+] Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol on June 13, 2022 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mandel NGAN-Pool/Getty Images)

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Key Facts

In a recorded deposition, Barr said he told Trump the Department of Justice “is not an extension of your legal team,” as Trump wanted to investigate baseless claims of widespread voter fraud.

Barr said he asked Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows, “How long is he going to carry on with this stolen election stuff?” to which Barr said Meadows told him Trump was becoming more “reasonable” on the matter, and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner added, “We’re working on it.”

Former Trump attorney Eric Herschmann said conspiracy theories of massive voter fraud put forth by Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell were “nuts,” adding “What they were proposing, I thought was nuts because the theory was also completely nuts.”

The committee focused on Giuliani’s and Trump’s claims of election officials bringing out a “suitcase” full of ballots at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, which former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia BJay Pak investigated, and testified that his investigation found that the suitcase was actually an official ballot box filled with ballots.

Al Schmidt, a Republican former Philadelphia city commissioner who worked on the county’s board of elections and investigated claims of voter fraud, also testified there was no evidence of fraud that would change the outcome of the election in Pennsylvania—despite Trump’s allegations that 8,000 “dead people” voted in the state.

Ben Ginsberg, a conservative attorney who has worked on multiple campaigns since 2000, testified there were no instances of a court finding widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the election—and Ginsberg said he looked at more than 60 cases pursued by the Trump campaign from the 2020 election, including more than 180 vote counts.

Fox News political editor Chris Stirewalt also testified about the network’s decision to call Arizona for Biden days before other outlets— for which he was fired following right-wing backlash for the decision.

The committee closed the hearing with video filmed on January 6, 2021, of rioters at the Capitol claiming the election was stolen through widespread voter fraud—in stark contrast to witness testimony during the hearing.

Tangent

January 6 Committee Vice-Chair Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said during the hearing Trump followed the advice of an “apparently inebriated” Giuliani to claim victory on Election Night. Bill Stepien, Trump’s former campaign manager, said in a recorded deposition he believed Giuliani had too much to drink, and Jason Miller, Trump’s campaign adviser, said Giuliani appeared “intoxicated.” Stepien and Miller testified they told Trump not to claim a presumptive victory and to wait until more votes were being counted, but in an address on election night played during the hearing, Trump said “Frankly, we did win this election.”

Big Number

$250 million. That’s how much Trump and his allies raised through campaigning on claims that the election was stolen—earning nearly $100 million in the first week after the election—Amanda Wick, senior investigative counsel at the January 6 House Select committee, testified in a video played during the hearing.

Crucial Quote

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) said the hearing would show the 2020 election was not stolen. “We’ll also show that the Trump campaign used these false claims of election fraud to raise hundreds of millions of dollars from supporters who were told their donations were for the legal fight in the courts but the Trump campaign didn’t use the money for that,” Lofgren said. “The big lie was also a big rip-off.”

Key Background

Monday’s hearing was delayed after Stepien pulled out of his scheduled testimony at the hearing due to his wife going into labor. Stepien’s lawyer, Dan Marino, appeared in Stepien’s place, and the committee played video from Stepien’s prior deposition throughout the hearing. The committee, composed of seven Democrats and two Republicans, laid out their plans for the hearings in a primetime hearing Thursday, which revealed bombshell information about sitting members of Congress asking for pardons following the storming of the Capitol, and that Trump responded to chants from his supporters calling to hang Vice President Mike Pence by telling aides that Pence “deserves it.”

What To Watch For

The committee has two more hearings scheduled this week: Wednesday at 10 a.m. and Thursday at 1 p.m.