january-6-committee-to-hold-third-hearing

January 6 committee to hold third hearing

Politics
1 min ago

Catch up: Here are the top headlines from the second half of the hearing

From CNN staff

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the US Capitol wrapped up its third hearing of the month. The panel presented evidence that outlined former President Donald Trump’s role in pressuring former Vice President Mike Pence into blocking the 2020 election results.

Through live testimony from former Pence attorney Greg Jacob and retired judge J. Michael Luttig, recorded depositions and excerpts from emails and memos, the committee showed that Trump was told the plan to reverse the results of the election was not legal but he tried it anyway.

The investigation also walked through former Trump lawyer John Eastman’s theory that Pence had the authority to overturn the election — a theory he later admitted would fail at the Supreme Court 9-0.

Here are other top headlines from the second half of Thursday’s hearing:

  • Jan. 6, 2021 phone call: On the morning of the insurrection, Jacob said he was at the vice president’s residence when Pence got a call from former President Donald Trump. The committee said Trump had several family members with him in the Oval Office when he made that call. In a recorded deposition, Ivanka Trump described the conversation as “heated.” Nicholas Luna, a former special assistant to Trump, said he was dropping off a note and remembered Trump calling Pence a “wimp.” 
  • Trump on Twitter: The former president sent a tweet attacking Pence on Jan. 6, 2021, after he was told by his then-chief of staff Mark Meadows there was violence breaking out at the Capitol, the committee said.
  • Proximity to the mob: The committee laid out a timeline detailing the effort going on during the insurrection to protect Pence. The panel said the vice president was very close to the rioters, at one point there was only “40 feet between the vice president and the mob.” “Make no mistake about the fact that the vice president’s life was in danger,” Democratic Rep. Pete Aguilar said.
  • Pressure even after the insurrection: Even after the Capitol riot was over, the committee said Eastman wrote an email that night imploring Jacob, former Vice President Pence’s counsel, to suspend the session to certify the election. Jacob said he did not show Pence the email right away, but shared it a “day or two later.” Eastman argued a technical violation of the Electoral Count Act, the law that governed the Jan. 6 congressional certification of the electors. A few days after the insurrection, Eastman emailed Rudy Giuliani asking to be included on a list of potential recipients of a presidential pardon, the committee said.
  • The DOJ investigation: The Justice Department pressed the committee to turn over transcripts of witness interviews, noting that refusing to turn over the documents is leading to delays in the department’s efforts to investigate and prosecute criminal suspects involved in the attack on the Capitol. It is not within the committee’s power to indict anyone, even if they believe a crime was committed. They can, however, make a criminal referral to the DOJ.
16 min ago

Eastman denies discussing Supreme Court matters with Supreme Court Justice Thomas or his wife

From CNN’s Tierney Sneed

Former Trump attorney John Eastman “categorically” denied that he had discussions with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife Ginni Thomas about “any matters pending or likely to come before the Court.”

“We have never engaged in such discussions, would not engage in such discussions, and did not do so in December 2020 or anytime else,” Eastman wrote in a post on his Substack.

He suggested that a recently reported email he sent in December 2020, in which he stated that he understood there to be “a heated fight underway” at the Supreme Court, prompted a report by an outlet called Vision Times.

In the Thursday post to his Substack, Eastman also responded to reports that the House Jan. 6 committee had obtain an email exchange between him and Ginni Thomas.

He published a Dec. 4, 2020, email from Thomas and said she had “invited me to give an update about election litigation to a group she met with periodically.”

In the email — which Thomas sent to Eastman and to others copied whose identities have been redacted — Ginni asked the recipients if they could “present a status update to a group of grassroots state leaders on Tuesday, Dec 8th at 3:00 ET at a gathering called Frontliners that [redacted] helps me with.”

She also asked for a mailing address for Christmas cards, according to the email published by Eastman.

The email matches a description of a document referenced in the litigation over the Eastman emails the committee has sought. 

The judge presiding over the case, Judge David O. Carter of the Central District of California, described in a June 6 order requiring the disclosure of certain Eastman materials to the committee four documents pertaining “to a meeting on December 8, 2020.”

