[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
HEARING ON THE JANUARY 6TH INVESTIGATION
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SELECT COMMITTEE TO
INVESTIGATE THE JANUARY 6TH
ATTACK ON THE
UNITED STATES CAPITOL
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
JUNE 9, 2022
__________
Serial No. 117-2
__________
Printed for the use of the Select Committee to Investigate the January
6th Attack on the United States Capitol
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
48-998 PDF WASHINGTON : 2022
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SELECT COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE THE JANUARY 6TH ATTACK ON THE UNITED
STATES CAPITOL
Bennie G. Thompson, Mississippi, Chairman
Liz Cheney, Wyoming, Vice Chair
Zoe Lofgren, California
Adam B. Schiff, California
Pete Aguilar, California
Stephanie N. Murphy, Florida
Jamie Raskin, Maryland
Elaine G. Luria, Virginia
Adam Kinzinger, Illinois
COMMITTEE STAFF
David B. Buckley, Staff Director
Kristin L. Amerling, Deputy Staff Director and Chief Counsel
Timothy J. Heaphy, Chief Investigative Counsel
Hope Goins, Counsel to the Chairman
Jamie Fleet, Senior Advisor
Joseph B. Maher, Senior Counselor to the Vice Chair
Timothy R. Mulvey, Communications Director
Candyce Phoenix, Senior Counsel and Senior Advisor
Katherine B. Abrams, Staff Thomas E. Joscelyn, Senior
Associate Professional Staff Member
Temidayo Aganga-Williams, Senior Rebecca L. Knooihuizen, Financial
Investigative Counsel Investigator
Alejandra Apecechea, Investigative Casey E. Lucier, Investigative
Counsel Counsel
Lisa A. Bianco, Director of Member Damon M. Marx, Professional Staff
Services and Security Manager Member
Jerome P. Bjelopera, Investigator Evan B. Mauldin, Chief Clerk
Bryan Bonner, Investigative Counsel Yonatan L. Moskowitz, Senior
Richard R. Bruno, Senior Counsel
Administrative Assistant Hannah G. Muldavin, Deputy
Marcus Childress, Investigative Communications Director
Counsel Jonathan D. Murray, Professional
John Marcus Clark, Security Staff Member
Director Jacob A. Nelson, Professional
Jacqueline N. Colvett, Digital Staff Member
Director Elizabeth Obrand, Staff Associate
Heather I. Connelly, Professional Raymond O'Mara, Director of
Staff Member External Affairs
Meghan E. Conroy, Investigator Elyes Ouechtati, Technology
Heather L. Crowell, Printer Partner
Proofreader Robin M. Peguero, Investigative
William C. Danvers, Senior Counsel
Researcher Sandeep A. Prasanna, Investigative
Soumyalatha O. Dayananda, Senior Counsel
Investigative Counsel Barry Pump, Parliamentarian
Stephen W. DeVine, Senior Counsel Sean M. Quinn, Investigative
Lawrence J. Eagleburger, Counsel
Professional Staff Member Brittany M. J. Record, Senior
Kevin S. Elliker, Investigative Counsel
Counsel Joshua D. Roselman, Investigative
Margaret E. Emamzadeh, Staff Counsel
Associate James N. Sasso, Investigative
Sadallah A. Farah, Professional Counsel
Staff Member Grant H. Saunders, Professional
Daniel A. George, Senior Staff Member
Investigative Counsel Samantha O. Stiles, Chief
Jacob H. Glick, Investigative Administrative Officer
Counsel Sean P. Tonolli, Senior
Aaron S. Greene, Clerk Investigative Counsel
Marc S. Harris, Senior David A. Weinberg, Senior
Investigative Counsel Professional Staff Member
Alice K. Hayes, Clerk Amanda S. Wick, Senior
Quincy T. Henderson, Staff Investigative Counsel
Assistant Darrin L. Williams, Jr., Staff
Camisha L. Johnson, Professional Assistant
Staff Member John F. Wood, Senior Investigative
Counsel
Zachary S. Wood, Clerk
CONTRACTORS & CONSULTANTS
Rawaa Alobaidi
Melinda Arons
Steve Baker
Elizabeth Bisbee
David Canady
John Coughlin
Aaron Dietzen
Gina Ferrise
Angel Goldsborough
James Goldston
Polly Grube
L. Christine Healey
Danny Holladay
Percy Howard
Dean Jackson
Stephanie J. Jones
Hyatt Mamoun
Mary Marsh
Todd Mason
Ryan Mayers
Jeff McBride
Fred Muram
Alex Newhouse
John Norton
Orlando Pinder
Owen Pratt
Dan Pryzgoda
Brian Sasser
William Scherer
Driss Sekkat
Chris Stuart
Preston Sullivan
Brian Young
Innovative Driven
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Statements
The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson, a Representative in Congress
From the State of Mississippi, and Chairman, Select Committee
to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States
Capitol........................................................ 1
The Honorable Liz Cheney, a Representative in Congress From the
State of Wyoming, and Vice Chair, Select Committee to
Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol 4
Witnesses
Officer Caroline Edwards, U.S. Capitol Police, Washington, DC.... 16
Mr. Nick Quested, Documentary Filmmaker, New York, NY............ 17
Appendix
Prepared Statement of Officer Caroline Edwards, U.S. Capitol
Police, Washington, DC......................................... 27
Prepared Statement of Mr. Nick Quested, Documentary Filmmaker,
New York, NY................................................... 27
HEARING ON THE JANUARY 6TH INVESTIGATION
----------
Thursday, June 9, 2022
U.S. House of Representatives,
Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on
the United States Capitol,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 8:02 p.m., in
room 390, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Bennie G. Thompson
[Chairman of the Committee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Thompson, Cheney, Lofgren, Schiff,
Aguilar, Murphy, Raskin, Luria, and Kinzinger.
Chairman Thompson. The Select Committee to Investigate the
January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol will be in
order.
Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare the
Committee in recess at any point.
Pursuant to House Deposition Authority Regulation 10, the
Chair announces the Committee's approval to release the
deposition material presented during tonight's hearing.
Thanks to everyone watching tonight for sharing part of
your evening to learn the facts and causes of the events
leading up to and including the violent attack on January 6,
2021, on our democracy, electoral system, and country.
I am Bennie Thompson, Chairman of the January 6th, 2021,
Committee. I was born, raised, and still live in Bolton,
Mississippi, a town with a population of 521, which is midway
between Jackson and Vicksburg, Mississippi, and the Mississippi
River.
I am from a part of the country where people justify the
actions of slavery, the Ku Klux Klan, and lynching. I am
reminded of that dark history as I hear voices today try and
justify the actions of the insurrectionists on January 6, 2021.
Over the next few weeks, hopefully you will get to know the
other Members, my colleagues up here, and me. We represent a
diversity of communities from all over the United States, rural
areas and cities, East Coast, West Coast, and the heartland.
All of us have one thing in common: We swore the same oath,
that same oath that all Members of Congress take upon taking
office and afterwards every 2 years if they are reelected. We
swore an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies,
foreign and domestic.
The words of the current oath taken by all of us that
nearly every U.S. Government employee takes have their roots in
the Civil War. Throughout our history, the United States has
fought against foreign enemies to preserve our democracy,
electoral system, and country.
When the United States Capitol was stormed and burned in
1814, foreign enemies were responsible. Afterward, in 1862,
when American citizens had taken up arms against this country,
Congress adopted a new oath to help make sure no person who had
supported the rebellion could hold a position of public trust.
Therefore, Congresspersons and United States Federal Government
employees were required for the first time to swear an oath to
defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and
domestic.
That oath was put to the test on January 6, 2021. The
police officers who held the line that day honored their oath.
Many came out of that day bloodied and broken. They still bear
those wounds, visible and invisible. They did their duty. They
repelled the mob and ended the occupation of the Capitol. They
defended the Constitution against domestic enemies so that
Congress could return, uphold our own oath, and count your
votes to ensure the transfer of power, just as we have done for
hundreds of years.
But, unlike in 1814, it was domestic enemies of the
Constitution who stormed the Capitol and occupied the Capitol,
who sought to thwart the will of the people, to stop the
transfer of power. They did so at the encouragement of the
President of the United States--the President of the United
States trying to stop the transfer of power, a precedent that
had stood for 220 years, even as our democracy had faced its
most difficult test.
Thinking back again to the Civil War, in the summer of
1864, the President of the United States believed he would be
doomed in his bid for reelection. He believed his opponent,
General George McClellan, would wave the white flag when it
came to preserving the Union. But even with that grim fate
hanging in the balance, President Lincoln was ready to accept
the will of the voters, come what may.
He made a quiet pledge. He wrote down the words: ``This
morning, as for some days past, it seems exceedingly probable
that this Administration will not be reelected. Then it will be
my duty to so co-operate with the President-elect . . . ''
``It will be my duty.''
Lincoln sealed that memo and asked his Cabinet Secretaries
to sign it, sight unseen. He asked them to make the same
commitment he did: To accept defeat if indeed defeat was the
will of the people, to uphold the rule of law, to do what every
President who came before him did and what every President who
followed him would do until Donald Trump.
Donald Trump lost the Presidential election in 2020. The
American people voted him out of office. It was not because of
a rigged system. It was not because of voter fraud. Don't
believe me? Hear what his former attorney general had to say
about it. I warn those who are watching that this contains
strong language.
