Trump said armed rallygoers were ‘not here to hurt me,’ Hutchinson testifies

Political commentators are saying the surprise and secrecy surrounding the testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson have set a high bar - and the committee would be wise not to disappoint.

One of those making the point. John Dean, who was a crucial witness in the Watergate hearings.

”BETTER BE A BIG DEAL,” Dean wrote Monday on Twitter. “There was only one surprise witness during the Senate Watergate Committee hearings.

BETTER BE A BIG DEAL: There was only one surprise witness during the Senate Watergate Committee hearings. On July 16, 1973 an unannounced witness appeared: Alex Butterfield, who testified to Nixon’s secret taping system — forever changing history!
— John W. Dean (@JohnWDean) June 27, 2022

On July 16, 1973 an unannounced witness appeared: Alex Butterfield, who testified to Nixon’s secret taping system — forever changing history!”

He added: “BIG DEAL STANDARD: The January 6 Committee is dealing with a very high historical standard in springing a surprise hearing and witness tomorrow. If it is not really important information it’s going to hurt the credibility of this committee! Cancel now if you can’t match!”

Here’s what we know about Cassidy Hutchinson — 12:12 p.m.

By Shannon Larson, Globe Staff

Cassidy Hutchinson, who served as a top aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, will testify before the House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol later this afternoon.

She is seen as a vital witness, and has provided the committee with some of its most critical revelations at this point in its investigation. This will be Hutchinson’s first time delivering testimony at a public hearing. Punchbowl News first reported the news.

Jan. 6 panel to hear from aide who saw burned documents — 9:55 a.m.

The House panel investigating the Capitol insurrection will hear testimony Tuesday from Cassidy Hutchinson, a top aide in Donald Trump’s White House who told the committee earlier in a private interview that she saw documents burned.

Hutchinson, a special assistant and aide to former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, told the panel earlier that she witnessed Meadows burn documents after a meeting in his office with Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., one of several GOP congressman who were involved in White House efforts to subvert the 2020 election results.

Her appearance has been cloaked in extraordinary secrecy and has raised expectations for new revelations in the nearly yearlong investigation. The committee announced the surprise hearing with only 24 hours’ notice, and Hutchison’s appearance was only confirmed to The Associated Press by a person familiar with the matter.

June 27, 2022

House Jan. 6 panel calls surprise hearing Tuesday to present new evidence — 5:30 p.m.

The House Jan. 6 panel is calling a surprise hearing this week to present evidence it says it recently obtained, raising expectations of new bombshells in the sweeping investigation into the Capitol insurrection.

The hearing scheduled for 1 p.m. on Tuesday comes after Congress left Washington for a two-week recess. Lawmakers on the panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection said last week that there would be no more hearings until July.

June 23, 2022

Committee chair concludes Thursday’s Jan. 6 hearing — 5:30 p.m.

Representative Bennie Thompson adjourned Thursday’s Jan. 6 hearing after 2.5 hours.

Multiple members of Congress requested pardons from the White House — 5:17 p.m.

Multiple members of Congress requested pardons, the hearing showed.

Representatives Mo Brooks, Matt Gaetz, Andy Biggs, Louie Gohmert, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Scott Perry asked for pardons, testimony showed.

“The only reason I know to ask for a pardon is because you think you’ve committed a crime,” Representative Adam Kinzinger said.

Days after the Capitol attack and the final attempt to overturn the election, Members of Congress requested pardons.

Five days after the attack on the Capitol, Representative Mo Brooks requested pardons for himself, Representative Gaetz, and others. pic.twitter.com/f0xLm5SKtT
— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) June 23, 2022

‘Hundreds of hundreds of resignations’ at Justice Department if Trump made Clark attorney general, Donoghue told Trump — 5:10 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

During an Oval Office meeting, Donald Trump asked what he had to lose if he replaced Jeffrey Rosen with Jeffrey Clark as attorney general.

”I said, Mr. President, within 24, 48, 72 hours you’re going to have hundreds and hundreds of resignations of the leadership of your entire Justice Department because of your actions. What’s that going to say about you?“

”Steve [Engel] pointed out that [Clark] would be left leading a graveyard. And that comment clearly had an impact on the president,” Donoghue said.

Former Acting Deputy AG Richard Donoghue: "I said, 'Mr. President, within 24, 48, 72 hours, you could have hundreds and hundreds of resignations of the leadership of your entire Justice Department because of your actions. What's that going to say about you?'" pic.twitter.com/MtJryTY4Eh
— CSPAN (@cspan) June 23, 2022

Multiple Justice Department officials said they would resign if Clark was made attorney general — 5:04 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Richard Donoghue testified that multiple Department of Justice officials said they would “resign en masse” if Donald Trump made Jeffrey Clark the acting attorney general.

On Sunday, Jan. 3, ahead of an Oval Office meeting, Donoghue said assistant attorneys general were on the phone and explained what was happening and asked what they would do if Clark was made acting attorney general.

Donoghue said all the officials on the call said they would resign if the president changed the department’s leadership.

White House call logs obtained by the committee show that by 4:19 p.m. on Jan. 3, the White House was calling Clark the acting attorney general.

White House call logs obtained by the Select Committee show that by 4:19 pm on January 3, the White House had already begun referring to Jeff Clark as the Acting Attorney General. pic.twitter.com/EUisxiroWF
— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) June 23, 2022

Rosen testifies about Trump’s push for Clark to replace him at top of DOJ — 4:53 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Jeffrey Rosen, former acting attorney general, testified that during a Jan. 3 meeting, Jeffrey Clark told him that Donald Trump had asked him to become the acting attorney general.

Clark told Rosen that he was going to accept the job.

“On the one hand, I wasn’t going to accept being fired by my subordinate, so I wanted to talk to the president directly,” Rosen said.

Former defense official called Italian government over election fraud conspiracy, committee shows — 4:45 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Former acting secretary of defense Christopher Miller called the Italian government to investigate the theory that “Italian satellites were switching votes from Trump to Biden,” Representative Adam Kinzinger said.

“This is one of the best examples of the lengths to which President Trump would go to stay in power. Scouring the Internet to support his conspiracy theories shown here, as he told Mr. Donoghue in that Dec. 27 call ‘you guys may not be following the Internet the way I do,’” Kinzinger said.

‘People tell me I should remove you,’ Trump told Donoghue about top DOJ officials — 4:38 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Richard Donoghue testified that during a New Year’s Eve White House meeting that Donald Trump called, Trump said “people tell me I should remove you” about top Justice Department officials and replace the department’s leadership with Jeffrey Clark.

Jeffrey Rosen said the department had seen “nothing improper” with the voting machines.

After the Justice Department told Trump they wouldn’t seize the machines from state governments at Trump’s urging, Trump was “very agitated,” Donoghue said.

Donoghue testified that toward the end of the meeting, Trump was “getting very agitated” and said “people tell me I should just get rid of both of you. I should just remove you and make a change in the leadership, put Jeff Clark in, maybe something will finally get done.”

Rosen testifies that Trump asked him about seize voting machines from state governments. Trump got mad when DOJ officials told him it was a bad and unlawful idea. pic.twitter.com/QbqaC8LVQZ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 23, 2022

Trump asked Sidney Powell to be special counsel to investigate election fraud, Kinzinger says — 4:31 p.m.

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

Representative Adam Kinzinger said the committee’s investigation had found that Trump “went as far as to promise the job of special counsel to now-discredited former Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell at a late-night meeting on Dec. 18.”