Carter said that “two emails are the group’s high-profile leader inviting Dr. Eastman to speak at the meeting, and two contain the meeting’s agenda.”

“Based on the agenda, Dr. Eastman discussed ‘State legislative actions that can reverse the media-called election for Joe Biden,’” Carter said. “Another speaker gave an ‘update on [state] legislature actions regarding electoral votes.’”

22 min ago

Jan. 6 committee chair urges people with potential evidence to submit to tip line

US Rep. Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the January 6 committee, speaks on Thursday.
US Rep. Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the January 6 committee, speaks on Thursday. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, chair of the Jan. 6 select committee, urged people who might want to cooperate with the panel or have additional evidence pertaining to their investigation to submit to a tip line the committee has set up.

“I know the information we presented over the last week is shocking. The idea that a President of the United States would orchestrate a scheme to stay in power after the people had voted him out of office,” Thompson said during his closing remarks. “We’re able to present this information because so many witnesses have cooperated with our probe. But the fact is, there are more people with direct knowledge —with evidence —germane to our investigation. I ask those who might be on the fence about cooperating to reach out to us.”

Thompson referenced the committee’s website — january6th.house.gov — as the place where individuals can view the evidence that has been presented by the committee and find a tip line on the website where they can “submit any information that you might think would be helpful for our investigation.”

More than 1,000 people have testified already before the committee behind closed doors, from Cabinet secretaries to low-level White House aides. 

“And despite how you may not think it’s important, send us what you think,” Thompson added. The chair also thanked those who have already cooperated for their “bravery and patriotism.”

CNN’s David Shortell contributed reporting to this post.

7 min ago

Here are key takeaways from day 3 of the Jan. 6 committee hearings 

From CNN’s Jeremy Herb, Marshall Cohen and Zachary Cohen

Greg Jacob, left, and J. Michael Luttig were the two witnesses testifying on Thursday.
Greg Jacob, left, and J. Michael Luttig were the two witnesses testifying on Thursday. (Susan Walsh/AP)

The House select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection on Thursday detailed how former President Donald Trump tried to pressure his vice president to join in his scheme to overturn the presidential election — and how Pence’s refusal put his life in danger as rioters called for Pence’s hanging on Jan. 6, 2021.

Two witnesses testified during Thursday’s hearing who advised Pence that he did not have the authority to subvert the election: former Pence attorney Greg Jacob and retired Republican judge J. Michael Luttig.

The committee walked through how conservative Trump attorney John Eastman put forward a legal theory that Pence could unilaterally block certification of the election — a theory that was roundly rejected by Trump’s White House attorneys and Pence’s team but nevertheless was embraced by the former President.

The next committee hearing will be this upcoming Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET.

Here are the key takeaways from the committee’s third hearing this month:

The panel tied the Mike Pence pressure campaign to the Jan. 6, 2021 violence: The committee tried to connect Trump’s pressure campaign against Pence to the violence on Jan. 6, 2021, by weaving together testimony from Pence aides, Trump’s public statements and comments from rioters at the Capitol.

Some of the most compelling evidence came from the rioters themselves.

Many of them had listened to Trump’s rallies where he claimed — inaccurately — that the election was rigged against him, and Pence had the power to do something about it while presiding over the Electoral College certification. While the insurrection was underway, they cited Trump’s comments about Pence.

And many of them saw, in real-time, Trump’s tweet criticizing Pence while the Capitol was under attack, where he said Pence “didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done.”

The point of highlighting this on Thursday was to lay the blame for the violence at Trump’s feet. And right after the attack, many top Republicans agreed with that conclusion. But over the last year and a half, many Republicans have shied away from blaming Trump, and the committee hopes to change that.

Former Trump White House attorney Eric Herschmann told the committee that Eastman told him he was willing to accept violence in order to overturn the 2020 election. The panel played video from Herschmann’s deposition where he described a conversation with Eastman about his claims that the vice president could overturn the election in Congress.

Herschmann warned Eastman that his strategy, if implemented, was “going to cause riots in the streets.”

“And he said words to the effect of, ‘There’s been violence in the history of our country in order to protect the democracy, or to protect the republic,’ ” Herschmann said.