Attorney General Barr. No, just what I--I've been--I've had--I had
three discussions with the President that I can recall. One was on
November 23rd, one was on December 1st, and one was on December 14th.
And I've been through sort-of the give-and-take of those discussions.
And in that context, I made it clear I did not agree with the idea of
saying the election was stolen and putting out this stuff, which I told
the President was bullshit. And, you know, I didn't want to be a part
of it, and that's one of the reasons that went into me deciding to
leave when I did. I observed, I think it was on December 1st, that, you
know, how can we--you can't live in a world where--where the incumbent
administration stays in power based on its view, unsupported by
specific evidence, that the election--that there was fraud in the
election.
Chairman Thompson. Bill Barr, on election day 2020, he was
the Attorney General of the United States, the top law
enforcement official in the country, telling the President
exactly what he thought about claims of a stolen election.
Donald Trump had his days in court to challenge the
results. He was within his rights to seek those judgments. In
the United States, law-abiding citizens have those tools for
pursuing justice. He lost in the courts just as he did at the
ballot box. In this country, that is the end of the line.
But for Donald Trump, that was only the beginning of what
became a sprawling, multistep conspiracy aimed at overturning
the Presidential election, aimed at throwing out the votes of
millions of Americans--your votes, your voice in our
democracy--and replacing the will of the American people with
his will to remain in power after his term ended.
Donald Trump was at the center of this conspiracy.
Ultimately, Donald Trump, the President of the United States,
spurred a mob of domestic enemies of the Constitution to march
down the Capitol and subvert American democracy.
Any legal jargon you hear about seditious conspiracy,
obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud
the United States boils down to this: January 6th was the
culmination of an attempted coup, a brazen attempt, as one
rioter put it shortly after January 6th, to overthrow the
Government. The violence was no accident. It represented
Trump's last stand, his most desperate chance to halt the
transfer of power.
Now you may hear those words and think this is just another
political attack on Donald Trump by people who don't like him.
That is not the case. My colleagues and I all wanted an
outside, independent commission to investigate January 6th,
similar to what we had after 9/11. But, after first agreeing to
the idea, Donald Trump's allies in Congress put a stop to it.
Apparently, they don't want January 6th investigated at all.
In the last 17 months, many of those same people have tried
to whitewash what happened on January 6th, to rewrite history,
call it a tourist visit, label it ``legitimate political
discourse.''
Donald Trump and his followers have adopted the words of
the songwriter: Do you believe me or your lying eyes?
We can't sweep what happened under the rug. The American
people deserve answers. So, I come before you this evening not
as a Democrat but as an American who swore an oath to defend
the Constitution. The Constitution doesn't protect just
Democrats or just Republicans. It protects all of us, ``We the
people.'' This scheme was an attempt to undermine the will of
the people.
So, tonight and over the next few weeks, we are going to
remind you of the reality of what happened that day, but our
work must do much more than just look backward. Because our
democracy remains in danger, the conspiracy to thwart the will
of the people is not over. There are those in this audience who
thirst for power but have no love or respect for what makes
America great: devotion to the Constitution, allegiance to the
rule of law, our shared journey to build a more perfect Union.
January 6th and the lies that led to insurrection have put
2\1/2\ centuries of Constitutional democracy at risk. The world
is watching what we do here. America has long been expected to
be a shining city on the hill, a beacon of hope and freedom, a
model for others when we are at our best. How can we play that
role when our house is in such disorder?
We must confront the truth with candor, resolve, and
determination. We need to show that we are worthy of the gifts
that are the birthright of every American. That begins here,
and it begins now with a true accounting of what happened and
what led to the attack on our Constitution and our democracy.
In this moment when the dangers of our Constitution and our
democracy loom large, nothing could be more important. Working
alongside the public servants on this dais has been one of the
greatest honors of my time in Congress.
It has been a particular privilege to count as a partner in
this effort and to count as a friend the gentlewoman from
Wyoming, Ms. Cheney. She is a patriot, a public servant of
profound courage, of devotion to her oath and the Constitution.
It is my pleasure to recognize Ms. Cheney for her opening
statement.
Vice Chair Cheney. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Let me echo those words about the importance of
bipartisanship and what a tremendous honor it is to work on
this Committee.
Mr. Chairman, at 6:01 p.m. on January 6th, after he spent
hours watching a violent mob besiege, attack, and invade our
Capitol, Donald Trump tweeted. But he did not condemn the
attack. Instead, he justified it.
``These are the things and events that happen,'' he said,
``when a sacred landslide election victory is so
unceremoniously and viciously stripped away from great patriots
who have been badly and unfairly treated for so long.''
As you will see in the hearings to come, President Trump
believed his supporters at the Capitol, and I quote, ``were
doing what they should be doing.'' This is what he told his
staff as they pleaded with him to call off the mob, to instruct
his supporters to leave.
Over a series of hearings in the coming weeks, you will
hear testimony, live and on video, from more than half a dozen
former White House staff in the Trump administration, all of
whom were in the West Wing of the White House on January 6th.
You will hear testimony that, ``the President did not really
want to put anything out,'' calling off the riot or asking his
supporters to leave.
You will hear that President Trump was yelling and,
``really angry'' at advisors who told him he needed to be doing
something more.
Aware of the rioters' chants to hang Mike Pence, the
President responded with this sentiment, ``Maybe our supporters
have the right idea.'' Mike Pence, ``deserves it.''
You will hear evidence that President Trump refused for
hours to do what his staff, his family, and many of his other
advisors begged him to do: Immediately instruct his supporters
to stand down and evacuate the Capitol.
Tonight you will see never-before-seen footage of the
brutal attack on our Capitol, an attack that unfolded while a
few blocks away President Trump sat watching television in the
dining room next to the Oval Office.
You will hear audio from the brave police officers battling
for their lives and ours, fighting to defend our democracy
against a violent mob Donald Trump refused to call off.
Tonight, and in the weeks to come, you will see evidence of
what motivated this violence, including directly from those who
participated in this attack. You will see video of them
explaining what caused them to do it. You will see their posts
on social media. We will show you what they have said in
Federal court.
On this point, there is no room for debate: Those who
invaded our Capitol and battled law enforcement for hours were
motivated by what President Trump had told them, that the
election was stolen and that he was the rightful President.
President Trump summoned the mob, assembled the mob, and lit
the flame of this attack.
You will also hear about plots to commit seditious
conspiracy on January 6th, a crime defined in our laws as
conspiring to overthrow, put down, or destroy by force the
Government of the United States or to oppose by force the
authority thereof.
Multiple members of two groups, the Oath Keepers and the
Proud Boys, have been charged with this crime for their
involvement in the events leading up to and on January 6th.
Some have pled guilty.
The attack on our Capitol was not a spontaneous riot.
Intelligence available before January 6th identified plans to,
``invade the Capitol,'' ``occupy the Capitol,'' and take other
steps to halt Congress' count of electoral votes that day.
In our hearings to come, we will identify elements of those
plans, and we will show specifically how a group of Proud Boys
led a mob into the Capitol Building on January 6th.
Tonight, I am going to describe for you some of what our
Committee has learned and highlight initial findings you will
see this month in our hearings.
As you hear this, all Americans should keep in mind this
fact: On the morning of January 6th, President Donald Trump's
intention was to remain President of the United States, despite
the lawful outcome of the 2020 election and in violation of his
Constitutional obligation to relinquish power. Over multiple
months, Donald Trump oversaw and coordinated a sophisticated 7-
part plan to overturn the Presidential election and prevent the
transfer of Presidential power. In our hearings, you will see
evidence of each element of this plan.
In our second hearing, you will see that Donald Trump and
his advisors knew that he had, in fact, lost the election. But,
despite this, President Trump engaged in a massive effort to
spread false and fraudulent information, to convince huge
portions of the U.S. population that fraud had stolen the
election from him. This was not true.
Jason Miller was a senior Trump campaign spokesman. In this
clip, Miller describes a call between the Trump campaign's
internal data expert and President Trump a few days after the
2020 election.
Mr. Miller. I was in the Oval Office, and at some point in the
conversation Matt Oczkowski, who was the lead data person, was brought
on, and I remember he delivered to the President pretty blunt terms
that he was going to lose.
Mr. Heaphy. And that was based, Mr. Miller, on Matt and the data
team's assessment of the sort-of county-by-county, State-by-State
results as reported?
Mr. Miller. Correct.
Vice Chair Cheney. Alex Cannon was one of President Trump's
campaign lawyers. He previously worked for the Trump
organization. One of his responsibilities was to assess
allegations of election fraud in November 2020. Here is one
sample of his testimony, discussing what he told White House
Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
Mr. Cannon. I remember a call with Mr. Meadows where Mr. Meadows
was asking me what I was finding, and if I was finding anything. And I
remember sharing with him that we weren't finding anything that would
be sufficient to change the results in any of the key States.
Mr. Harris. When was that conversation?
Mr. Cannon. Probably in November, mid- to late-November. I think it
was before my child was born.
Mr. Harris. And what was Mr. Meadows' reaction to that information?
Mr. Cannon. I believe the words he used were, so there's no there
there.
Vice Chair Cheney. ``There is no there there.''
