Trump Sat By as the Capitol Was Under Siege

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January 6 Hearings Wrap Up … For Now

For three hours on January 6, 2021, as Capitol Police officers clashed with violent rioters and as lawmakers and aides huddled in secure rooms or in their offices, then-President Donald Trump watched the chaos unfolding on Fox News and resisted his advisers’ efforts to get him to respond.

In a hearing Thursday night, the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol and Trump’s attempted coup shared testimony from witnesses who were with the former president on January 6 and two former White House officials who resigned in response. The panel made the case that the brutal and chaotic events of that day were the culmination of Trump’s plans to overturn the election, and he actively pushed back on attempts to clearly condemn the violence or to tell the attackers to leave the Capitol complex. According to the committee’s findings, he also made no move to direct assistance to lawmakers or to secure the building—despite some of them, including GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, pleading with him directly for help.

“The president did not call the VP or anyone in the military, federal law enforcement or D.C. government,” Rep. Elaine Luria, a member of the panel, said of his response that day. “Not a single person.”

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