The star of Thursday’s hearing was not in the room: One person noticeably absent on Thursday was the star of the hearing himself: the former vice president.

The committee cast Pence as the hero — making the case that American democracy would have slipped into a state of chaos had he succumbed to Trump’s pressure campaign.

But as the committee touted Pence’s commitment to the Constitution and bravery on Jan. 6, 2021, it was impossible to ignore the fact that the former vice president was not in the room.

Instead, the committee relied on live witness testimony from two former Pence advisers who appeared to speak on his behalf.

Earlier this year, the committee’s chairman, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, had suggested the committee would seek testimony from Pence. Still, the prospect of Pence appearing before the committee, particularly in public, has always been viewed as a long shot — to say the least.

Asked Wednesday if the committee is still interested in hearing from Pence, committee aides demurred, telling reporters the investigation is ongoing and therefore they cannot provide details about any engagement with a particular witness.

“Nothing new to share on that, other than we continue to search for facts and if there is more to share, we’ll share it in the future,” one of the aides said.

The fact that two of Pence’s former advisers appeared Thursday, and his former chief of staff Marc Short testified on camera behind closed doors, indicates that Pence was not actively seeking to block those around him from sharing information with the committee in his stead.

Read more more takeaways from today’s hearing here.

48 min ago

The hearing has ended 

The House Jan. 6 select committee’s third hearing this month just wrapped up. 

The panel detailed how former President Donald Trump tried to pressure his vice president to join in his scheme to overturn the presidential election — and how Mike Pence’s refusal put his life in danger as rioters called for Pence’s hanging on Jan. 6, 2021.

The committee’s next hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

39 min ago

Pence did not want to be seen as fleeing the US Capitol on Jan. 6, former adviser testifies

From CNN’s Zachary Cohen and Jeremy Herb

Then-Vice President Mike Pence is seen on his phone at a secure location during the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
Then-Vice President Mike Pence is seen on his phone at a secure location during the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. (January 6 Committee)

Former Vice President Mike Pence did not want to be seen as fleeing the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to testimony provided to the House Select Committee by advisers and aides who were working for him at the time.

Pence’s whereabouts on Jan. 6 as pro-Trump rioters began to breach the Capitol has been a topic of intrigue since security footage emerged showing the former vice president being evacuated from the building by his Secret Service detail.

The committee showed on Thursday images of Pence on his phone in a secure location after being evacuated and witnesses provided new details about how he resisted Secret Service orders to get into a car.

“When we got down to the secure location, secret service directed us to get into the cars, which I did, and then I noticed that the vice president had not,” Greg Jacob, former chief counsel to Pence, testified during the hearing. “So I got out of the car that I had gotten into, and I understood the vice president had refused to get into the car.”

“The head of his Secret Service detail, Tim said, ‘I assure you we’re not going to drive out of the building with your permission.’ And the vice president had said something to the effect of, ‘Tim, I know you, I trust you, but you’re not the one behind the wheel,” Jacob said.

“And the vice president did not want to take any chance that the world would see the vice president of the United States fleeing the United States Capitol. He was determined that we would complete the work that we had set out to do that day,” he added.

Jacob also said Pence and his wife Karen reacted “with frustration” that Trump never called to check on them as a mob overran the Capitol building with Pence in their sights

Pence and Trump’s relationship soured deeply in the lead-up to the Jan. 6, 2021 congressional session, as Pence made clear that he would not comply with the scheme to overturn the election results that Trump was pushing. 

Trump, in turn, began to turn on his vice president in his public remarks, stirring up his supporters’ anger. 

For his part, as he worked from a secure location in the Capitol, Pence reached out to congressional leaders, the acting defense secretary, and others “to check on their safety and to address the growing crisis,” Aguilar said Thursday. 

CNN’s David Shortell contributed reporting to this post.