The Trump campaign's general counsel, Matt Morgan, gave
similar testimony. He explained that all of the fraud
allegations and the campaign's other election arguments taken
together and viewed in the best possible light for President
Trump could still not change the outcome of the election.
President Trump's Attorney General, Bill Barr, also told
Donald Trump his election claims were wrong.
Attorney General Barr. Repeatedly told the President in no
uncertain terms that I did not see evidence of fraud. And--you know,
that would have affected the outcome of the election. And frankly a
year and a half later, I haven't seen anything to change my mind on
that.
Vice Chair Cheney. Attorney General Barr also told
President Trump that his allegations about Dominion voting
machines were groundless.
Attorney General Barr. I saw absolutely zero basis for the
allegations, but they were made in such a sensational way that they
obviously were influencing a lot of people--members of the public--that
there was this systemic corruption in the system and that their votes
didn't count and that these machines controlled by somebody else were
actually determining it, which was complete nonsense. And it was being
laid out there. And I told them that it was--that it was crazy stuff
and they were wasting their time on that. And it was doing a great,
grave disservice to the country.
Vice Chair Cheney. But President Trump persisted, repeating
the false Dominion allegations in public at least a dozen more
times, even after his Attorney General told him they were,
``complete nonsense.''
After Barr's resignation on December 23rd, the Acting
Attorney General who replaced him, Jeff Rosen, and the Acting
Deputy, Richard Donoghue, told President Trump over and over
again that the evidence did not support allegations he was
making in public.
Many of President Trump's White House staff also recognized
that the evidence did not support the claims President Trump
was making. This is the President's daughter commenting on Bill
Barr's statement that the Department found no fraud sufficient
to overturn the election.
Mr. Heaphy. How did that affect your perspective about the election
when Attorney General Barr made that statement?
Ms. Trump. It affected my perspective. I respect Attorney General
Barr. So, I accepted what he was saying.
Vice Chair Cheney. As you will hear on Monday, the
President had every right to litigate his campaign claims. But
he ultimately lost more than 60 cases in State and Federal
courts. The President's claims in the election cases were so
frivolous and unsupported that the President's lead lawyer,
Rudy Giuliani, not only lost the lawsuits, his license to
practice law was suspended. Here is what the court said of Mr.
Giuliani: Giuliani ``communicated demonstrably false and
misleading statements to courts, lawmakers, and the public at
large in his capacity as lawyer for former President Donald J.
Trump and the Trump campaign in connection with Trump's failed
effort at reelection in 2020.''
As you will see in great detail in our hearings, President
Trump ignored the rulings of our Nation's courts. He ignored
his own campaign leadership, his White House staff, many
Republican State officials. He ignored the Department of
Justice and the Department of Homeland Security.
President Trump invested millions of dollars of campaign
funds purposely spreading false information, running ads he
knew were false, and convincing millions of Americans that the
election was corrupt and that he was the true President. As you
will see, this misinformation campaign provoked the violence on
January 6th.
In our third hearing, you will see that President Trump
corruptly planned to replace the Attorney General of the United
States so the U.S. Justice Department would spread his false
stolen election claims. In the days before January 6th,
President Trump told his top Justice Department officials,
``Just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me
and the Republican Congressmen.''
Senior Justice Department officials, men he had appointed,
told him they could not do that because it was not true.
So, President Trump decided to replace them. He offered
Jeff Clark, an environmental lawyer at the Justice Department,
the job of Acting Attorney General. President Trump wanted Mr.
Clark to take a number of steps, including sending this letter
to Georgia and 5 other States, saying the United States
Department of Justice had, ``identified significant concerns
that may have impacted the outcome of the election.''
This letter is a lie. The Department of Justice had, in
fact, repeatedly told President Trump exactly the opposite,
that they had investigated his stolen election allegations and
found no credible fraud that could impact the outcome of the
election. This letter and others like it would have urged
multiple States to withdraw their official and lawful electoral
votes for Biden.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue described
Jeff Clark's letter this way, ``this would be a grave step for
the Department to take and it could have tremendous
Constitutional, political, and social ramifications for the
country.''
The Committee agrees with Mr. Donoghue's assessment. Had
Clark assumed the role of Attorney General in the days before
January 6th and issued these letters, the ramifications could
indeed have been grave.
Mr. Donoghue also said this about Clark's plan.
Acting United States Deputy Attorney General Donoghue. And I recall
toward the end saying what you're proposing is nothing less than the
United States Justice Department meddling in the outcome of a
Presidential election.
Vice Chair Cheney. In our hearings, you will hear first-
hand how the senior leadership of the Department of Justice
threatened to resign, how the White House Counsel threatened to
resign, and how they confronted Donald Trump and Jeff Clark in
the Oval Office. The men involved, including Acting Attorney
General Jeff Rosen and Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard
Donoghue, were appointed by President Trump. These men honored
their oaths of office. They did their duty. You will hear from
them in our hearings.
By contrast, Jeff Clark has invoked his Fifth Amendment
privilege against self-incrimination and refused to testify.
Representative Scott Perry, who was also involved in trying
to get Clark appointed as Attorney General, has refused to
testify here. As you will see, Representative Perry contacted
the White House in the weeks after January 6th to seek a
Presidential pardon.
Multiple other Republican Congressmen also sought
Presidential pardons for their roles in attempting to overturn
the 2020 election.
In our fourth hearing, we will focus on President Trump's
efforts to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to refuse to
count electoral votes on January 6th.
Vice President Pence has spoken publicly about this.
Vice President Pence. President Trump is wrong. I had no right to
overturn the election. The Presidency belongs to the American people
and the American people alone. And frankly, there is no idea more un-
American than the notion that any one person could choose the American
President.
Vice Chair Cheney. What President Trump demanded that Mike
Pence do wasn't just wrong. It was illegal, and it was
unconstitutional. You will hear this in great detail from the
Vice President's former general counsel.
Witnesses in these hearings will explain how the former
Vice President and his staff informed President Trump over and
over again that what he was pressuring Mike Pence to do was
illegal. As you will hear, President Trump engaged in a
relentless effort to pressure Pence, both in private and in
public. You will see the evidence of that pressure from
multiple witnesses live and on video.
Vice President Pence demonstrated his loyalty to Donald
Trump consistently over 4 years, but he knew that he had a
higher duty to the United States Constitution. This is
testimony from the Vice President's Chief of Staff.
Mr. Short. That's why I think the Vice President was proud of his 4
years of service, and he felt like much had been accomplished in those
4 years. And I think he was proud to have stood beside the President
for all that had been done. But I think he ultimately knew that his
fidelity to the Constitution was his first and foremost oath. And--and
that's--that's what he articulated publicly. And I think that that's
what he felt.
Mr. Heaphy. His fidelity to the Constitution was more important
than his fidelity to President Trump and his desires----
Mr. Short. The oath he took.
Mr. Heaphy. Yes.
Vice Chair Cheney. You will also hear about a lawyer named
John Eastman. Mr. Eastman was deeply involved in President
Trump's plans. You will hear from former Fourth Circuit Federal
Judge Michael Luttig, a highly-respected leading conservative
judge. John Eastman clerked for Judge Luttig. Judge Luttig
provided counsel to the Vice President's team in the days
before January 6th. The judge will explain how Eastman, ``was
wrong at every turn.''
You will see the email exchanges between Eastman and the
Vice President's counsel as the violent attack on Congress was
underway. Mr. Jacob said this to Mr. Eastman: ``Thanks to your
bullshit, we are under siege.''
You will also see evidence that John Eastman did not
actually believe the legal position he was taking. In fact, a
month before the 2020 election, Eastman took exactly the
opposite view on the same legal issues.
In the course of the Select Committee's work to obtain
information from Mr. Eastman, we have had occasion to present
evidence to a Federal judge. The judge evaluated the facts, and
he reached the conclusion that President Trump's efforts to
pressure Vice President Pence to act illegally by refusing to
count electoral votes likely violated two Federal criminal
statutes.
The judge also said this: ``If Dr. Eastman and President
Trump's plan had worked, it would have permanently ended the
peaceful transition of power, undermining American democracy
and the Constitution. If the country does not commit to
investigating and pursuing accountability for those
responsible, the Court fears January 6th will repeat itself.''
Every American should read what this Federal judge has
written.
The same judge, Judge Carter, issued another decision on
Tuesday night, just this week, indicating that John Eastman and
other Trump lawyers knew that their legal arguments had no real
chance of success in court, but they relied on those arguments
anyway to try to, ``overturn a democratic election.''
You will hear that, while Congress was under attack on
January 6th and the hours following the violence, the Trump
legal team in the Willard Hotel war room continued to work to
halt the count of electoral votes.
In our fifth hearing, you will see evidence that President
Trump corruptly pressured State legislators and election
officials to change election results. You will hear additional
details about President Trump's call to Georgia officials,
urging them to, ``find 11,780 votes,'' votes that did not
exist, and his efforts to get States to rescind certified
electoral slates without factual basis and contrary to law.
You will hear new details about the Trump campaign and
other Trump associates' efforts to instruct Republican
officials in multiple States to create intentionally false
electoral slates and transmit those slates to Congress, to the
Vice President, and the National Archives, falsely certifying
that Trump won States he actually lost.