Powell said in videotaped testimony played by the committee, “On Friday he had asked me to be special counsel to address the election issues, and to collect evidence. And he was extremely frustrated with the lack of, I would call it, law enforcement, by any of the government agencies that are supposed to act to protect the rule of law in our republic.”

”What would a special counsel do?” Kinzinger asked. “It wasn’t to investigate anything. An investigation led by a special counsel would just create an illusion of legitimacy and provide fake cover for those who would want to object, including those who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.”

The committee returned after a break. Watch live. — 4:20 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

The hearing began again after a brief break. Watch it live.

Donoghue testifies Clark’s drafted letter to Georgia was ‘so extreme’ and may have ‘spiraled us into a constitutional crisis’ — 4:14 p.m.

Richard Donoghue, the former acting deputy attorney general, said he had to read the letter at the center of Jeffrey Clark’s plan to overturn the 2020 election twice because it was “so extreme” that he had a “hard time getting my head around it initially.”

Clark emailed Rosen and Donoghue the letter he wanted them to sign.

On Dec. 28, 2020, Donoghue wrote in an e-mail that the letter was “a grave step for the Department to take and could have tremendous constitutional, political and social ramifications for the country,” according to an email the committee displayed.

Donoghue said he had to “sit down and compose what I thought was an appropriate response.”

Donoghue said he thought it was “very important to give a prompt response rejecting this.”

“In my response, I explained a number of reasons this is not the department’s role to suggest or dictate to state legislatures how they should select their electors. But more importantly, this was not based on fact. This was actually contrary to the facts as developed by department investigations over the last several weeks and months.”

“For the department to insert itself into the political process this way I think would have had grave consequences for the country, it may very well have spiraled us into a constitutional crisis and I wanted to make sure that he understood the gravity of the situation because he didn’t seem to really appreciate it.”

Representative Perry brought Clark to the White House — 4:01 p.m.

Committee member Adam Kinzinger, who led the hearing, said that on Dec. 21 “some Republican members of Congress met with President Trump in the White House to talk about overturning the 2020 election.”

That group included Republican Representative Scott Perry.

The very next day, according to White House records displayed on the screen by the committee, Perry brought Jeffrey Clark to the White House.

The committee also displayed a statement Perry gave to a local TV station on Jan. 25, 2021, saying, “Throughout the past four years. I’ve worked with Assistant Attorney General Clark on various legislative matters. When President Trump asked if I would make an introduction, I obliged.”

Giuliani says he wanted someone to lead DOJ who wasn’t ‘frightened of what’s going to be done to their reputation’ — 3:56 p.m.

Rudy Giuliani told the committee that he wanted someone to lead the Department of Justice “who isn’t frightened of what’s going to be done to their reputation.”

Giuliani, Donald Trump’s lawyer, said the department was “filled with people like that.”

His answer was in response to a question about why Jeffrey Clark was given election-related responsibilities.

Representative Adam Kinzinger asked Richard Donoghue, former acting deputy attorney general, if he was frightened of what would happen to his reputation if he didn’t purse false claims of election fraud.

“No. Not at all,” Donoghue said.

Giuliani during his deposition on why Jeffrey Clark was given election related responsibilities: "Somebody should be put in charge of the Justice Department who isn't frightened of what is going to be done to their reputation." pic.twitter.com/ftAtGd66zQ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 23, 2022

Committee shows handwritten notes Donoghue took during Trump call in which he presses official to say election was ‘corrupt’ — 3:45 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Richard Donoghue, former acting deputy attorney general, took notes during a Dec. 27, 2020, call with Donald Trump that were displayed during Thursday’s hearing.

Trump told Donoghue to “say [the election] was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican congressmen.”

Trump’s comment was in response to Rosen telling him that the department “won’t snap its fingers and change the outcome of the election.”

Former Justice Department official Richard Donoghue testified at the Jan. 6 hearing that former President Trump pressed officials to say the 2020 election was "corrupt." https://t.co/S9DRVwzKZE pic.twitter.com/RtDVCx2OXS
— The Associated Press (@AP) June 23, 2022

Committee plays montage of members of Congress pressing false election fraud claims — 3:40 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Multiple Republican congressmen amplified the false claims that the election was stolen and criticized the Department of Justice for what they viewed as a lack of action in investigating the claims, according to a montage played by the committee.

The committee featured speeches from Republican Representatives Louie Gohmert of Texas, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Jim Jordan of Ohio, and Mo Brooks of Alabama.

Witnesses begin testifying during Jan. 6 hearing — 3:30 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Three former Department of Justice officials — Jeffrey A. Rosen, former acting attorney general, Richard Donoghue, former acting deputy attorney general, and Steven Engel, former assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel — are testifying now.

Steven Engel, former Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel, from left, Jeffrey Rosen, former acting Attorney General, and Richard Donoghue, former acting Deputy Attorney General, are sworn in to testify as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol continues to reveal its findings of a year-long investigation, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, June 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press

‘We’ll call you when there’s an oil spill,’ DOJ official told Clark — 3:28 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Richard Donoghue, former acting deputy attorney general, told the committee about a conversation he had with Jeff Clark, then-Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division, during a Jan. 3 meeting about his qualifications.

“How about you go back to your office, and we’ll call you when there’s an oil spill,” Donoghue said he told Clark.

"You're an environmental lawyer. How about you go back to your office, and we'll call you when there's an oil spill" -- former acting deputy attorney general Richard Donoghue on what he said to Jeff Clark during the infamous January 3 meeting pic.twitter.com/ScuWUogjVr
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 23, 2022

Kinzinger says Clark, whom Trump wanted to make attorney general, would ‘do whatever the president wanted him to do’ — 3:27 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

In describing how Donald Trump wanted to install a loyalist to lead the Department of Justice, Representative Adam Kinzinger, a Republican and member of the Jan. 6 committee, said Jeff Clark’s only qualification was that he would do whatever Trump wanted.

“Including overthrowing a free and fair democratic election,” Kinzinger said.

Rep. Kinzinger: "Who is Jeff Clark? An environmental lawyer with no experience relevant to leading the entire Dept. of Justice. What was his only qualification? That he would do whatever the President wanted him to do. Including overthrowing a free and fair democratic election."
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 23, 2022

Cheney says committee will disclose which members of Congress sought pardons — 3:16 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney said the committee will show video testimony from three members of Donald Trump’s White House who will identify members of Congress who contacted the White House after Jan. 6 to seek presidential pardons for their conduct.

At the end of Thursday’s Jan 6 hearing, Rep. Liz Cheney said the committee will reveal which members of Congress contacted the White House after the Capitol attack to seek presidential pardons 👀 pic.twitter.com/PRNNlJGHr6
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) June 23, 2022

‘I’m not sure we would have had a transition at all,’ if DOJ hadn’t immediately investigated fraud claims, Barr says — 3:12 p.m.

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

Committee vice chair Liz Cheney played videotaped testimony in which former Attorney General Bill Barr was asked why he had authorized a DOJ probe into allegations of election fraud rather than waiting until much later as would be normal.

Barr, who found there was no widespread fraud, said he felt it was “the responsible thing to do” to make that determination early.

”The fact that I put myself in the position that I could say that we had looked at this and didn’t think that was fraud was really important to moving things forward. … I sort of shudder to think what the situation would have been if the, if the position of the department was, ‘We’re not even looking at this until after Biden’s in office.’ I’m not sure we would have had a transition at all,” he said.

