US Capitol riot probe: House hearing shows Donald Trump allies, daughter Ivanka rejected election fraud claims
Zee News
Capitol riot probe: The hearing presented a video of testimony or public statements from key Trump administration figures including his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, Vice President Mike Pence and his chief of staff, Attorney General William Barr and General Mark Milley.
Washington: A Congressional hearing into the US Capitol attack by Donald Trump`s supporters trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat presented testimony on Thursday showing that close allies - even his daughter - rejected his false claims of election fraud. The House of Representatives select committee investigating Jan 6, 2021, assault also showed graphic footage of thousands of rioters attacking police and smashing their way into the Capitol during the first of its six hearings intended to show that Trump tried to subvert the US Constitution and unlawfully hold onto power.
The hearing presented a video of testimony or public statements from key Trump administration figures including his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, Vice President Mike Pence and his chief of staff, Attorney General William Barr and General Mark Milley.
It featured a clip of Trump`s incendiary speech before the riot in which he repeated his false claims of election fraud and directed his supporters` anger at Pence, who was at the Capitol overseeing the congressional certification of Joe Biden`s win.
"Aware of the rioters` chants, to `Hang Mike Pence,` the president responded with this sentiment: `Well, maybe our supporters have the right idea," said Representative Liz Cheney, one of the two Republicans on the nine-member panel and its vice-chair. Barr in video testimony called the election fraud claims "bullshit," an argument that convinced Trump`s daughter. "I respect Attorney General Barr. So I accepted what he was saying," Ivanka Trump said in videotaped testimony.
Democratic US Representative Bennie Thompson, the committee`s chairman, said Trump was at the center of a conspiracy to thwart American democracy. "Jan. 6 was the culmination of an attempted coup, a brazen attempt, as one writer put it shortly after Jan. 6, to overthrow the government," Thompson said "... The violence was no accident. It was Trump`s last stand."