In our final two June hearings, you will hear how President
Trump summoned a violent mob and directed them illegally to
march on the United States Capitol. While the violence was
under way, President Trump failed to take immediate action to
stop the violence and instruct his supporters to leave the
Capitol.
As we present these initial findings, keep two points in
mind: First, our investigation is still on-going. So, what we
make public here will not be the complete set of information we
will ultimately disclose. Second, the Department of Justice is
currently working with cooperating witnesses and has disclosed
to date only some of the information it has identified from
encrypted communications and other sources.
On December 18, 2020, a group, including General Michael
Flynn, Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani, and others, visited the
White House. They stayed late into the evening. We know that
the group discussed a number of dramatic steps, including
having the military seize voting machines and potentially rerun
elections.
You will also hear that President Trump met with that group
alone for a period of time before White House lawyers and other
staff discovered the group was there and rushed to intervene.
A little more than an hour after Ms. Powell, Mr. Giuliani,
General Flynn, and the others finally left the White House,
President Trump sent the tweet on the screen now, telling
people to come to Washington on January 6th. ``Be there,'' he
instructed them, ``will be wild.''
As you will see, this was a pivotal moment. This tweet
initiated a chain of events. The tweet led to the planning for
what occurred on January 6th, including by the Proud Boys, who
ultimately led the invasion of the Capitol and the violence on
that day.
The indictment of a group of Proud Boys alleges that they
planned, ``to oppose by force the authority of the Government
of the United States.''
According to the Department of Justice, on January 6, 2021,
the defendants directed, mobilized, and led members of the
crowd onto the Capitol Grounds and into the Capitol, leading to
the dismantling of metal barricades, the destruction of
property, the breaching of the Capitol Building, and the
assaults on law enforcement.
Although certain former Trump officials have argued that
they did not anticipate violence on January 6th, the evidence
suggests otherwise. As you will see in our hearings, the White
House was receiving specific reports in the days leading up to
January 6th, including during President Trump's Ellipse rally,
indicating that elements in the crowd were preparing for
violence at the Capitol.
On the evening of January 5th, the President's close
advisor, Steve Bannon, said this on his podcast.
Mr. Bannon. All hell is going to break loose tomorrow. Just
understand this. All hell is going to break loose tomorrow.
Vice Chair Cheney. As part of our investigation, we will
present information about what the White House and other
intelligence agencies knew and why the Capitol was not better
prepared.
But we will not lose sight of the fact that the Capitol
Police did not cause the crowd to attack. We will not blame the
violence that day, violence provoked by Donald Trump, on the
officers who bravely defended all of us.
In our final hearing, you will hear a moment-by-moment
account of the hours-long attack from more than half a dozen
White House staff, both live in the hearing room and via
videotaped testimony.
There is no doubt that President Trump was well aware of
the violence as it developed. White House staff urged President
Trump to intervene and call off the mob.
Here is a document written while the attack was under way
by a member of the White House staff, advising what the
President needed to say: ``Anyone who entered the Capitol
without proper authority should leave immediately.''
This is exactly what his supporters on Capitol Hill and
Nation-wide were urging the President to do. He would not.
You will hear that leaders on Capitol Hill begged the
President for help, including Republican Leader McCarthy, who
was ``scared'' and called multiple members of the President
Trump's family after he could not persuade the President
himself.
Not only did President Trump refuse to tell the mob to
leave the Capitol, he placed no call to any element of the U.S.
Government to instruct that the Capitol be defended. He did not
call his Secretary of Defense on January 6th. He did not talk
to his Attorney General. He did not talk to the Department of
Homeland Security. President Trump gave no order to deploy the
National Guard that day, and he made no effort to work with the
Department of Justice to coordinate and deploy law enforcement
assets.
But Vice President Pence did each of those things. For
example, here is what General Milley, the Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, testified to this Committee.
General Milley. There were two--two or three calls with Vice
President Pence. He was very animated, and he issued very explicit,
very direct, unambiguous orders. There was no question about that.
And--and he was--and--and I can give you the exact quotes, I guess,
from some of our records somewhere. But he was very animated, very
direct, very firm. And to Secretary Miller: get the military down here.
Get the Guard down here, put down this situation, et cetera.
Vice Chair Cheney. By contrast, here is General Milley's
description of his conversation with President Trump's Chief of
Staff, Mark Meadows, on January 6th.
General Milley. He said we have--we have to kill the narrative that
the Vice President is making all the decisions. We need to establish
the narrative that, you know, that the President is still in charge and
that things are steady or stable or words to that effect. I immediately
interpret that as politics, politics, politics. Red flag for me
personally, no action. But I remember it distinctly.
Vice Chair Cheney. You will hear from witnesses how the day
played out inside the White House, how multiple White House
staff resigned in disgust, and how President Trump would not
ask his supporters to leave the Capitol. It was only after
multiple hours of violence that President Trump finally
released a video instructing the riotous mob to leave. As he
did so, he said to them: ``We love you, and you are very
special.''
You will also hear that, in the immediate aftermath of
January 6th, members of the President's family, White House
staff, and others tried to step in to stabilize the situation,
``to land the plane'' before the Presidential transition on
January 20th.
You will hear about members of the Trump Cabinet discussing
the possibility of invoking the 25th Amendment and replacing
the President of the United States.
Multiple members of President Trump's own Cabinet resigned
immediately after January 6th. One member of the Cabinet
suggested that the remaining Cabinet officers needed to take a
more active role in running the White House and the
administration.
But most emblematic of those days is this exchange of texts
between Sean Hannity and former President Trump's press
secretary, Kayleigh McEnany. Sean Hannity wrote in part: ``Key
now. No more crazy people.'' ``No more stolen election talk.''
``Yes, impeachment and 25th amendment are real . . . many
people will quit.''
Ms. McEnany responded in part: ``Love that.'' ``That is the
playbook.''
The White House staff knew that President Trump was willing
to entertain and use conspiracy theories to achieve his ends.
They knew the President needed to be cut off from all of those
who had encouraged him. They knew that President Donald Trump
was too dangerous to be left alone at least until he left
office on January 20th.
These are important facts for Congress and the American
people to understand fully.
When a President fails to take the steps necessary to
preserve our Union or, worse, causes a Constitutional crisis,
we are at a moment of maximum danger for our Republic.
Some in the White House took responsible steps to try to
prevent January 6th. Others egged the President on. Others who
could have acted refused to do so.
In this case, the White House Counsel was so concerned
about potentially lawless activity that he threatened to resign
multiple times. That is exceedingly rare and exceedingly
serious. It requires immediate attention, especially when the
entire team threatens to resign.
However, in the Trump White House, it was not exceedingly
rare, and it was not treated seriously.
This is a clip of Jared Kushner addressing multiple threats
by White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and his team of lawyers to
resign in the weeks before January 6th.
Vice Chair Cheney. Jared, are you aware of instances where Pat
Cipollone threatened to resign?
Mr. Kushner. I--I kind-of--like I said, my interest at that time
was on trying to get as many pardons done. And I know that, you know,
he was always--to him and the team were always saying, Oh, we're going
to resign. We're not going to be here if this happens, if that happens.
So, I kind-of took it up to just be whining to be honest with you.
Vice Chair Cheney. ``Whining.''
There is a reason why people serving in our Government take
an oath to the Constitution. As our Founding Fathers
recognized, democracy is fragile. People in positions of public
trust are duty-bound to defend it, to step forward when action
is required.
In our country, we don't swear an oath to an individual or
a political party. We take our oath to defend the United States
Constitution, and that oath must mean something.
Tonight, I say this to my Republican colleagues who are
defending the indefensible: There will come a day when Donald
Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain.
Finally, I ask all of our fellow Americans, as you watch
our hearings over the coming weeks, please remember what is at
stake. Remember the men and women who have fought and died so
that we can live under the rule of law, not the rule of men.
I ask you to think of the scene in our Capitol rotunda on
the night of January 6th. There, in a sacred space in our
Constitutional Republic, the place where our Presidents lie in
state, watched over by statues of Washington and Jefferson,
Lincoln and Grant, Eisenhower, Ford, and Reagan, against every
wall that night encircling the room there were SWAT teams, men
and women in tactical gear with long guns, deployed inside our
Capitol Building.
There in the rotunda these brave men and women rested
beneath paintings depicting the earliest scenes of our
Republic, including one painted in 1824 depicting George
Washington resigning his commission, voluntarily relinquishing
power, handing control of the Continental Army back to
Congress. With this noble act, Washington set the indispensable
example of the peaceful transfer of power, what President
Reagan called nothing less than a miracle.
The sacred obligation to defend this peaceful transfer of
power has been honored by every American President except one.
As Americans, we all have a duty to ensure that what
happened on January 6th never happens again, to set aside
partisan battles, to stand together to perpetuate and preserve
our great Republic.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Thompson. As we provide answers to the American
people about January 6th, it is important that we remember
exactly what took place, that this was no tourist visit to the
Capitol.
Most of the footage we are about to play has never been
seen. The Select Committee obtained it as a part of our
investigation.
This isn't easy to watch. I want to warn everyone that this
video includes violence and strong language.
Without objection, I include in the record a video
presentation of the violence of January 6th.
Voice. Grab your bullet. Grab your bullet. Grab your bullet.
MPD Radio Transmission. Yeah. Just be aware, be advised there's
probably about 300 Proud Boys. They're marching eastbound in this 400
block of kind-of Independence, actually on the Mall toward the United
States Capitol.