Jan. 6 hearing will focus on letter drafted by DOJ official that others refused to sign — 3:11 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney said Thursday’s hearing will focus on a letter drafted by a Department of Justice official that was going to be sent to leaders of the Georgia state legislature.

The letter was written by Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official, and witnesses at Thursday’s hearing — Jeffrey Rosen, the former acting attorney general, and Richard Donoghue, the former acting deputy attorney general — refused to sign it.

The plan was to send the letter to other states, Cheney said.

The letter claimed investigations by the department had identified “significant concerns” that may have impacted the outcome of the election in multiple states, including in Georgia.

Trump knew that was a lie, Cheney said, and the department had already told Trump they found no fraud sufficient to overturn the results of the election.

Cheney begins the fifth January 6 committee hearing by saying a focus will be an unsigned draft letter Trump and Jeffrey Clark wanted the DOJ to send to Georgia officials citing known lies to urge them to convene a special session to approve a fake set of electors pic.twitter.com/1BNNGErZsS
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 23, 2022

Committee chair begins hearing — 3:02 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Representative Bennie Thompson, the committee’s chair, began Thursday’s hearing noting the committee will focus on Donald Trump’s pressure on the Department of Justice.

Thompson said Trump wanted the department to “help legitimize his lies” and call the election corrupt. Trump wanted department officials to call a special counsel to investigate his baseless claims of election fraud, Thompson said.

When those efforts failed, Trump sought to replace Jeffrey Rosen, former acting attorney general, with a lawyer who would “put the full weight” of the department behind the effort to overturn the election.

The fifth Jan. 6 hearing starts shortly. Watch it live. — 2:50 p.m.

On Thursday, the Jan. 6 hearing on the Capitol insurrection will focus on Donald Trump’s pressure on Justice Department officials.

Watch the hearing live:

Federal authorities search home of Trump Justice Department official — 1:50 p.m.

By The New York Times

Federal investigators descended on the home of Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official, on Wednesday in connection with the department’s sprawling inquiry into efforts to overturn the 2020 election, according to people familiar with the matter.

It remained unclear exactly what the investigators may have been looking for, but Clark was central to former President Donald Trump’s unsuccessful effort in late 2020 to strong-arm the nation’s top prosecutors into supporting his claims of election fraud.

Jan. 6 committee to hear of Trump’s pressure on Justice Department — 1:26 p.m.

The Jan. 6 committee will hear from former Justice Department officials who faced down a relentless pressure campaign from Donald Trump over the 2020 presidential election results while suppressing a bizarre challenge from within their own ranks.

The hearing Thursday will bring attention to a memorably turbulent stretch at the department as Trump in his final days in office sought to bend to his will a law enforcement agency that has long cherished its independence from the White House. The testimony is aimed at showing how Trump not only relied on outside advisers to press his false claims of election fraud but also tried to leverage the powers of federal executive branch agencies.

June 22, 2022

Jan. 6 public hearings to stretch into July, committee chairman says — 1:54 p.m.

The House’s Jan. 6 committee plans to continue its public hearings into July as its investigation of the Capitol riot deepens.

The chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, told reporters Wednesday that the committee is receiving “a lot of information” — including new documentary film footage of Trump’s final months in office — as its yearlong inquiry intensifies with hearings into the attack on Jan. 6, 2021, and Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election that Democrat Joe Biden won.

Here’s who’s testifying at the Jan. 6 committee hearing on Thursday — 1:26 p.m.

On Thursday, the Jan. 6 committee will hear testimony from three witnesses: Jeffrey A. Rosen, former acting attorney general, Richard Donoghue, former acting deputy attorney general, and Steven Engel, former assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel.

NEXT HEARING: Thursday, June 23rd at 3:00pm ET

Witnesses:
• Jeffrey A. Rosen, Former Acting Attorney General
• Richard Donoghue, Former Acting Deputy Attorney General
• Steven Engel, Former Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel
— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) June 22, 2022

Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson under heat for fake elector revelation — 7:54 p.m.

By The Associated Press

An aide for U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson told former Vice President Mike Pence’s staff that the Republican from Wisconsin wanted to hand-deliver to Pence fake elector votes from his state and neighboring Michigan, text messages revealed at Tuesday’s meeting of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection showed.

Johnson spokeswoman Alexa Henning downplayed the texts after they were publicly revealed for the first time during the committee’s hearing in Washington, but did not deny that Johnson had wanted to hand-deliver the slate of fake electors to Pence.

June 21, 2022

.@January6thCmte Vice Chair @RepLizCheney (R-WY): "We think the American people deserve to hear from [former White House counsel Pat Cipollone] personally. He should appear before this committee and we are working to secure his testimony." pic.twitter.com/hQYGcUGF1k
— CSPAN (@cspan) June 21, 2022

‘Do you know how it feels to have the president of the United States target you?’ Ruby Freeman, election worker, says in video — 3:30 p.m.

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

A Georgia election worker and her mother delivered emotional testimony about the onslaught of threats and harassment they received after they were falsely accused by president Trump and his allies of election fraud.

Shaye Moss, who was an election worker for more than 10 years and said she loved the job, testified in person about the impact the threats had on her. She said the attacks had “turned my life upside-down.”

Moss, who is Black, said many of the comments people made were racist and “a lot of them were just hateful.”

She said the threats included “wishing death upon me, telling me that you know, I’ll be in jail with my mother, and saying things like, ‘Be glad it’s 2020 and not 1920.”

Wandrea ArShaye “Shaye” Moss, left, former Georgia election worker, testified during the fourth hearing on the January 6th investigation as her mother Ruby Freeman, right, wiped her eyes.Kevin Dietsch/Getty

Moss’s mother, who worked with her on election night, testified on videotape about the impact on her.

“There is nowhere I feel safe. Nowhere. Do you know how it feels to have the president of the United States to target you? The president of the United States is supposed to represent every American. Not to target one,” Ruby Freeman said. “But he targeted me, Lady Ruby, a small business owner, a mother, a proud American citizen,” who helped out with an election in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

”I’m always concerned of who’s around me. I’ve lost my name, and I’ve lost my reputation. I’ve lost my sense of security. All because a group of people starting with No. 45 [Trump] and his ally Rudy Giuliani decided to scapegoat me and my daughter Shaye to push their own lies about how the presidential election was stolen,” she said.

“No election worker should be subjected to such heinous treatment just for doing their job,” said committee member Adam Schiff.

"I've lost my name, and I've lost my reputation. I've lost my sense of security — all because a group of people... scapegoat[ed] me and my daughter, Shaye, to push their own lies about how the Presidential election was stolen."
- Ruby Freeman, former Georgia election worker pic.twitter.com/jEVvW85ZJX
— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) June 21, 2022

Former Georgia election worker says being targeted by Trump ‘turned my life upside down’ — 3:25 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Wandrea ArShaye “Shaye” Moss, a former Georgia election worker, said being targeted by Donald Trump and his allies has “turned my life upside down.”

Wandrea "Shaye" Moss, a former Georgia election worker, wipes her eyes as she testifies, as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol continues to reveal its findings of a year-long investigation, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press

Moss said she doesn’t give out her business card and doesn’t want anyone knowing her name. She doesn’t go to the grocery store or “anywhere at all.” She said she gained about 60 pounds, and second guesses “everything that I do.”

“All because of lies. For me doing my job, the same thing I’ve been doing forever.”

"It's turned my life upside down....I don't want anybody knowing my name....All because of lies."

