The House of Representatives investigating the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol focused on former President Trump’s campaign to rally protesters in Washington this week in a violent effort to overturn the election defeat. Point out one tweet in particular as an important moment.
“A massive protest in Washington, DC on January 6th. Being there, you’ll be wild!” Trump tweeted on December 19, 2020.
The message falsely convinced that the election was “stolen,” and on January 6, 2021, when Congress met to prove Joe Biden’s victory, the far-right militant group and other supporters. He claims to have screamed for a sharp battle. — As the last and best chance to keep Trump in power.
On Tuesday, members of the Election Commission held an up-to-date hearing in an extensive investigation to advance their case in which Trump’s allies acted on alert with violent militants who would eventually become a storm. Use the Capitol to delve into the event both before and after the tweet.
Jamie Ruskin (D-Md.), Who helps lead the hearing on Tuesday, tweeted that the tweet followed the meeting at the White House on December 18, 2020, with some of Trump’s closest allies calling him. He said he urged the seizure of voting machines in major states. Trump eventually decided to disagree with that idea, but as his options diminished and he remained in power, he shifted his gear to focus on protests on Election Certification Day.
Trump’s first full support for the protest — now the infamous December 19 tweet, sent at 1:42 am — claims to show evidence of a large fraudulent vote by top aide Peter Navarro. I quoted a report from Navarro. “It’s statistically impossible to lose the 2020 election,” Trump wrote. On January 6th he urged his supporters to come to Washington for a “barbaric” protest.
A year and a half later, the Commission relies on its message to support their claim that Trump coordinated the Capitol attack with his last effort to stick to power.
“Donald Trump has sent a tweet that will be heard around the world, calling for a protest against his own government in an attempt by the U.S. president to actually stop counting college votes in elections. “It’s the first time in American history that he lost the presidential election,” Ruskin said on Sunday in “Face The Nation” on CBS News.
“People listened to the tweet, which had an explosive impact on Trump World, especially among the country’s most dangerous political extremists, a group of domestic violent extremists,” Ruskin said. Told.
It is their group, including Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, who were at the forefront of the Capitol rebellion. focus This is the seventh time since mid-June of the hearing on Tuesday.
The panel also explores the role of QAnon, a far-right political movement based primarily on a series of extravagant conspiracy theories, including the belief that the country is governed by a secret pedophile conspiracy that worships the devil. ..
“Introducing some of these right-wing extremist groups who came to DC [and] He led the attack on the Capitol and had relationships with Trump’s associates, “said a special committee aide on Monday.
So far, the most striking connection between these two worlds has been the relationship between the radical group and two former Trump advisers, Roger Stone and Michael Flynn. Of those groups for protection services. Trump urged his Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to contact both Stone and Flynn on January 5, according to a former Westwing aide who testified before the Commission last month.
Dance Cavino, a leader in Trump Communication, is another possible link between the president and radical groups, and chairman Benny Thompson (D-Miss.) Said, “The Donald.win. It points out interactions with online forums called “” and the strange and dangerous QAnon. cult. “
The Special Committee’s aides also said they had more information to provide on the efforts of Republican lawmakers, including “particularly involved in the pressure campaign against the Vice President.”
“For the last few days until January 6, we saw all these last-minute efforts to overturn the election results and stop the transfer of power,” another aide said.
The Commission will not officially disclose the list of witnesses to the hearing on Tuesday, but reports will include Jason Vantatenhof, a former spokesman for Oath Keepers who broke up with the militia group in 2017.
According to documents already published, Trump’s tweets seem to have mobilized many groups.
According to the special committee’s subpoena, Steel organizer Ali Alexander applied for a permit on the premises of the Capitol on December 21, approximately two days after Trump’s tweet.
Organizations such as the Proud Boys were also driven by action, and prosecutors said that Enrique Tario, the leader of the group at the time, acted as the “National Union Plan” group and organized the “Ministry of Self-Defense” chapter. Said it started. According to Tario’s March indictment, “selected members.” The launch of his group fell about a week after his visit to the White House on December 12. It states that the Trump administration did it on a public tour.
The indictment of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes also shows that the far-right militia group began planning a trip to the rally in “late December” and coordinated the trip through an encrypted messaging app. increase.
Members of both groups, including Rhodes and Tario, were subsequently charged with incendiary plots with up to 20 years in prison.
Tweets from Trump also ignited the excitement of various Pro Trump platforms, including theDonald.win.
Their takeaway was that Trump was calling them to come to a DC ready to engage in violence.
“He can’t say exactly openly to revolt against you. This is the closest thing he’s ever got,” one user wrote in theDonald.win.
“I read it as armed,” another user wrote.
“Then bring the gun we have,” another person wrote.
Others have focused on the “wild” part of Trump’s message and have drawn some comparisons with the Wild West.
“‘Will Be Wild’ is a hidden message for us to prepare, as if we were armed,” another user wrote on the site.
The openness of Trump supporters in interpreting his tweets has long been used as evidence of the failure of intelligence activities leading up to the attack.
And the documentation shows that it wasn’t just talkative.
Since then, law enforcement has largely overlooked plans to attack the Capitol, including sharing maps detailing the Capitol’s underground tunnel system, according to reviews.
And subsequent submissions of sedition conspiracy cases against various Aus Keepers members, they staged a “quick reaction force” at Comfort Inn, Virginia, “a bag of weapons, ammunition, and essentials that lasted for 30 days. And a big box “is shown to have been moved.according to Submission to court in January..
A hearing on Tuesday is the only hearing scheduled this week, with another hearing planned at some point in the next week, according to an aide to the committee.
-Updated at 8:02 pm
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