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The First January 6th Committee Public Hearing: What We Learned

On Thursday, June 9th, the bipartisan January 6th House Select Committee held its first watershed public hearing. Committee members began to lay out their evidence that former President Trump and his accomplices planned, promoted, and paid for that day’s horrific attack on our country and our freedom – and illegally tried to overturn a legitimate election.

Below, Common Cause has curated a selection of the most shocking moments and important revelations that came out of last night’s hearing.

1. The Committee put the events of January 6 into historical context, as part of America’s history of slavery, racism, and violence.

2. The Committee made clear that the planning and promoting of January 6 took place prior to the deadly attack.

3. The Committee showed evidence that President Donald Trump and his inner circle knew he had fairly lost the 2020 election, including his daughter Ivanka Trump and his Attorney General William Barr.

4. Rep. Cheney called the January 6th attack an attempt to disrupt the peaceful transition of power.

5.We learned that former President Donald Trump knew he lost the election but sought to overturn the will of the people anyway, supporting the angry mob’s chants to “Hang Mike Pence.”

6. The MAGA Republicans who led the violent riot said they were invited by President Donald Trump.

7. We saw never-before-seen video footage of the violent attempt to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 election, including a moment in which an insurrectionist reads one of Trump’s tweets aloud to the mob.

8. Former President Donald Trump denied his staff’s recommendation to tell the violent mob to leave the U.S. Capitol building and did not seek law enforcement support.

9. Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards described the events of January 6th as a war zone.

10. During the attack that led to death and injury, Trump’s team of lawyers continued to plot how to overturn the 2020 election.

11. After the January 6th insurrection, many in Trump’s circle, including Republicans in Congress today, requested pardons.

12. On January 7, Fox News’ Sean Hannity and Trump’s White House Press Secretary texted to discuss executing a plan to remove Trump from power by invoking the 25th Amendment.

13. The Committee linked the spread of election disinformation to the attack.

14. Chairman Thompson reminded us that the world is watching to see what our country does next.

You can watch the full hearing below — please share this page with your friends, family, and community to help spread the truth:

 

 

To hold power accountable, We the People must be informed – so please share this article with your friends and family. Also, be sure to tune into the Committee’s next hearing on Monday, June 13th at 10:00 a.m. ET, as well as the rest of the hearings (released dates and details available here).

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