Ex-Fulton County election worker Shaye Moss says being falsely accused by Rudy Giuliani and others of election fraud has affected her life "in every way." https://t.co/XXhJAyHp2w pic.twitter.com/I4GCf5f7MX
— ABC News (@ABC) June 21, 2022

Former Georgia election worker begins testifying, describes threats — 3:12 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Wandrea ArShaye “Shaye” Moss, a former Georgia election worker, began testifying about the false claims Trump allies pushed about the counting of ballots in the state.

The committee played video of Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s lawyer, falsely accusing Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman, also an election worker, of passing a USB drive back and forth. Moss testified that it was actually a ginger mint.

Moss received messages warning that she would go to jail and “wishing death upon me.”

Describing threats his family faced, Raffensperger testifies that people broke into daughter-in-law’s home — 3:05 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

While describing the threats he and his family faced, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger testified that someone broke into his daughter-in-law’s home.

After the election, his e-mail and phone were “doxxed,” and he was getting texts from all over the country. Raffensperger said his wife of over 40 years began receiving “sexualized” texts that were “disgusting.”

“They started going after her I think just to put pressure on me, why don’t you just quit and walk away,” Raffensperger said.

People also broke into his daughter-in-law’s home, Raffensperger said.

“My son has passed and she’s a widow and has two kids and so we’re very concerned about her safety also.”

‘There were no votes to find,’ Raffensperger says about Trump’s urging to ‘find’ votes — 3:01 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Donald Trump’s request that he “find 11,780 votes” was invalid.

“There were no votes to find,” Raffensperger said. “That was an accurate count that had been certified.”

"There were no votes to find."

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger testifies to the Jan. 6 panel about then-President Donald Trump’s phone call asking him to "find 11,780" votes that could flip his state to prevent Joe Biden’s election victory. https://t.co/8U8DtLg8r8 pic.twitter.com/d9RxkKLCEw
— The Associated Press (@AP) June 21, 2022

Committee plays clips of 67-minute call between Trump and Raffensperger in which Trump pushes election conspiracies — 2:55 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

The Jan. 6 committee played clips of a phone call between Donald Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Trump pushes election fraud conspiracies.

In one audio clip, Trump is heard pushing the false theory that thousands of ballots for Joe Biden were smuggled through suitcases, votes were being “dropped” late at night, and that at least 5,000 dead people voted.

Raffensperger refuted Trump’s claims during his testimony.

“It’s not accurate,” Raffensperger said. “Actually in their lawsuits, they alleged 10,315 dead people. We found two dead people when I wrote my letter to Congress that’s dated Jan. 6. Subsequent to that we found two more. That’s four people. Not 4,000. A total of four. Not 10,000, not 5,000.”

Asked about former Pres. Trump's claims of thousands of dead people voting in Georgia, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger testifies that his office found those claims to be "not accurate." Raffensperger says they only found evidence of four votes from dead people. pic.twitter.com/OMnrQDSL39
— CBS News (@CBSNews) June 21, 2022

Trump asked investigator supervising the audit into the Georgia election to do ‘whatever you can do,’ audio shows — 2:49 p.m.

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

Former president Trump asked an investigator supervising the audit into the Georgia election to do “whatever you can do,” as he pushed claim that he won by hundreds of thousands of votes, when he had actually lost.

Frances Watson was Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s chief investigator.

”Whatever you can do, Frances,” said Trump in audio played by the committee. “It’s an important thing. It would be a – it’s a great thing for the country.”

Jan. 6 committee member Adam Schiff remarked, “This is the president of the United States calling an investigator looking into the election in which he is a candidate, and asking her to ‘do whatever you can do.’”

Trump had earlier told Watson she would be praised if she found the “right answer.”

”When the right answer comes up, you will be praised,” said Trump. “People will say ‘Great!’”

Schiff said that Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows also wanted to send some of the investigators in Watson’s office a “s—tload of POTUS stuff” including coins and autographed MAGA hats, but White House staff intervened and it didn’t happen.

Sterling testifies about becoming ‘irate’ over violent threats against election workers in Georgia — 2:37 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer for the Georgia secretary of state, testified during Tuesday’s hearing that Trump’s Dec. 1, 2020 tweet that there was “massive voter fraud in Georgia” was false.

Trump’s tweet came after Sterling made a speech in which he directly addressed Trump and warned that “someone’s going to get killed” after an elections official was threatened with violence.

After Sterling’s speech, Trump falsely claimed that in Georgia, “they found thousands and thousands of votes that were out of whack, all against me.”

Following the 2020 election, Georgia Secretary of State Chief Operating Officer's Gabriel Sterling became a spokesperson to try to combat disinformation about the election, and the danger Trump and his allies were creating for election officials. pic.twitter.com/UjIFOFew8q
— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) June 21, 2022

The hearing is back after a brief recess, with Georgia officials set to testify — 2:26 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Georgia elections officials are set to testify shortly. Watch the hearing live.

In emotional testimony, Bowers said his home, neighborhood were subjected to protests, threats — 2:14 p.m.

Arizona’s Republican state House Speaker Rusty Bowers detailed the threats he and his family have received in the wake of the 2020 election.

Bowers said his office has received in excess of 20,000 emails and tens of thousands of voicemails and texts, making it “unable to work” or communicate.

At home, “up ‘til recently, it is the new pattern in our lives to worry what will happen on Saturdays, because we have various groups come by” with trucks playing video that alleges Bowers is a “pedophile and a pervert and a corrupt politician” and blaring loud speakers, leaving literature on his property, and arguing with neighbors.

“We had a daughter who was gravely ill who was upset by what was happening outside. And my wife, a valiant person, very strong, quiet, very strong woman. So it was disturbing.”

Arizona Republican state House Speaker Rusty Bowers, during testimony before the Jan. 6 committee, details the consistent harassment that he, his family and neighbors have faced since the 2020 election. https://t.co/8U8DtLxJiG pic.twitter.com/Pz7hNiUUnA
— The Associated Press (@AP) June 21, 2022

Committee shows copies of fake elector certificates, text messages urging flying of documents to Washington — 2:08 p.m.

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

The committee says that the plan to overturn the 2020 election involved creation of bogus slates of electors and certificates in seven battleground states that Democratic President Biden actually won — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

The committee, in a video, showed copies of the certificates signed by the fake electors side by side with those signed by the real electors.

A committee investigator detailed in the video last-minute efforts to get some of the fake certificates to Washington before Jan. 6.

”Text messages exchanged between Republican Party officials in Wisconsin showed that on Jan. 4, the Trump campaign asked for someone to fly their fake electors’ documents to Washington,” the investigator said.

“A staffer for Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson texted a staffer for Vice President Pence just minutes before the beginning of the joint session [on Jan. 6]. This staffer stated that Senator Johnson wished to hand-deliver to the vice president the fake electors’ votes from Michigan and Wisconsin. The vice president’s aide unambiguously instructed them not to deliver the fake votes to the vice president,” the investigator said. “The vice president held firm in his position that his role was to count lawfully submitted electoral votes.”

A staffer for Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) texted a member of Mike Pence’s team minutes before Congress meant certify the election results, saying Johnson wanted to 'hand deliver' fake elector votes to the former VP — here are the messages pic.twitter.com/6HyJmPZ0MW
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) June 21, 2022

Bowers testifies he told Trump he wouldn’t do anything illegal for him — 1:52 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

In December, Donald Trump called Arizona’s Republican state House Speaker Rusty Bowers, and Bowers told him he supported him but wouldn’t do anything “illegal” for him, Bowers testified.

