Jan. 6 takeaways: ‘Screaming’ and a Trump tweet never sent

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WASHINGTON (AP) — A presidential tweet that some saw as a “call to arms.” An “unhinged” meeting in the White House. Violent extremists planning to storm the Capitol as President Donald Trump pushed lies about election fraud.

At its seventh hearing, the House Jan. 6 panel on Tuesday showed further evidence that Trump was told, repeatedly, that his claims of fraud were false — but that he continued to push them anyway. And at the same time, he turned to the widest possible audience on Twitter, calling his supporters, some of them violent, to Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, to not only protest but “be wild” as Congress certified President Joe Biden’s victory.

https://apnews.com/article/capitol-...al-elections-2757fc3a56d561e8b510833f39e13e2c
 
‘A CALL TO ACTION … A CALL TO ARMS’

A major focus of the hearing was Trump’s Dec. 19 tweet about a “big protest” at the coming joint session of Congress: “Be there, will be wild!”

Florida Rep. Stephanie Murphy, a Democratic member of the panel, said the tweet “served as a call to action and in some cases as a call to arms.” She said the president “called for backup” as he argued that Vice President Mike Pence and other Republicans didn’t have enough courage to try to block Biden’s certification as he presided over the joint session.
 
The video clips included testimony from lawyer Sidney Powell, who had pushed some of the wildest theories, including of breached voting machines and hacked thermostats that she somehow tied to the false claims of fraud.

White House lawyer Eric Herschmann, one of the aides who pushed back, said the theories were “nuts” and “it got to the point where the screaming was completely, completely out there.”

The aides described a chaotic six hours of back and forth, starting with Trump talking to a group of the informal advisers with no White House aides present. Both Pat Cipollone, the White House counsel, and Powell said in interviews that Cipollone rushed in to disrupt the gathering. Powell said sarcastically that she thought Cipollone set a new “ground speed record” getting there.
 
Jason Van Tatenhove, a former ally of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes who left the group years before the insurrection, said the group is a “violent militia.”

“I think we need to quit mincing words and just talk about truths and what it was going to be was an armed revolution,” he said. “I mean, people died that day … This could have been the spark that started a new civil war.”

https://apnews.com/article/capitol-...al-elections-2757fc3a56d561e8b510833f39e13e2c
 
INSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE

The committee revealed that Trump planned for days to have his supporters march to the Capitol — and that he would join them.

The panel showed a draft tweet, undated and never sent, that said “Please arrive early, massive crowds expected. March to the Capitol after. Stop the Steal!” And they showed texts and email exchanges between planners and White House aides about a secret plan for the march.

https://apnews.com/article/capitol-...al-elections-2757fc3a56d561e8b510833f39e13e2c
 
And there were regrets afterward. In one text exchange revealed by the panel, former Trump campaign aide Brad Parscale wrote to aide Katrina Pierson: “This week I feel guilty for helping him win,” and “If I was Trump and knew my rhetoric killed someone.”

“It wasn’t the rhetoric,” Pierson responded.

“Katrina,” wrote Parscale, who still participates in a weekly strategy call with Trump aides. “Yes it was.”
 
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