Crowd. U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
Voice. I am not allowed to say what's going to happen today,
because everyone's just going to have to watch for themselves. But it's
going to happen. Something's going to happen.
Crowd. Whose streets? Our streets. Whose streets? Our streets.
Whose streets? Our streets.
Voice. Don't need to hurt you. We are on your side. Don't make us
go against you. Must be a brown shirt. Pick a side. Pick a side. These
are our streets. 20 bucks a picture.
President Trump. I hope Mike is going to do the right thing. I hope
so. I hope so. Because if Mike Pence does the right thing, we win the
election . . .
All Vice President Pence has to do is send it back to the States to
recertify, and we become President, and you are the happiest people . .
.
Mike Pence is going to have to come through for us. And if he
doesn't, that will be a--a sad day for our country, because you'll
never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength,
and you have to be strong.
Crowd. U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
MPD Radio Transmission. Cruiser 50, it does look like we're going
to have an ad hoc march stepping off here. There's a crowd surge
heading east.
Crowd. We love Trump. We love Trump. We love Trump. We love Trump.
We love Trump. We love Trump. We love Trump. We love Trump.
President Trump. Mike Pence, I hope you are going to stand up for
the good of our Constitution and for the good of our country. And if
you're not, I'm going to be very disappointed in you, I will tell you
right now.
Crowd. U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
Voice. [screaming]
Voice. Get back, lady. Get back, lady.
USCP Radio Transmission. EA 101 priority, we've been passed first
on Peace Circle, breached the line. We need back-up.
Voice. What are you doing? Guys, what are you doing? Fuck yeah.
Fuck yeah. [unintelligible]
House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul D. Irving. Madam Speaker, the Vice
President and the United States Senate. [applause]
MPD Radio Transmission. Cruiser 50, we're going to give riot
warning [unintelligible]. We're going to give riot warning. We're gonna
try and get compliance, but this is now effectively a riot.
MPD Radio Transmission. 1349 hours, declaring it a riot.
MPD Radio Transmission. Cruiser 5 to 50, be advised Capitol Police
1 advised they're trying to breach and get into the Capitol.
MPD Radio Transmission. 50, I copy.
Voice. Hold the line. Hold the line. Hold the line. Hold the line.
Hold the line.
Voice. Fuck the line.
MPD Radio Transmission. 42, we're about 5 minutes out. We're trying
to make our way through all this.
Crowd. [unintelligible]
Voice. Go, go, go, go, go.
MPD Radio Transmission. Cruiser 50, we have a breach of the
Capitol, breach of the Capitol from the upper level.
MPD Radio Transmission. Be advised, they are requesting additional
resources on the east side, as they have broken into that window, and
they're trying to kick it in.
Rep. James P. McGovern. Without objection, the Chair declares the
House in recess pursuant to clause 12(b) of rule I.
Voice. ``Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have
been done to protect our Country and our Constitution giving States a
chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or
inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. US[A]
demands the truth.''
Crowd. Bring out Pence. Bring out Pence. Bring him out. Bring out
Pence. Hang Mike Pence. Hang Mike Pence. Hang Mike Pence. Hang Mike
Pence. Hang Mike Pence. Hang Mike Pence.
Voice. You pepper sprayed another American that was fighting for
you. [unintelligible]
Voice. Take it all away. Take it all away. Get him back in.
[unintelligible]
Crowd. Our house. Our house. Our house. Move, move. Our house.
Whose house? Our house. Whose house? Our house. [unintelligible]
Voice. Get the fuckers. [unintelligible]
Voice. We can't hold this. We're going to get too many fucking
people here. Look at this fucking vantage point. Man, we're fucked.
USCP Radio Transmission. We need an area for the House Members.
They're all walking over now through the tunnel.
MPD Radio Transmission. We're trying to hold the upper deck. We are
trying to hold the upper deck now. We need to close the doors of the
Capitol. I need more support. [unintelligible]
We've lost the line. We've lost the line. All MPD get back. All MPD
pull back up to the upper deck. All MPD pull back to the upper deck
ASAP.
Crowd. Nancy, Nancy, Nancy, Nancy, Nancy, Nancy, Nancy, Nancy,
Nancy, Nancy, Nancy. [unintelligible]
Voice. Nancy Pelosi. [unintelligible]
MPD Radio Transmission. . . . Cruiser 50, be advised that Capitol
Police are going to start moving their resources inside. They're going
to start the N4 officers first.
Voice. No violence. No violence. [unintelligible]
USCP Radio Transmission. . . . H-208 with the four Members, the
door's barricaded. There's people flooding the hallways outside, and we
have no way out.
USCP Radio Transmission. . . . Is that officers still remaining on
the House floor in the--on the third floor to use the subways
themselves. It's time to evacuate, so we can secure the Members on the
other side. Copy?
Crowd. Stop the steal! Stop the steal!
Voice. It's up to us people now, the American people.
Voice. But what are you ready to do?
Voice. One more time?
Voice. What are you ready to do?
Voice. Whatever it takes. I'll lay my life down if it takes.
Voice. Absolutely. That's why we showed up today.
Voice. Bring her out. Bring her out here. We're coming in if you
don't bring her out. Fuck you. Fuck you, you son of a bitch. You back
up. You back up.
Voice. Can I have my cell phone back?
Voice. Go ahead and try.
Voice. Get him up. Get him up. Get a medic.
Voice. Officer down, get him up.
Voice. We love you guys.
Voice. Get him up. Get him up. Get him up.
Crowd. U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
[unintelligible]
MPD Radio Transmission. . . . West Terrace door for backup.
Voice. I need backup. I need backup.
Voice. Back up. Back up. [unintelligible]
President Trump. They were peaceful people. These were great
people. The crowd was unbelievable. And I mentioned the word love. The
love--the love in the air, I've never seen anything like it.
Chairman Thompson. Pursuant to the order of the Committee
of tonight, the Chair declares the Committee in recess for a
period of approximately 10 minutes.
[Accordingly, at 9:02 p.m., the Committee recessed until
9:12 p.m., when it was called to order by the Chairman.]
Chairman Thompson. I want to thank our witnesses for being
with us this evening to share their first-hand accounts of that
terrible day.
I know that some of the witnesses from our first hearing
are in the room with us, along with some of the family members,
friends, and widows of the officers who lost their lives as a
result of the attack. Thank you all for being here for us and
the American people.
Officer Caroline Edwards has been with the United States
Capitol Police since 2017. On January 6th, Officer Edwards was
assigned to the First Responder Unit, which serves as the first
line of defense at the Capitol complex. She also served as a
member of the Civil Disturbance Unit, a special subset of the
Uniformed Division trained to respond to mass demonstration
events. Officer Edwards is a graduate of the University of
Georgia and currently is working on a master's degree in
intelligence analysis from Johns Hopkins University.
Nick Quested is an acclaimed filmmaker whose credits
include documenting stories from war zones in Afghanistan,
Syria, and Iraq. On January 6th, Mr. Quested was working on a
documentary about, ``why Americans are so divided when
Americans have so much in common.'' During that day, Mr.
Quested interviewed and documented movements of the people
around the Capitol, including the first moments of the violence
against the Capitol Police and the chaos that ensued.
I will now swear in our witnesses. The witnesses will
please stand and raise your right hands.
[Witnesses sworn.]
Chairman Thompson. Let the record reflect the witnesses
answered in the affirmative.
Without objection, the witnesses' statements will be
included in the record.
Pursuant to section 5(c)(8) of House Resolution 503, I
recognize myself for questioning.
As you saw just a few minutes ago, the Proud Boys
instigated the first breach of the Capitol just before 1
o'clock p.m., where rioters pushed over barricades near the
Peace Circle at the foot of the Capitol. Our two witnesses
tonight were both there at the time of that first breach.
Officer Edwards was standing with other officers behind a
line of bike racks that marked the perimeter of the Capitol
Grounds. She bravely tried to prevent an angry crowd from
advancing on the Capitol. Unfortunately, she was overrun and
knocked unconscious as the crowd advanced on the Capitol.
Mr. Quested was a few yards away from Officer Edwards,
taking footage of the Proud Boys as part of his work on a
documentary film. Most of his footage has never been shown
publicly before we shared it this evening.
Officer Edwards, I would like to start by asking if you
could tell us why you believe it is important for you to share
your story this evening with the Committee and the American
public.
Officer Edwards.\1\ Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I really
appreciate it. Thank you to the Committee for having me here to
testify.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Officer Edwards' prepared statement is included in the Appendix
beginning on p. 27.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was called a lot of things on January 6, 2021, and the
days thereafter. I was called Nancy Pelosi's dog, called
incompetent, called a hero, and a villain. I was called a
traitor to my country, my oath, and my Constitution.
In actuality, I was none of those things. I was an American
standing face-to-face with other Americans asking myself how
many times--many, many times--how we had gotten here.
I had been called names before, but never had my patriotism
or duty been called into question. I, who got up every day, no
matter how early the hour or how late I got in the night
before, to put on my uniform and to protect America's symbol of
democracy; I, who spent countless hours in the baking sun and
freezing snow to make sure that America's elected officials
were able to do their job; I, whose literal blood, sweat, and
tears were shed that day defending the building that I spent
countless holidays and weekends working in.