John Eastman, a Trump lawyer who pushed theories to overturn the election, told Bowers to convene a vote to decertify the state’s electors “because we had plenary authority to do so.”

Bowers told Eastman that he “took an oath” and to go through with that plan would be “counter to my oath.”

In one conversation, Bowers said Eastman told him to “do it and let the court figure it all out.”

Bowers testified that he told Eastman, “you’re asking me to do something that has never been done in history, the history of the United States, and I’m going to put my state through that without sufficient proof?”

Arizona Speaker of the House Russell Bowers (R) on phone call with John Eastman: "You're asking me to do something that's never been done in history — the history of the United States — and I'm going to put my state through that without sufficient proof?" pic.twitter.com/bOdkMXRJ4n
— CSPAN (@cspan) June 21, 2022

Arizona Speaker of the House Russell Bowers (R) on phone call with President Trump: "You are asking me to do something against my oath, and I will not break my oath." pic.twitter.com/2gp3dsF911
— CSPAN (@cspan) June 21, 2022

Bowers asked Giuliani for proof of voter fraud in Arizona — 1:43 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Arizona’s Republican state House Speaker Rusty Bowers testified on Tuesday that he asked Donald Trump’s laywer, Rudy Giuliani, to provide proof of his claims of fraud.

“On multiple occasions,” Bowers asked Giuliani, he testified.

Bowers asked for names that corresponded with the Trump team’s claims that immigrants with undocumented status and dead people had voted in the election.

Giuliani had said he would give Bowers their names, including at Trump’s encouragement, but never did.

Rusty Bowers, the GOP speaker of Arizona's state House, testified at today's Jan. 6 hearing that Rudy Giuliani was unable to show evidence of alleged election fraud. https://t.co/I6Az7TkLtD pic.twitter.com/2dcEsXmFrf
— POLITICO (@politico) June 21, 2022

Trump team worked to appoint alternate electors — 1:34 p.m.

By Bloomberg News

Committee investigator Josh Roselman said in a video that Trump lawyer Cleta Mitchell asked fellow lawyer John Eastman to write a memo to get states to appoint alternate electors.

The memo was part of the broad effort by Trump and his inner circle to pressure state election officials, which included phone calls, public statements and in-person presentations, according to a video montage shown by the committee.

Arizona’s Republican state House Speaker Rusty Bowers testifies he never said election was ‘rigged,’ contradicting Trump — 1:31 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Arizona’s Republican state House Speaker Rusty Bowers testified that he never said the election was “rigged,” as Donald Trump claimed he did.

Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers testified that he did not tell former President Trump that the election was rigged and he won Arizona, responding to Trump's claim that he had said so. pic.twitter.com/MWIUNlCHL9
— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 21, 2022

Rusty Bowers, Arizona state House Speaker, from left, Brad Raffensperger, Georgia Secretary of State, and Gabe Sterling, Georgia Deputy Secretary of State, are sworn in to testify.Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press

‘The system held, but barely,’ Schiff says — 1:30 p.m.

President Trump “sought to cling to power after being voted out of office by the American people,” Representative Adam Schiff, a Jan. 6 committee member, said.

“The system held, but barely,” Schiff said.

Schiff: "The system held -- but barely." pic.twitter.com/o0F6JysVnd
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 21, 2022

Trump disclosed on Facebook personal phone number of Michigan’s Republican Senate leader — 1:28 p.m.

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

In a video played during the hearing, a committee investigator described the pressure campaign on state officials.

In one case, President Trump disclosed to his millions of Facebook followers the personal phone number of Mike Shirkey, the Republican leader of the Michigan Senate.

“All I remember is receiving over just shy of 4,000 text messages over a short period of time calling to take action,” Shirkey said in videotaped testimony.

There was a “loud noise, loud consistent cadence of you know, we hear that that the Trump folks are calling and asking for changes in the electors, and you guys can do this. Well, you know, they were believing things that were untrue,” said Shirkey, who was invited by Trump to the White House but did not interfere in the election certification.

Michigan Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey recalls fallout from former Pres. Trump publishing his personal contact information online: "All I remember is receiving just shy of 4,000 text messages... they were believing things that were not true." https://t.co/cNWdqEkik5 pic.twitter.com/QAfkEKc9Ug
— ABC News (@ABC) June 21, 2022

Committee plays video of protesters calling Michigan official ‘tyrant,’ chanting outside her home — 1:25 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

The Jan. 6 committee played video of protesters chanting outside an elections official’s home chanting “Stop the steal!” and calling her a “threat to democracy.”

Jocelyn Benson, Michigan’s secretary of state, told the committee her stomach sank after she heard the noises outside of her home.

“I thought ‘it’s me,’” Benson told the committee.

“The uncertainty of that was the fear,” Benson said. “Are they coming with guns? Are they going to attack my house? I’m in here with my kid. I’m trying to put him to bed.”

“That was the scariest moment, just not knowing what was going to happen.”

Michigan Secretary of State @JocelynBenson testifies to 1/6 committee about protests outside her home after the state was called for Joe Biden:

“My stomach sunk, and I thought, ‘It’s me' ... Are they coming with guns? Are they going to attack my house? I'm in here with my kid." pic.twitter.com/8qRCc2CHx6
— The Recount (@therecount) June 21, 2022

Trump’s pressure campaign brought violent threats, Schiff says — 1:20 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Donald Trump’s pressure campaign on state and local officials over false election fraud claims resulted in violent threats, Representative Adam Schiff, a Jan. 6 committee member, said.

“This pressure campaign brought angry phone calls and texts, armed protests, intimidation, and, all too often, threats of violence and death,” Schiff said.

Committee to play calls from Trump to elections officials, Cheney says — 1:10 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Representative Liz Cheney, the vice chair of the Jan. 6 committee, said the panel will play tapes of phone calls Donald Trump made pressuring elections officials.

“The same people who were attempting to pressure Vice President Pence to reject electoral votes illegally were also simultaneously working to reverse the outcome of the 2020 election at the state level,” Cheney said.

Each effort is “independently serious” and deserves attention from Congress and the Department of Justice, Cheney said.

The panel will play calls made by Trump to officials from Georgia and other states. At the time of the calls, Trump knew “his stolen election allegations were nonsense,” Cheney said.

Rep. Liz Cheney speaking at the fourth Jan. 6 hearing:

"Trump had been told over and over again that his stolen election allegations were nonsense. For example, this is what former AG Bill Barr said to President Trump about allegations in GA." ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/B5XRwLd8yh
— POLITICO (@politico) June 21, 2022

Fourth hearing featuring Georgia elections officials is underway — 1:00 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Set to testify on Tuesday are Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Arizona’s Republican state House Speaker Rusty Bowers, Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer for the Georgia secretary of state, and Wandrea ArShaye “Shaye” Moss, a former Georgia election worker.

From left, Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Georgia Deputy Secretary of State Gabriel Sterling.J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press

Tuesday’s hearing starts at 1 p.m. Watch it live. — 12:40 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

The fourth public hearing convened by the Jan. 6 committee investigating the Capitol insurrection is starting soon. Watch it live.

Jan. 6 panel to hear from Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, others Trump pushed — 9:03 a.m.

The House Jan. 6 committee is set to hear from the caretakers of American democracy — elections workers and local officials — who fended off Donald Trump’s pressure to overturn the 2020 presidential election, at times despite frightening personal attacks.

