The January 6 Committee misrepresented Donald Trump’s comments, according to his spokesman, when they showed a tape of his testimony during Thursday night’s hearing.
During the hearing, Jason Miller, a former Trump adviser who now represents the former president, was seen describing the time just after the November 2020 election when a data analyst said the Trump campaign appeared to have lost.
According to Miller, a campaign data analyst told Trump on the phone that based on the election results, he was going to lose the election.
The evidence was highlighted because it appeared that Trump had spent months plotting ways to rig a lawful election.
Miller, however, claimed immediately after the hearing that the video was altered and did not include his entire words.
‘Here’s what came next in my testimony, which Liz Cheney failed to play,’ Miller tweeted.
‘Q: Okay. And what was the President’s reaction then when Matt said to him, ‘Hey, we’ve looked at the numbers, you’re going to lose’?
‘A: I think it’s safe to say he disagreed with Matt’s analysis.
‘Q: On what basis? Did he give a basis?
‘A: He believed that Matt was not looking at the prospect of legal challenges going our way and that Matt was looking at purely from what those numbers were showing as opposed to broader things to include legality and election integrity issues which, as a data guy, he may not have been monitoring.’
Miller’s complaint came as Ivanka Trump rejected her father’s claims that the 2020 election was rigged, and Republican Liz Cheney claimed she had proof Trump believed his vice president, Mike Pence, deserved to be hanged.
During the committee’s investigation, Trump’s Attorney General Bill Barr also told the committee that he thought his former boss’s ‘fraud’ claims were ‘bulls***,’ and that his allegations about rigged voting machines were ‘nonsense’ and ‘crazy stuff.’
It emerged in one of a series of recordings – including interviews and footage of the attack – that Jared Kushner thought White House Counsel Pat Cipollone’s continuous threats to resign over fraud charges in the aftermath of January 6 were just ‘whining’.
The committee summarized 17 months of inquiry and more than 1,000 interviews with Trump advisors, rioters, and authorities who they allege were directly or indirectly involved in the incident during the public session.
Democrats began by claiming that January 6 was the “culmination of an attempted coup,” that US democracy was in jeopardy, and that the Ku Klux Klan, slavery, and lynching were all mentioned.
Republicans, on the other hand, have characterized the hearings as a spectacle and a diversion from the problems that have engulfed the Biden administration.
On January 6, Trump’s Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, told Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley that he wanted to ‘establish a narrative’ that Trump was still in charge and ‘kill’ the suggestion that Pence was’making all the decisions.’
Cheney claimed there was evidence Trump suggested Pence ‘ought to be hanged,’ chastised him for watching the violence from the White House dining room, and claimed other members of her own party, including Rep. Scott Perry, wanted pardons for their roles in ‘attempting to overturn the election.’
The claims, according to a Perry spokesman, are “laughable, ludicrous, and a thoroughly soulless lie.”
She noted that the public will hear about Trump cabinet members advocating that the 25th amendment should be used to remove him from office, as well as evidence that he did not summon the National Guard on January 6 during the hearings.
The committee heard video of rioters saying Trump summoned them to the Capitol, as well as footage of staffers fleeing Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy’s office as the incident proceeded, and had a documentary filmmaker describe the Proud Boys’ behavior.
The initial hearing also revealed a number of other details, including:
According to Trump spokesman Jason Miller, a campaign data staffer advised the president he would lose.
Cheney failed to show testimony, according to Miller, who claimed that Trump disagreed with the analysis.
Alex Cannon, a campaign lawyer, claimed that they couldn’t discover any evidence of fraud by mid-November.’
According to Liz Cheney, the White House got word that there were intentions for violence ahead of the January 6th deadline.
Donald Trump’s assertions that voting machines were rigged were similarly dismissed by Bill Barr as “nonsense” and “mad stuff.”
Caroline Edwards, a Capitol cop who sustained a brain injury, said rioters referred to her as “Nancy Pelosi’s dog.”
She went on to say that she was in ‘hand-to-hand fight’ with the protesters and was knocked out.
A message obtained by the January 6 committee from a White House official shows them pleading with Trump to put an end to the riots.
Staffers fled Republican leader Kevin McCarthy’s office, according to video taken inside the Capitol.
Tucker Carlson announced at the outset of his Fox News show that he would not be airing the ‘propaganda’ hearings.