I am the proud granddaughter of a Marine that fought in the
Battle of the Chosin Reservoir in the Korean War. I think of my
papa often in these days, how he was so young and thrown into a
battle he never saw coming, and answered the call at a great
personal cost; how he lived the rest of his days with bullets
and shrapnel in his legs but never once complained about his
sacrifice.
I would like to think that he would be proud of me, proud
of his granddaughter that stood her ground that day and
continued fighting even though she was wounded, like he did
many years ago. I am my grandfather's granddaughter, proud to
put on a uniform and serve my country.
They dared to question my honor. They dared to question my
loyalty. They dared to question my duty. I am a proud American,
and I will gladly sacrifice everything to make sure that the
America my grandfather defended is here for many years to come.
Thank you.
Chairman Thompson. Officer Edwards, your story and your
service is important, and I thank you for being here tonight.
Mr. Quested, I would also like to ask you to introduce
yourself. Can you tell us how you found yourself in Washington,
DC, on January 6, 2021?
Mr. Quested.\2\ Good evening, Chair and Madam Vice Chair.
Thank you for the introduction.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Mr. Quested's prepared statement is included in the Appendix
beginning on p. 27.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As stated, in the winter of 2020, I was working on a
documentary. As part of that documentary, I filmed several
rallies in Washington, DC, on December 11th and December the
12th, and I learned there would be a rally on The Mall on
January 6th. So, my three colleagues and I came down to
document the rally.
According to the permit at the event, there was going to be
a rally at the Ellipse. We arrived at The Mall and observed a
large contingent of Proud Boys marching toward the Capitol. We
filmed them, and almost immediately I was separated from my
colleagues.
I documented the crowd turn from protesters to rioters to
insurrectionists. I was surprised at the size of the group, the
anger, and the profanity.
For anyone who didn't understand how violent that event
was, I saw it, I documented it, and I experienced it. I heard
incredibly aggressive chanting, and I subsequently shared that
footage with the authorities.
I am here today pursuant to a House subpoena.
Thank you so much.
Chairman Thompson. Thank you, Mr. Quested.
The Select Committee has conducted extensive investigative
work to understand what led the Proud Boys and other rioters to
the Capitol on January 6th.
We have obtained substantial evidence showing that the
President's December 19th tweet calling his followers to
Washington, DC, on January 6th energized individuals from the
Proud Boys and other extremist groups.
I would like to play a brief video highlighting some of
this evidence.
Mr. Childress. My name is Marcus Childress, and I'm an
investigative counsel for the Select Committee to Investigate
the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.
President Trump. What do you want to call him? Give me a
name. Give me a name. Go ahead.
Debate Moderator Chris Wallace. White supremacists.
[crosstalk]
President Trump. Who would you like me to condemn?
Debate Moderator Chris Wallace. White supremacists and----
Then-Candidate Biden. Proud Boys. [crosstalk]
President Trump. Proud Boys, stand back and stand by----
Mr. Childress. After he made this comment, Enrique Tarrio,
then chairman of the Proud Boys, said on Parler, ``Standing by
sir.'' During our investigation, we learned that this comment
during the Presidential debate actually led to an increase in
membership in the Proud Boys.
Mr. Quinn. Would you say that Proud Boys numbers increased
after the stand back, stand by comment?
Mr. Bertino. Exponentially. I'd say tripled probably. With
the potential for a lot more eventually.
Ms. Phoenix. And did you ever sell any stand back and stand
by merchandise?
Mr. Tarrio. Uh, one of the vendors on my page actually beat
me to it, but I wish I would have--I wish I would have made a
stand back, stand by shirt.
Mr. Childress. On December 19th, President Trump tweeted
about the January 6th rally and told attendees, ``Be there,
will be wild!'' Many of the witnesses that we interviewed were
inspired by the President's call and came to DC for January
6th, but the extremists, they took it a step further. They
viewed this tweet as a call to arms. A day later, the
Department of Justice describes how the Proud Boys created a
chat called the Ministry of Self Defense Leadership Chat. In
this chat, the Proud Boys established a command structure in
anticipation of coming back to DC on January 6th. The
Department of Justice describes Mr. Tarrio coming into
possession of a document called the ``1776 Returns,'' which
describes individuals occupying key buildings around the United
States Capitol. The Oath Keepers are another group that the
Committee investigated.
Mr. Jones. You better get your ass to DC folks this
Saturday.
Mr. Rhodes. Yeah. If you don't, there's gonna be no more
Republic. But we're not gonna let that happen. It's not even an
``if.'' It's either President Trump is encouraged and
bolstered, strengthened to do what he must do, or we wind up in
a bloody fight. We all know that. The fight's coming.
Mr. Childress. The Oath Keepers began planning to block the
peaceful transfer of power shortly after the November 3rd
election. And according to the Department of Justice, Stewart
Rhodes, the Oath Keeper's leader, said to his followers that,
``We aren't getting through this without a civil war.'' In
response to the December 19, 2020, tweet by President Trump,
the Oath Keepers focused on January 6th in Washington, DC. In
response to the tweet, one member, the president of the Florida
chapter, put on social media, ``the President called us to the
Capitol, he wants us to make it wild.'' The goal was for the
Oath Keepers to be called to duty so that they could keep the
President in power although President Trump had just lost the
election. The Committee learned that the Oath Keepers set up
quick reaction forces outside of the city and in Virginia where
they stored arms. The goal of these quick reaction forces was
to be on standby just in case President Trump invoked the
Insurrection Act.
Mr. Prasanna. Did the Oath Keepers ever provide weapons to
members?
Mr. Rhodes. I'm going to decline to answer that on Fifth
Amendment grounds--for due process grounds.
Mr. Childress. In footage obtained by the Committee, we
learned that on the night of January 5th, Enrique Tarrio and
Stewart Rhodes met in a parking garage in Washington, DC.
Mr. Tarrio. There's mutual respect there. I think we're--
we're fighting the same fight, and I think that's what's
important.
Mr. Childress. The Committee learned that the Oath Keepers
went into the Capitol through the east doors in two stack
formations. The DOJ alleges that one of the stacks went into
the Capitol looking for Speaker Pelosi, although they never
found her. As the attack was unfolding, Mr. Tarrio took credit.
In documents obtained by the Department of Justice, Mr. Tarrio
said, in an encrypted chat, ``make no mistake'' and ``we did
this.'' Later on that evening, Mr. Tarrio even posted a video
which seemed to resemble him in front of the Capitol with a
black cape. And the title of the video was, ``Premonition.''
The evidence developed by the Select Committee and the
Department of Justice highlights how each group participated on
the attack on the Capitol on January 6th.
In fact, the investigation revealed that it was individuals
associated with the Proud Boys who instigated the initial
breach at the peace circle at 12:53 p.m.
Crowd. U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
Mr. Childress. Within 10 minutes, rioters had already
filled the Lower West Plaza. [inaudible] By 2 o'clock, rioters
had reached the doors on the West and the East Plazas. And by
2:13, rioters had actually broken through the Senate wing door
and got into the Capitol building. [inaudible] A series of
breaches followed. At
2:25 p.m., rioters breached the east side doors to the rotunda.
[inaudible] And then right after 2:40 p.m., rioters breached
the east side doors near the Ways and Means room. [inaudible]
Once the rioters infiltrated the Capitol, they moved to the
crypt, the rotunda, the hallways leading to the House Chamber,
and even inside the Senate Chamber. [inaudible]
Chairman Thompson. Individuals associated with two violent
extremist groups have been charged with seditious conspiracy in
connection with the January 6th attack.
One is the Oath Keepers. They are a group of armed,
antigovernment extremists. The other group is the Proud Boys.
They promote white supremacist beliefs and have engaged in
violence with people they view as their political enemies.
Members of both groups have already pled guilty to crimes
associated with the January 6th attack.
Mr. Quested, as part of the documentary you have been
filming, you gained access to the Proud Boys and their leader,
Enrique Tarrio. Your crew filmed them in Washington, DC, on the
evening of January 5th and then on January 6th.
On January 5th, the night before the attack, you were with
the head of the Proud Boys, Mr. Tarrio, in Washington, DC. What
happened?
Mr. Quested. We picked up Mr. Tarrio from jail. He had been
arrested for carrying some magazines, some long--some extra-
capacity magazines, and for the--he took responsibility for the
burning of the Black Lives Matter flag that was stolen from the
church on December the 12th.
We were attempting to get an interview with Mr. Tarrio. We
had no idea of any of the events that were going to
subsequently happen.
We drove him to pick up his bags from the property
department of the police, which is just south of The Mall. We
picked up his bags and went to get some other bags from the
Phoenix Hotel, where we encountered Mr. Stewart Rhodes from the
Oath Keepers.
By the time I had gone to park the car, my colleague was
saying--who had got into the car with Mr. Tarrio--that they had
moved to a location around the corner, the parking garage of
the Hall of Legends, I believe. So, we quickly drove over
there. We drove down into the parking garage and filmed the
scene of Mr. Tarrio and Mr. Rhodes and certain other
individuals in that garage.
We then continued to follow Mr. Tarrio. There was some
discussion about where he was going to go. He ended up going
toward a hotel in Baltimore, and we conducted an interview with
him in the hotel room.