The hearings investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol resume Tuesday with a focus on Trump’s relentless effort to undo Joe Biden’s victory in the most local way — by leaning on officials in key battleground states to reject ballots outright or to submit alternative electors for the final tally in Congress. The pressure was fueled by the defeated president’s false claims of voter fraud which, the panel says, led directly to the riot at the Capitol.

June 20, 2022

Here’s who’s testifying on Tuesday — 4:50 p.m.

A number of state officials are expected to testify on Tuesday for the fourth public hearing convened by the Jan. 6 committee investigating the Capitol insurrection.

The panel said Monday that the officials testifying include Rusty Bowers, the Arizona House Speaker; Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state; Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer for the Georgia secretary of state; and Wandrea ArShaye “Shaye” Moss, a former Georgia election worker.

Witnesses for Tuesday's hearing ⤵️

Panel 1
• Rusty Bowers, Arizona House Speaker
• Brad Raffensperger, Georgia Secretary of State
• Gabriel Sterling, Georgia Secretary of State Chief Operating Officer

Panel 2
• Wandrea ArShaye “Shaye” Moss, former Georgia election worker
— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) June 20, 2022

4 takeaways as the Jan. 6 committee approaches the halfway mark for public hearings | Analysis — 3:49 p.m.

By James Pindell, Globe Staff

With the Jan. 6 committee’s public hearings around the halfway mark, a lot of ground has been covered and many broad points can already be made.

The nine-member committee – composed of 7 Democrats and 2 Republicans known for their criticism of former GOP president Trump – on Tuesday will hold the fourth of what may be eight hearings before the panel issues a formal report.

Tuesday’s hearing is expected to focus less on what happened at the Capitol when it was under attack and more on Trump’s pressure campaign on Georgia officials to overturn the 2020 presidential results in that state.

Trump campaign documents give inside look at fake-elector plan — 11:17 a.m.

By The Washington Post

Internal campaign emails and memos reveal that the convening of the fake electors appeared to be a much more concerted strategy, intended to give Vice President Mike Pence a reason to declare the outcome of the election was somehow in doubt on Jan. 6, 2021, when he was to preside over the congressional counting of the electoral college votes.

The documents show Trump’s team pushed ahead and urged the electors to meet - then pressured Pence to cite the alternate Trump slates - even as various Trump lawyers acknowledged privately they did not have legal validity and the gatherings had not been in compliance with state laws.

Five moments resonating with viewers from the Jan. 6 hearings (so far) — 10:44 a.m.

Memorable moments from each hearing are sliced for quick consumption on countless news programs, comedy shows, and online. Here’s a look at some of the breakout moments and characters so far.

June 19, 2022

GOP member of Jan. 6 committee warns that more violence is coming after receiving letter threatening him and his family — 7:56 p.m.

By The Washington Post

One of two Republican members of the House committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, starkly warned Sunday that his own party’s lies could feed additional violence.

“There is violence in the future, I’m going to tell you,” said Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., on ABC’s “This Week.” “And until we get a grip on telling people the truth, we can’t expect any differently.”

Kinzinger, who defied party leadership by serving on the Democratic-led committee, described an alarming message he received at home in the mail several days ago threatening to execute him, his wife and their 5-month-old baby.

Jan. 6 committee setting its sights on Mike Pence, Ginni Thomas — 6:29 p.m.

Members of the House committee investigating the Capitol riot said Sunday they may subpoena former Vice President Mike Pence and are waiting to hear from Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, about her role in the illegal plot to overturn the 2020 election.

Lawmakers indicated they will release more evidence about Donald Trump’s alleged effort to defraud supporters by fundraising off false claims of a stolen presidential election. They also pledged to provide pertinent material to the Justice Department by the end of the month for its criminal investigation. The department complained in a letter last week that the committee was complicating its investigation by not sharing transcripts from its 1,000 interviews.

June 17, 2022

Jan. 6 panel could start sharing transcripts with Justice Department as soon as July — 7:13 p.m.

By The New York Times

The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack could start sharing some transcripts of witness interviews with federal prosecutors as early as next month as Justice Department officials ratchet up public pressure on the panel to turn over the documents.

Negotiations between Justice Department officials and Timothy Heaphy, the lead investigator for the House panel and a former federal prosecutor, have intensified in recent days as the two sides wrangle over the timing and content of the material to be turned over, according to several people familiar with the talks but not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.

Watergate 50th meets Jan. 6. Common thread: Thirst for power — 3:40 p.m.

The wreckage of Watergate and Jan. 6 are a half-century apart yet rooted in the same ancient thirst for power at any cost.

Two presidents, wily and profane, tried an end run around democracy.

Mysteries from both affairs endure as the continuing House probe into the Jan. 6, 2021, uprising at the Capitol intersects with this week’s Watergate 50th anniversary.

What we know so far about Ginni Thomas’s role in the effort to overturn the election — 2:04 p.m.

Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, a conservative activist and the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has drawn more attention amid public hearings on the congressional investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection after disclosures in recent months of her involvement in multiple conversations about overturning the 2020 presidential election.

Her text messages to Donald Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows, e-mails to Arizona lawmakers, and her correspondence with a Trump lawyer who concocted the plan to overturn the election have highlighted Thomas’s role at the highest level of the United States government in attempting to keep Republican Donald Trump in power.

Now, the committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection has invited Thomas for an interview.

Here’s a look at what we know so far about conversations she’s engaged in on efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

June 16, 2022

Pence under pressure, and in danger: Takeaways from Thursday’s hearing — 4:29 p.m.

The House committee investigating the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, focused at a public hearing Thursday on the pressure that then-President Donald Trump put on his vice president, Mike Pence, to delay or reject the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory. The committee tried to show how that pressure incited an angry mob to lay siege to the Capitol.

Here are takeaways from the hearing:

Jan. 6 committee chair adjourns Thursday’s hearing — 3:45 p.m.

The Jan. 6 committee concluded its third public hearing on Thursday after about 2.5 hours.

John Eastman sought a presidential pardon, pleaded the Fifth Amendment 100 times — 3:34 p.m.

John Eastman, who pushed the theory that Pence could block the electoral count, asked Rudy Giuliani a few days after the insurrection if he could receive a pardon, according to evidence obtained by the committee.

“I’ve decided that I should be on the pardon list, if that is still in the works,” he wrote in an e-mail displayed during the hearing by the committee.

A clip of John Eastman, left, was played during a hearing of the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol on Thursday. Doug Mills/NYT

The committee also played video of Eastman invoking his Fifth Amendment right not to testify multiple times during questioning. Eastman invoked the Fifth 100 times, Aguilar said.

Eastman made the request to be put on the list of potential pardon recipients a few days after a Jan. 7 conversation with White House lawyer Eric Herschmann.

In a video released in advance by the committee, Herschmann said that in the call Eastman appeared to still have overturning the election on his mind.

”I said to him, ‘Are you out of your effing mind?’” Herschmann recounts in the testimony, adding that he demanded Eastman say the words “orderly transition.”

Herschmann also said that he advised Eastman, “Get a great effing criminal defense lawyer. You’re going to need it,” before hanging up on him.

"Fifth."

CLIP: John Eastman asked for a presidential pardon after took the 5th Amendment 100 times. pic.twitter.com/1kZnljqppt
— CSPAN (@cspan) June 16, 2022

Pence refused to leave Capitol after Secret Service directed his team into cars — 3:25 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Mike Pence did not flee the Capitol as it was under attack by insurrectionists because he “did not want to take any chance that the world would see the vice president of the United States fleeing the United States Capitol,” former vice presidential counsel Greg Jacob said.