‘I am from an area of the country where people excused the atrocities of slavery, the Ku Klux Klan, and lynching,’ said Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, who chairs the committee.
‘As I hear voices now try to rationalize the insurrectionists’ conduct on January 6, 2021, I’m reminded of that horrible past.’
‘We pledged an oath to defend the Constitution against all adversaries, foreign and domestic,’ he continued, adding that the oath had been tested.
‘Donald Trump was at the heart of the plot.’ And, in the end, Donald Trump, the president of the United States, inspired a mob of domestic constitutional foes to march down to the Capitol and destabilize American democracy,’ Thompson said.
He also chastised Trump for attempting to prevent the ‘transfer of power’ by equating his statements with those of Abraham Lincoln, who stated that if he lost the election, he would hand over the reins of the United States government.
Thompson then turned to Barr’s testimony, which was recorded throughout their probe, in which the former attorney general said: ‘I can recall three discussions with the President.’
‘One of them happened on November 23.
‘One was on December 1st, and the other was on December 14th, and I’ve gone through the back and forth of those conversations.’
‘And in that context, I made it obvious that I disagreed with the idea of claiming the election was rigged and releasing this garbage, which I told the President was nonsense.’
‘And I didn’t want to be a part of it, to be honest.’ And that was one of the factors that influenced my decision to leave after I observed what I did.
‘I believe it was December 1, and you know, how can we live in a situation where the incumbent administration stays in power based on its perspective, which was originally supported by concrete proof that the election was rigged?’
Barr also claimed that he told Trump campaign executives that the voter fraud allegations against Dominion voting machines were “crazy nonsense” and that they were wasting their time.
Liz Cheney claimed the Trump White House was informed of planned violence before of January 6, and that the former president believed Pence ‘deserved’ to be hanged.
Cheney outlined what the public will hear during the committee hearings on January 6, including assertions that the White House was aware of the potential for violence.
In her opening comments, she added, “You will also hear that President Trump met with that group alone for a period of time before White House lawyers and other employees discovered the group’s presence and hastened to interfere.”
‘A little more than an hour after Ms. [Sidney] Powell, Mr. [Rudy] Giuliani, Gen. [Michael] Flynn, and the others left the White House, President Trump sent the tweet that is presently on the screen, inviting people to come to Washington on January 6: He told them to “be there.” ‘It’s going to be insane.’
‘As you’ll see, this was a watershed event,’ she continued.
‘This tweet set in motion a chain of events that culminated with the Proud Boys leading the invasion of the Capitol and the violence on January 6th.’
She went on to say that Trump was not warned about January 6 because of the Proud Boys, who have been charged with seditious conspiracy for their role in the incident.
There is no proof that this was the case.
‘While some former Trump officials have claimed that they did not expect violence on January 6, the evidence suggests otherwise,’ she said.
‘As you will see in our hearings, the White House was getting specific reports in the days preceding up to Jan. 6, including during President Trump’s Ellipse rally, indicating that elements in the audience were planning violence at the Capitol,’ according to the White House.
Then, according to Cheney, a witness testified that Trump was aware of chants to “Hang Mike Pence.”
‘Aware of the rioters’ chants to ‘hang Mike Pence,’ the President responded, ‘Perhaps our fans have the correct idea,’ he said. Mike Pence ‘deserves’ it,’ she stated.
Caroline Edwards, a Capitol police officer, claims she was referred to as “Nancy Pelosi’s dog,” that her “patriotism” was questioned for the first time on January 6, and that it was “hand-to-hand warfare.”
Edwards told the committee about being knocked out during the melee, returning to duty, and attempting to hold the line as the rioters rushed forward.
The officer described the situation as “chaos,” admitting that she had no combat training and that the battle was “hand-to-hand.”
She also spoke to the committee about her grandfather, who served in the Korean War and “lived the rest of his days with bullets and shrapnel in his legs but never once complained about his sacrifice.”
Edwards sustained a catastrophic brain injury and has since experienced fainting spells and labored speaking, according to her.
‘On January 6, 2021, and the days after, I was called a lot of things. I was referred to as Nancy Pelosi’s puppy, inept, a hero, and a villain.
‘I was accused of betraying my country, my oath, and my Constitution.’ I was none of those things in reality. I was an American, standing face to face with other Americans, wondering how we had been here so many times, so many times.