Then we returned to DC for that night in a--and what was
interesting that night, actually, was, that was the first
indication that DC was much more busy than it had been any
other time we had been here, because we couldn't get into the
hotels we wanted to, and we ended up at a hotel that, you know,
was not as satisfactory as we would have hoped.
Chairman Thompson. Thank you. So, what you are saying is,
you filmed the meeting between Mr. Tarrio and Oath Keepers
leader Stewart Rhodes, right?
Mr. Quested. Indeed.
Chairman Thompson. You couldn't hear what was said, but,
according to the Justice Department indictment of Mr. Tarrio, a
participant referenced the Capitol.
Now, on the morning of January 6th, you learned the Proud
Boys would gather near the rally scheduled to take place near
the White House. What time did you meet up with the Proud Boys,
and what was happening when they met?
Mr. Quested. We met up with the Proud Boys somewhere around
10:30 a.m., and they were starting to walk down The Mall in an
easterly direction toward the Capitol.
There was a large contingent, more than I had expected. I
was confused, to a certain extent, why we were walking away
from the President's speech, because that is what I felt we
were there to cover.
Chairman Thompson. So, at 10:30 a.m., that is early in the
day. That is even before President Trump had started speaking.
Am I correct?
Mr. Quested. Yes, sir.
Chairman Thompson. So, how many Proud Boys would you
estimate were marching together to the Capitol?
Mr. Quested. A couple of hundred, potentially. Yes, I would
say a couple of hundred Proud Boys were marching toward the
Capitol at that point.
Chairman Thompson. At the time, was the area heavily
guarded?
Mr. Quested. No. That was--I remember we walked past the--
we walked down The Mall, we walked to the right of the
Reflecting Pool and then north along the road that leads to the
Peace Circle. As we were walking past the Peace Circle, I
framed the Proud Boys to the right of my shot, with the Capitol
behind, and we see one sole police officer at the barriers,
which are subsequently breached.
We then walk up and past a tactical unit preparing. You see
that in the film, where the man questions their duty and their
honor, and you see maybe a dozen Capitol Police putting on
their riot gear.
Chairman Thompson. So, how would you describe the
atmosphere at that time?
Mr. Quested. The atmosphere was--it seemed to be much
darker. I make efforts to create familiarity between myself and
my subjects to, you know, make them feel comfortable, and the
atmosphere was much darker this day than it had been in these
other days.
There was also a contingent of Proud Boys that I hadn't met
before from Arizona who appeared to wear these orange hats and
had orange armbands.
Chairman Thompson. So, when the Proud Boys went back down
the hill to the Peace Circle, did a larger crowd start to
gather?
Mr. Quested. Well, no, first of all, we went around to the
back and down the steps, and we took some photographs on the
east side of the Capitol. Then we went for lunch. We went for
tacos.
Chairman Thompson. So, Mr. Quested, you are a journalist,
so you are careful to stick to things that you have observed,
but what you have told us is highly relevant.
Let me highlight a few key facts that you and others have
provided the Committee.
First, there was a large group of Proud Boys present at the
Capitol. We know that from multiple sources. You now estimate
that there were around 250 to 300 individuals, you have
testified. They weren't there for President Trump's speech. We
know this because they left that area to march toward the
Capitol before the speech began.
They walked around the Capitol that morning. I am concerned
this allowed them to see what defenses were in place and where
weaknesses might be. They decided to launch their attack at the
Peace Circle, which is a front door of the Capitol complex.
It is the first security perimeter that those marching from
the Ellipse would have to come to as they move toward the
Capitol. The Peace Circle walkway was always where the
thousands of angry Trump supporters would arrive after
President Trump sent them from the Ellipse.
The Proud Boys timed their attack to the moments before the
start of the joint session in the Capitol, which is also where
President Trump directed the angry mob. ``We fight like hell,''
he told them before sending them down Pennsylvania Avenue right
to where the Proud Boys gathered and where you were filming.
Now, a central question is whether the attack on the
Capitol was coordinated and planned. What you witnessed is what
a coordinated and planned effort would look like. It was the
culmination of a months-long effort spearheaded by President
Trump.
Mr. Quested, thank you for your eyewitness account of the
lead-up to the breach of the Peace Circle.
This brings us to a point in time where you and Officer
Edwards were in close proximity.
At this point, I reserve the balance of my time.
Pursuant to section 5(c)(8) of House Resolution 503, the
Chair recognizes gentlewoman from Wyoming, Ms. Cheney, for
questioning.
Vice Chair Cheney. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Officer Edwards, I want to start by thanking you for your
service and thank you for your courage. Thank you for being
here this evening.
I know that it is not easy to relive what happened, for you
and for the officers behind you and for the family members of
the officers in the audience this evening, but it is really
important for the country to have a full accounting and
understand what happened.
I want to start, Officer Edwards, with a short clip that
shows the horrible moment when you were injured as the Peace
Circle was breached.
[Video of the attack on Officer Edwards shown.]
Vice Chair Cheney. Officer Edwards, can you describe the
crowd that had assembled at the Peace Circle as you and your
fellow officers stood behind and guarded the bike racks at the
Peace Circle?
Officer Edwards. Yes.
So, there were about, I want to say, about five of us on
that line. There were, so there was our bike rack, and then at
the bottom of the Pennsylvania Avenue walkway or right by Peace
Circle, there was another bike rack. So, the crowd had kind-of
gathered there. It was the crowd led by Joseph Biggs.
They were mostly in civilian clothes. There were some who
had military fatigues on. We could see people with bullet-proof
vests on, you know, things like that. They didn't seem, you
know, extremely cohesive, but they had gathered there in their
outfits.
But they had gathered there together, and Joseph Biggs
started, he had a megaphone, and he started talking about, you
know, first it was things kind-of relating to Congress. Then
the table started turning once the, what is now the Arizona
group, is what you said, the crowd with the orange hats, they
came up chanting, ``F-u-c-k Antifa,'' and they joined that
group.
Once they joined that group, Joseph Biggs's rhetoric turned
to the Capitol Police. He started asking us questions like,
``You didn't miss a paycheck during the pandemic,'' mentioning
stuff about--our pay scale was mentioned--and, you know,
started turning the tables on us.
I have worked, I can, you know, conservatively say,
probably hundreds of civil disturbance events. I know when I am
being turned into a villain. That is when I turned to my
sergeant, and I stated the understatement of the century. I
said, ``Sarge, I think we are going to need a few more people
down here.''
So, after that, you know, I think they started conferring.
They went a little silent; they started conferring among each
other. I saw the person now identified as Ryan Samsel. He put
his arm around Joseph Biggs, and they were talking. Then they
started approaching the first barricade. They ripped the first
barricade down, and they approached our bike racks.
You know, at that time, we started holding on, grabbing the
bike racks. You know, there weren't many of us, so I grabbed
the middle between two different bike racks. You know, I wasn't
under any pretense that I could hold it for very long, but I
just wanted to, you know, make sure that we could get more
people down and get our CDU units time to answer the call.
So, we started grappling over the bike racks. I felt the
bike rack come on top of my head, and I was pushed backward. My
foot caught the stair behind me, and my chin hit the handrail.
Then I--at that point I had blacked out, but the back of my
head clipped the concrete stairs behind me.
Vice Chair Cheney. You were knocked unconscious; is that
right, Officer Edwards?
Officer Edwards. Yes, ma'am.
Vice Chair Cheney. But then, when you regained
consciousness, even with the injuries, you returned to duty. Is
that right?
Officer Edwards. Yes, ma'am. You know, at that time,
adrenaline kicked in. I ran toward the West Front, and I tried
to hold the line at the Senate steps at the Lower West Terrace.
More people kept coming at us. It just seemed like, you
know, more and more people started, you know, coming onto the
West Front. They started overpowering us.
That was right about when MPD's officers showed up. Their
bike officers pushed the crowd back and allowed our CDU units,
as well as theirs, to form that line that you see, that very
thin line between us and the protesters, or the rioters, you
know, at that time.
I fell behind that line. For a while, I started
decontaminating people who had gotten sprayed and treating
people medically who needed it.
Vice Chair Cheney. Then you were injured again, there on
the West Terrace. Is that right, Officer Edwards?
Officer Edwards. Yes, ma'am.
So, after a while, I got back on the line. It was on the
House side of the Lower West Terrace, and I was holding that
line for a while. There weren't many of us over there. Officer
Sicknick was behind me for most of the time, for about 30 to 45
minutes that I was down there. We were just--as the best we
could, we were just, you know, grappling over bike racks and
trying to hold them as quick as possible.
All of a sudden, I see movement to the left of me, and I
turned, and it was Officer Sicknick with his head in his hands.
He was ghostly pale, which--I figured at that point that he had
been sprayed, and I was concerned. My, you know, cop alarm
bells went off. Because if you get sprayed with pepper spray,
you are going to turn red. He turned just about as pale as this
sheet of paper.
So, I looked back to see what had hit him, what had
happened, and that is when I got sprayed in the eyes as well. I
was taken to be decontaminated by another officer, but we
didn't get the chance because we were then tear-gassed.
Vice Chair Cheney. We are going to play just a brief clip
of that moment that you have just described, Officer Edwards.
[Video of the moment Officer Edwards was tear-gassed
shown.]