“He was determined that he would complete the work that we had set out to do that day, that it was his constitutional duty to see it through, and that the rioters who breached the Capitol would not have the satisfaction of disrupting the proceedings beyond the day on which they were supposed to be completed.”

Most of Pence’s staff got in the cars to leave the Capitol, Jacob said.

Greg Jacob on VP Pence: "He was determined that we would complete the work that we had set out to do that day. That it was his Constitutional duty to see it through and that the rioters who had breached the Capitol would not have the satisfaction..." pic.twitter.com/uodW11XREV
— CSPAN (@cspan) June 16, 2022

Trump did not call Pence to check on his safety as Capitol was under attack, Jacob testifies — 3:16 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Former president Donald Trump did not call former vice president Mike Pence to check on his safety, former vice presidential counsel Greg Jacob said.

Pence and his wife, Karen, reacted to that “with frustration,” Jacob said.

Jacob wrote to Eastman in an e-mail, “thanks to your [expletive] we are now under siege.”

In response, Eastman said, “the siege is because you and your boss [Pence] did not do what was necessary to allow this to be aired in a public way so the American people can see for themselves what happened.”

An excerpt from an email from Greg Jacob addressed to John Eastman is shown.OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images

40 feet separated Pence and insurrectionists, committee shows — 3:13 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

The Jan. 6 committee showed that former vice president Mike Pence was 40 feet away from the insurrectionists who had stormed the building.

“I could hear the din of the rioters in the building, but I don’t think I was aware that they were as close as that,” former Pence counsel Greg Jacob testified.

“Make no mistake that the vice president’s life was in danger,” committee member Pete Aguilar said.

The committee displayed an FBI affidavit that showed members of the Proud Boys would have killed Pence “if given the chance.”

CLIP: Vice President Pence's evacuation and his proximity to the rioters.@RepPeteAguilar: "Approximately 40 feet. That's all there was." pic.twitter.com/dYOc3HPtD6
— CSPAN (@cspan) June 16, 2022

Trump tweeted lashing out at Pence after he had been informed of violence, committee shows — 3:08 p.m.

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

Committee member Representative Pete Aguilar said the committee had obtained testimony that Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows received notice of violence at the Capitol by 2 p.m. “and likely earlier.”

Testimony further established, Aguilar said, that Meadows quickly informed the president, and he did so before Trump posted a tweet lashing out at Pence at 2:24 p.m.

A Jan. 6, 2021 tweet from former president Donald Trump regarding former vice president Mike Pence is seen on a screen during the hearing. MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

An image on a screen shows former vice president Mike Pence looking a tweet from former president Donald Trump as he sheltered in a secure underground location after being evacuated from the Senate chamber on Jan. 6.MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

Aguilar said the committee’s investigation found that after the tweet the crowds both outside and inside the Capitol surged.

”It was clear that it was escalating and escalating quickly … I remember us saying that that was the last thing that needed to be tweeted at that moment,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Matthews said in videotaped testimony. “The situation was already bad. And so it felt like he was pouring gasoline on the fire by tweeting that.”

Phone call between Trump and Pence on Jan. 6 was ‘pretty heated,’ Ivanka Trump says — 3:05 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

The president’s daughter Ivanka Trump said a Jan. 6 conversation between Donald Trump and Mike Pence was “pretty heated.”

“It was a different tone that I had heard him take with the vice president before,” Ivanka Trump said.

Trump aide Nicholas Luna said he heard Trump call Pence “a wimp.”

Donald Trump continued to pressure Mike Pence leading up to the Joint Session of Congress. On January 6, Trump called Pence.

Here's what the President family members and staff said about that call: pic.twitter.com/gravPfdzjl
— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) June 16, 2022

The hearing is back after a brief break. Watch it live. — 2:55 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Members of the Jan. 6 committee are reconvening after a 10-minute break. Watch the rest of the hearing live:

Pence chief of staff warned chief of staff about potential Trump could ‘lash out’ — 2:45 p.m.

Marc Short, former chief of staff to Mike Pence, testified that with tension high between Donald Trump and Pence he reached out on Jan. 5 to the Secret Service to warn them that Trump could “lash out in some way.”

”The concern was for the vice president’s security. And so I wanted to make sure the head of the vice president’s Secret Service was aware that likely as these disagreements became more public that the president would lash out in some way,” he said in videotaped testimony.

A deposition by former chief of staff to vice president Mike Pence, Marc Short, is played on a screen.MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

”We will hear that Marc Short’s concerns were justified. The vice president was in danger,” committee member Pete Aguilar said before the committee took a brief recess.

Trump statement on Jan. 5 that Pence agreed he could overturn election was incorrect, Jacob says — 2:40 p.m.

Mike Pence’s former counsel Greg Jacob said the vice president’s team was “shocked and disappointed” that former president Donald Trump had released a statement on Jan. 5 saying Pence and Trump were in “total agreement that the Vice President has the power to act.”

“We were shocked and disappointed because whoever had written and put that statement out, it was categorically untrue,” Jacob said.

Marc Short, Pence’s chief of staff, had an angry phone call with Trump advisor Jason Miller about the Trump statement.

Short said he was irritated and expressed “displeasure” that the statement went out that “misrepresented the vice president’s viewpoint without consultation.”

Trump’s statement that Trump and Pence agreed that the vice president could overturn the election was incorrect, Jacob said.

‘This is constitutional mischief’: Historical precedent was at center of plan to overturn election, judge testifies — 2:25 p.m.

The Jan. 6 committee and America need to know that historical precedent was the centerpiece of the plan to overturn the 2020 election, former conservative judge Michael Luttig said.

“I would have laid my body across the road before I would have let the vice president overturn the 2020 election on the basis of that historical precedent,” Lattig said.

“This is constitutional mischief,” Lattig said.

Judge Luttig to the January 6th Cmte: "I would have laid my body across the road before I would have let the vice president overturn the 2020 election on the basis of that historical precedent...this is constitutional mischief.” #January6thCommiteeHearings https://t.co/RdYLvfum24 pic.twitter.com/VyVky7H8xD
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) June 16, 2022

Former VP counsel testifies that Eastman said other vice presidents shouldn’t overturn election results, but Pence should — 2:16 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Mike Pence’s former counsel Greg Jacob testified that during a meeting on Jan. 5, John Eastman tried to persuade him that there was validity to Eastman’s theory that Pence had the authority to overturn the election by rejecting electors.

Eastman told Jacob that he wouldn’t want other vice presidents to have the power to decide the outcome of the election.

“Al Gore did not have the basis to do it in 2000, Kamala Harris shouldn’t be able to do it in 2024, but I think you should do it today,” Jacob said that Eastman told him during the meeting.

Greg Jacob on John Eastman: "He said, absolutely. Al Gore did not have a basis to do it in 2000. Kamala Harris shouldn't be able to do it in 2024, but I think you should do it today." pic.twitter.com/VG75SLwXVj
— CSPAN (@cspan) June 16, 2022

If Pence went through with plan, Eastman acknowledged it would be struck down by Supreme Court — 2:10 p.m.

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

“Even Dr. Eastman knew his theory didn’t hold water,” said committee member Pete Aguilar.

He asked Jacob about a Jan. 5 discussion Eastman and Jacob had in which they discussed Eastman’s theory.

