“Donald Trump had a direct and personal role” in attempting to overturn the 2020 election by exerting pressure on state officials and legislatures, said Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., in her opening statement during a public hearing on June 21.
Cheney, the vice chair of the the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack, asked viewers to keep in mind what then-President Donald Trump knew before falsely claiming the election had been stolen, playing testimony from former Attorney General William Barr and former Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue, who both told Trump there was no basis for his claims. Cheney also said Trump was warned more than a month before Jan 6 that there was potential for violence.
“Donald Trump did not care about the threats of violence. He did not condemn them. He made no effort to stop them. He went forward with his fake allegations anyway,” Cheney said.
The hearing was the fourth of several planned by the Jan. 6 committee to present its findings to the public. It focused on Trump’s efforts to pressure state legislators and local election officials to change the results of the 2020 presidential election. In the year since its creation, the committee has conducted more than 1,000 interviews, seeking critical information and documents from people witness to, or involved in, the violence that day.
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