Vice Chair Cheney. Officer Edwards, I just want to thank
you for being here. I know, again, how difficult it is. I know
the family of Officer Sicknick, as well, is here tonight.
One of the things one of the Capitol Police officers said
to me recently was to ask me whether or not, as Members of
Congress, all of us understood that on that day, on January
6th, when we were evacuated from the Chamber, were led to a
safe, undisclosed location, whether we knew that so many of you
had rushed out of the building and into the fight. I can assure
you that we do know that and that we understand how important
your service is.
Thank you for your continued work with our Committee and
the interviews.
Thank you very much, for both of you, for being here this
evening.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Chairman Thompson. Thank you very much.
Ms. Edwards, can you give us one memory of that awful day
that stands out most vividly in your mind?
Officer Edwards. I can.
That time when I talked about falling behind MPD's line, I
remember--because I had been kind-of shielded away, because I
was holding those stairs, so I wasn't able to really see what
was going on over here. When I fell behind that line and I saw,
I can just remember my breath catching in my throat, because
what I saw was just a war scene. It was something like I had
seen out of the movies. I couldn't believe my eyes.
There were officers on the ground. You know, they were
bleeding, they were throwing up, they were, you know, they had,
I mean, I saw friends with blood all over their faces. I was
slipping in people's blood. You know, I was catching people as
they fell.
It was carnage. It was chaos. I can't even describe what I
saw.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think that, as a police
officer, as a law enforcement officer, I would find myself in
the middle of a battle. You know, I am trained to detain, you
know, a couple of subjects and, you know, handle a crowd, but I
am not combat trained. That day, it was just hours of hand-to-
hand combat, hours of dealing with things that were way beyond
what any law enforcement officer has ever trained for.
I just remember, I just remember that moment of stepping
behind the line and just seeing the absolute war zone that the
West Front had become.
Chairman Thompson. Let me thank you for your service and
obviously your bravery that you have told the world about
tonight. It is unfortunate that you had to defend the Capitol
from fellow Americans. None of us would ever think that that
would have to happen, but it did.
So let me thank our witnesses for joining us tonight and
sharing their experiences with America.
Throughout my chairmanship of this Committee, I have
continuously vowed that this Committee will ensure a
comprehensive account of the heroic acts on January 6th and
that we will follow the facts wherever they lead. Your
testimony is an essential part of that record and helps us do
our job.
Mr. Quested, thank you for sharing your footage and your
account of the day's events with us. The images you recorded
and have shared with the Committee do a better job than any of
our words in reinforcing the violence of January 6th. We hope
that the power of your footage helps encourage all Americans to
consider how citizens with so much in common could viciously
brawl at the seat of their democratic government.
Officer Edwards, thank you for your brave service, as I
indicated, on January 6th and all you did to protect us and,
most importantly, our democracy. If you and your fellow
officers hadn't held the line against those violent
insurrectionists, we can only imagine the disaster that would
have ensued.
Your heroism in the face of danger is admirable, and your
will to continue to protect and serve, despite your serious
injuries, should be an inspiration to all of us. We wish you a
continued recovery and look forward to seeing you back in
uniform sometime soon.
The Members of the Select Committee may have additional
questions for tonight's witnesses, and we ask that you respond
expeditiously in writing to those questions.
Without objection, Members will be permitted 10 business
days to submit statements for the record, including opening
remarks and additional questions for the witnesses.
The witnesses have just told us what they heard the rioters
saying, why they stormed the Capitol on that day. Now we are
going to hear it from the rioters themselves.
Without objection, I include in the record a video
presentation.
Voice. We were invited by the President of the United States.
Mr. Schornack. What really made me want to come was the fact that,
you know, I had supported Trump all that time. I did believe, you know,
that the election was being stolen. And Trump asked us to come.
Mr. Barber. He personally asked for us to come to DC that day. And
I thought, for everything he's done for us, if this is the only thing
he's going to ask of me, I'll do it.
President Trump. We're going to walk down to the Capitol.
Mr. Childress. Do you recall President Trump mentioning going to
the Capitol during his speech?
Mr. Barber. Oh, yeah. So, that's one of my disappointments. He said
he was going to go, go with us, that he was going to be there.
Mr. Wright. I know why I was there, and that's because he called me
there, and he laid out what is happening in our government. He laid it
out.
Mr. Meza. But I remember Donald Trump telling people to be there,
I--I mean, to support.
Mr. Sasso. So, you mentioned that the President--that the President
asked you. Do you remember a specific message?
Mr. Herendeen. Basically, yeah--yes, for us to come to DC, that big
things are going to happen.
Mr. Walter. What got me interested, he said I have something very
important to say on January 6th, or something like that is what got--
what got me interested to be there.
Mr. Schornack. You know, Trump has only asked me for two things. He
asked me for my vote, and he asked me to come on January 6th.
Chairman Thompson. When the Committee reconvenes next week,
we are going to examine the lies that convinced those men and
others to storm the Capitol to try to stop the transfer of
power. We are going to take a close look at the first part of
Trump's attack on the rule of law, when he lit the fuse that
ultimately resulted in the violence of January 6th.
Without objection, and with that, the Committee stands
adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 9:54 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
----------
Prepared Statement of Officer Caroline Edwards, U.S. Capitol Police,
Washington, DC
June 9, 2022
I was called a lot of things on January 6, 2021 and the days
thereafter. I was called Nancy Pelosi's dog, called incompetent, called
a hero and a villain. I was called a traitor to my country, my oath,
and my Constitution. In actuality, I was none of those things.
I was an American standing face-to-face with other Americans asking
myself many times how we had gotten here. I had been called names
before, but never had my patriotism or duty been called into question.
I, who got up every day, no matter how early the hour or how late I got
in the night before, to put on my uniform and protect America's symbol
of democracy. I, who spent countless hours in the baking sun and
freezing snow to make sure America's elected officials were able to do
their job. I, whose literal blood, sweat, and tears were shed that day
defending the building that I spent countless holidays and weekends
working in.
I am the proud granddaughter of a Marine that battled in the Chosin
reservoir in the Korean War. I think of my Papa often in these days,
how he was so young and thrown into a battle he never saw coming, and
answered the call at great personal cost. How he lived the rest of his
days with bullets and shrapnel in his legs, but never once complained
about his sacrifice. I would like to think that he would be proud of
me, proud that his granddaughter stood her ground that day and
continued fighting even though she was wounded, like he did many years
ago. I am my grandfather's granddaughter, proud to put on a uniform and
serve my country.
They dared to question my honor. They dared to question my loyalty.
They dared to question my duty. I am a proud American, and I will
gladly sacrifice everything to make sure that the America my
grandfather defended is here for many years to come.
Thank you.
______
Prepared Statement of Nick Quested, Documentary Filmmaker, New York, NY
I am a British-born legal resident of the United States. I received
my Bachelor of Fine Arts from New York University in 1992. I am an
artist and an independent filmmaker. I have directed hundreds of music
videos and have produced upwards of 40 documentaries. I have won an
Emmy and a Dupont Columbia Award, and I have produced an Oscar-
nominated film.
Much of my work in the last 20 years has revolved around conflict.
I have filmed documentaries dealing with war and areas in conflict such
as Restrepo, Korengal, The Last Patrol, Hell on Earth: The Fall of
Syria and the Rise of ISIS, and most recently, Blood on the Wall.
I testified before this Committee on June 9, 2022, because in
December 2020 and January 2021, I was filming a documentary in
Washington, DC about ``why Americans are so divided when Americans have
so much in common.'' I had started working on this film in the summer
of 2020 when I observed what America was experiencing. As part of that
documentary, I interviewed and spoke with groups such as Antifa and the
Proud Boys. I filmed several rallies in Washington, DC on December 11
and December 12, 2020, and began filming several of the groups
spearheading those rallies such as the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers.
I learned there would be a rally on the National Mall on January 6,
2021, and three colleagues and I came to document the rally. We
traveled from New York to Washington, DC on January 5, 2021, and we
started filming when we were invited to document a Proud Boy, Enrique
Tarrio's release from Government custody. On January 5, 2022, we
documented Mr. Tarrio as he retrieved his property from the
Metropolitan Police Department, retrieved his luggage from a
Washington, DC Hotel, participated in a meeting in an underground
parking garage, and traveled to a hotel in Baltimore. After documenting
those events, we returned to Washington, DC.
On January 6, 2021, my colleagues and I headed to the Mall for the
rally. According to the permit for the event, there was to be a rally
at the Ellipse. I arrived as a group was heading west on the Mall. I
observed a large contingent of Proud Boys marching toward the Capitol.
I filmed the crowd walking toward Capitol Hill. Almost immediately, I
was separated from my colleagues. I documented the crowd turn from
protesters to insurrectionists. I was surprised at the size of the
group, the anger, and the profanity. I experienced pepper spray,
violent surging, and acts of violence, and I heard aggressive chanting.
My goal as an independent journalist is always to prioritize truth
and to let people speak for themselves rather than to interpret events
for my audience. The clips of my footage that were shown to the world
on June 9, 2022, were a snapshot of what we saw occur on January 6,
2021. I hope my footage and the subsequent documentary will help people
understand and visualize what occurred on that date. It is important
for Americans to see the unvarnished truth of what happened for
themselves. The events I captured on film leading up to January 6, and
the January 6 attacks themselves, shook me.
[all]