Jacob said Eastman acknowledged in the discussion that if Pence did what Eastman wanted, it would be struck down by the US Supreme Court.

“He initially started, ‘Well, I think maybe we would lose only 7 to 2.’ And after some further discussion, acknowledged, ‘Well, yeah, you’re right, we would lose 9-nothing,’” Jacob said.

'We would lose 9-0' — VP Mike Pence’s former counsel Greg Jacob revealed that John Eastman, who pushed for the VP to overturn the election, admitted his plan would be found unconstitutional if it went to the Supreme Court pic.twitter.com/28qQ3Dz3nb
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) June 16, 2022

Eastman, who pressed Pence plan, ‘never really believed his own theory,’ committee says — 2:05 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Representative Pete Aguilar Aguilar said the Jan. 6 committee has evidence suggesting John Eastman, who pushed the idea that Mike Pence could overturn the election results on Jan. 6, “never really believed his own theory.”

Rep. Aguilar outlines evidence indicating that even Eastman didn't really buy the theory that Pence could determine the presidential election result pic.twitter.com/j7Vj411Mwl
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 16, 2022

Rudy Giuliani conceded in call to White House lawyer that Pence didn’t have authority to decide election — 1:55 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani conceded that Mike Pence didn’t have the authority to decide the election and send it back to the states in a call with former Trump White House attorney Eric Herschmann, Herschmann said in a video played before the Jan. 6 committee.

Herschmann and Giuliani were discussing the vice president’s role on the morning of Jan. 6, and Giuliani said “I believe that you’re probably right” that Pence did not have the authority to reject electoral votes.

Despite that conversation, the committee said, Giuliani said the opposite during a speech at a rally before the insurrection.

“Every single thing that has been outlined as the plan for today is perfectly legal,” Giuliani said during a speech at Trump’s rally on Jan. 6 in Washington.

Rudy Giuliani seemed to acknowledge on the morning of Jan. 6 that former VP Pence didn't have the authority to overturn the 2020 election, but said the "exact opposite," Rep. Pete Aguilar says.https://t.co/CoUo2FTcoN #January6thCommiteeHearings pic.twitter.com/RV8sHV9NmM
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) June 16, 2022

Various Trump advisers, including Mark Meadows, thought Eastman’s theory was invalid — 1:47 p.m.

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

The committee played videotaped testimony showing that various Trump advisers thought Eastman’s theory was invalid.

Pence’s chief of staff Marc Short said Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows conceded to him that Pence didn’t have the power to overturn the election.

”To you he said he understands the vice president has no role?” a committee staffer asked short.“

Yes,” Short said.

He said Meadows said it a couple of times before Jan. 6.Trump senior adviser Jason Miller said he was told that Trump’s White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, thought Eastman’s idea was “nutty” and had confronted Eastman about it.

Short testified that Cipollone agreed with Pence’s team’s legal analysis and expressed admiration for Pence’s actions on Jan. 6.

Former White House lawyer Eric Herschman said that Eastman explained his theory to him and Herschman told him, “Are you out of your f—ing mind?”

Luttig says if Pence had declared Trump president, ‘constitutional crisis’ would have followed — 1:32 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Retired federal judge Michael Luttig testified on Thursday that the “foundational rule of law was supremely violated” on Jan. 6, 2021, and if Mike Pence had followed Donald Trump’s plan to declare him the president, it “would have plunged America into what I believe would have been tantamount to a revolution within a constitutional crisis.”

Judge Michael Luttig: "That declaration of Donald Trump as the next president would have plunged America into what I believe would have been tantamount to a revolution within a Constitutional crisis." pic.twitter.com/5AOANcALaU
— CSPAN (@cspan) June 16, 2022

‘No justifiable basis’ to conclude the vice president has authority to overturn election, Jacob says — 1:27 p.m.

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

Greg Jacob, former legal counsel for Mike Pence, said Pence in early December asked him to look into the vice president’s role in the electoral vote count. He said Pence’s first instinct was that “there was no way that our Framers, who abhorred concentrated power, who had broken away from the tyranny of George III, would ever have put one person — particularly not a person who had a direct interest in the outcome because they were on the ticket for the election - in a role to have decisive impact on the outcome of the election.”

“Our review of text, history, and frankly just common sense all confirmed the vice president’s first instinct on that point. There is no justifiable basis to conclude that the vice president has that kind of authority.”

Former counsel to VP Mike Pence, Greg Jacob, says there was "no justifiable basis" to conclude a vice president had the authority to overturn an election.

"Our review of text, history, and frankly just common sense, all confirmed the vice president's first instinct on that." pic.twitter.com/V5BQPZgg6q
— CBS News (@CBSNews) June 16, 2022

Two witnesses, vice president Mike Pence’s counsel and a retired federal judge, begin testifying — 1:19 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Greg Jacob, the vice president Mike Pence’s counsel, and retired federal judge Michael Luttig are testifying now before the committee.

Greg Jacob, who was counsel to former Vice President Mike Pence, left, and Michael Luttig, a retired federal judge, are sworn in to testify as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.Susan Walsh/Associated Press

Committee plays video of Trump’s speech during rally in which he names Pence — 1:14 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

The Jan. 6 committee played footage of Donald Trump directly addressing Mike Pence during a rally ahead of the insurrection.

“Mike Pence is going to have to come through for us,” Trump said during the rally. “And if he doesn’t, that will be a sad day for our country.”

“Mike Pence, I hope you’re going to stand up for the good of our Constitution and for the good of our country,” Trump said during another point in the speech. “And if you’re not, I’m going to be very disappointed in you, I will tell you right now.”

Pence told his lawyer that what he says about refusing to overturn electors ‘could be the most important thing I ever say’ — 1:12 p.m.

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

As Mike Pence prepared a statement on Jan. 5 and Jan. 6 explaining that he could not refuse to count the Electoral College votes, he emphasized the importance to his staff.

”The vice president had said this could be the most important thing I ever say,” said Pence’s former legal counsel Greg Jacob in videotaped testimony played Thursday by the Jan. 6 committee. “He really wanted to make sure that it was just so.”

‘Our democracy came dangerously close to catastrophe’: Committee chair opens hearing with focus on Mike Pence — 1:05 p.m.

By Amanda Kaufman, Globe Staff

Representative Bennie Thompson, the chair of the Jan. 6 committee investigating the Capitol insurrection, opened the hearing noting the committee will focus on Donald Trump’s pressure on Mike Pence to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

“We are fortunate for Mr. Pence’s courage on Jan. 6,” Thompson said. “Our democracy came dangerously close to catastrophe. That courage put him in tremendous danger.”

California Democratic Representative Peter Aguilar, a member of the panel, said Pence “withstood an onslaught of pressure” from Trump both publicly and privately.

Rep. @BennieGThompson on VP Pence: "He knew it was illegal. He knew it was wrong. We are fortunate for Mr. Pence's courage on January 6th. Our democracy came dangerously close to catastrophe...thanks in part to Mike Pence our democracy withstood Donald Trump's scheme..." pic.twitter.com/6gWt1tt9U5
— CSPAN (@cspan) June 16, 2022

The hearing is set to begin shortly. Watch it live. — 12:45 p.m.

The Jan. 6 committee holds its third public hearing, which will delve into Donald Trump’s pressure campaign on Mike Pence to reject the electoral count.

Watch it live:

Jan. 6 panel chair says it will invite Ginni Thomas for an interview — 11:58 a.m.