40 min ago

Eastman emailed Giuliani asking to be put on a list of possible pardon recipients after Jan. 6

From CNN’s Zachary Cohen 

John Eastman speaks in Boulder, Colorado, in April 2021.
John Eastman speaks in Boulder, Colorado, in April 2021. (Andy Cross/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post/Getty Images)

Conservative attorney John Eastman emailed Rudy Giuliani a few days after Jan. 6 and asked to be included on a list of potential recipients of a presidential pardon, the House Select Committee revealed during Thursday’s hearing. 

The committee said Eastman made the request to Giuliani, former President Donald Trump’s former attorney, in an email that is in its possession.  

“I’ve decided that I should be on the pardon list, if that is still in the works,” the email from Eastman to Giuliani reads. 

Eastman did not ultimately receive a pardon and refused to answer the House select committee’s questions about his role in efforts to overturn the 2020 election, repeatedly pleading the Fifth Amendment during his deposition. 

The committee argued during Thursday’s hearing that Eastman’s requests for a pardon, and his decision to repeatedly plead the Fifth when questioned previously by the panel, indicates Eastman knew his actions were potentially criminal. 

CNN previously reported that Giuliani and other Trump associates had raised the idea of receiving preemptive pardons in the weeks leading up to Jan. 6, but the US Capitol riot had complicated his desire to pardon himself, his kids and personal lawyer. 

At the time, several of Trump’s closest advisers also urged him not to grant clemency to anyone involved in the Jan. 6 attack, despite Trump’s initial stance that those involved had done nothing wrong.

42 min ago

“40 feet between the Vice President and the mob”: Committee describes effort to protect Pence 

From CNN’s Clare Foran

The House Jan. 6 committee laid out a thorough timeline at today’s hearing detailing the effort to protect Vice President Mike Pence as rioters breached the Capitol. As part of its presentation, the committee made clear that Pence was perilously close to the pro-Trump mob, and that at one point there was only “40 feet between the vice president and the mob.”

Showing video of the riot and a 3-D graphic rendering of the Capitol, the committee presented an exhibit with voiceover narration outlining the following timeline:

  • “By 2:24 p.m., the Secret Service had moved Vice President Pence from the Senate chamber to his office across the hall.”
  • “Then President Trump tweeted: Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our country and our Constitution.”
  • “30 seconds later, rioters already inside the Capitol opened the East Rotunda door just down the hall, and just 30 seconds after that rioters breached the crypt, one floor below the Vice President.”
  • “At 2:26 p.m., Secret Service rush Vice President Pence down the stairs.”
  • “Vice President Pence and his team ultimately were led to a secure location where they stayed for the next four and a half hours, barely missing rioters a few feet away.”

Following display of the exhibit, committee member Democratic Rep. Pete Aguilar added the following detail: “Approximately 40 feet — that’s all there was. Forty feet between the vice president and the mob.”

“Make no mistake about the fact that the vice president’s life was in danger,” he said.

52 min ago

Ex-Pence counsel: “Crazy” that Eastman continued to push for delay in election certification even after riot

From CNN’s Jeremy Herb and Adrienne Vogt

Greg Jacob testifies to the committee on Thursday.
Greg Jacob testifies to the committee on Thursday. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

Even after the Capitol riot was over, the House select committee investigating Jan. 6 showed that former President Donald Trump’s lawyer John Eastman wrote an email that night at 11:44 p.m. ET imploring Greg Jacob, former Vice President Pence’s counsel, to suspend the session to certify the election.

Jacob said he did not show Pence the email right away, but shared it a “day or two later.”

Eastman raised a technical violation of the Electoral Count Act, the law that governed the Jan. 6 congressional certification of the electors. He argued that because the House and Senate had violated the law to the letter by debating the objection for more than two hours, Pence could violate it further by adjourning for 10 days.

“So now that the precedent has been set that the Electoral Count Act is not quite so sacrosanct as was previously claimed, I implore you to consider one more relatively minor violation and adjourn for 10 days to allow the legislatures to finish their investigations,” Eastman wrote.

After reviewing the email, Pence called it “rubber room stuff,” according to Jacob.

“I understood it to mean that after having seen it play out, what happens when you convince people that there is a decision to be made in the Capitol legitimately about who is to be the President and the consequences of that, he was still pushing us to do what he had been asking us to do for the previous two days, that that was certifiably crazy,” Jacob said.