‘I’ve been called names before, but my patriotism and duty have never been questioned.’
‘I, who put on my uniform every day, no matter what time it was or how late I got in the night before, to preserve America’s symbol of democracy.’
‘I, who spent many hours in the scorching sun and icy winter ensuring that America’s elected leaders could perform their jobs.
Edwards said, “I, whose literal blood, sweat, and tears were shed that day defending the building that I spent countless holidays and weekends laboring in.”
Mike Pence intended to bring in law enforcement, not Trump, according to Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley, who recalls his phone discussions with Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
Milley told the committee that it was Pence who wanted the National Guard to come in and stop the rioting on January 6, but Meadows directed him to pretend it was Trump who requested support in his recorded testimony.
‘I had two or three calls with Vice President Pence,’ Milley added.
‘He was animated, and he gave directives that were extremely explicit, very straight, and unmistakable.’ In his interview, Milley stated unequivocally, “There was no question about it.”
‘To Secretary Miller, he was enthusiastic, direct, and firm.’ ‘Bring the troops down here, bring the guard down here,’ says the commander. ‘Put this problem down, and so on,’ he concluded, gesturing to Pence.
He then proceeded to recount his phone conversations with Meadows that day.
‘We have to eliminate the narrative that the vice president makes all the choices,’ Meadows said. In his testimony, Milley stated, “We need to build the narrative, you know, that the President is still in command and that things are steady or stable, or words to that effect.”
‘I immediately assumed it was about politics, politics, politics.’ Personally, I see this as a red flag. There is no action. But I recall it vividly,’ he continued.
Republicans argue the hearings are a diversion from the Democrats’ and White House’s scandals, which include rising gas prices, crime, and inflation.
The committee has examined almost 1,000 people, including Trump advisers and rioters, who they believe were involved in the Capitol incident 17 months ago, either directly or indirectly.
Republicans have criticized the primetime hearing, which was organized by former ABC News executive James Goldston, as a diversion from the Biden administration’s and Democrats’ scandals, which include inflation, low poll numbers, high gas costs, violence, and the border crisis.
They also argue that security shortcomings are to account for the incident, and that Nancy Pelosi is to blame for those lapses.
In a Truth Social post earlier on Thursday, Trump slammed the committee’s actions, stating that January 6’represented the greatest movement in the history of our Country to Make America Great Again.’
‘The Unselect Committee didn’t spend a single minute researching why people traveled in large numbers to Washington, D.C., far more than the Fake News Media is willing to cover, or that the Unselects are willing to even acknowledge,’ he stated.
‘It was about an Election that was Rigged and Stolen, and a Country that was about to go to HELL…& look at our Country now!’ he wrote in a second post.
In the next tweet, he calls the committee’s members ‘political Thugs,’ accusing them of’refusing to investigate and report on the huge quantity of indisputable evidence, most of it just obtained, that demonstrates the 2020 Presidential Election was Rigged and Stolen.’
‘They don’t want to talk about it because they can’t win on facts,’ Trump added.
He accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington, DC, of turning down a White House offer to send military reinforcements into the city that day.
‘The Unselect Committee has now learned that I, as President, recommended and offered up to 20,000 National Guard, or troops, to be deployed in D.C. because it was felt that the crowd would be quite huge,’ Trump said in his third and final post.
‘Crazy Nancy Pelosi declined the offer because she disliked the way it appeared. Similarly, the Mayor of Washington, D.C.
‘There would have been no January 6th if they had accepted the offer.’
President Joe Biden, speaking at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, labeled January 6 a “flagrant breach of the Constitution.”
‘One of the things that is going to occupy my country tonight, I suspect, is the first open hearings on January 6th, and as I said when it was happening and subsequent, I think it was a clear, flagrant violation of the Constitution,’ he said before meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
‘I believe these men and people broke the law by attempting to sway an election result.’
‘And there’s a lot of speculation about who’s to blame and who’s involved,’ he added.
‘I’m not going to make a decision about it.’
On Thursday, Trump’s Education Secretary Betsy DeVos admitted for the first time that she discussed invoking the 25th Amendment to remove the president with Vice President Mike Pence, and that January 6 was the ‘final straw’ before she quit ahead of his last day in office.