Trump put target on Pence’s back, witnesses say
‘Donald Trump’s conduct on Jan. 6 … is a stain on our history,’ Kinzinger says
House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol member Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) delivers opening remarks during a prime-time hearing in the Cannon House Office Building on July 21, 2022 in Washington, DC.
Kent Nishimura | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images
“Donald Trump’s conduct on Jan. 6 … is a stain on our history,” Rep. Adam Kinzinger said at the close of the hearing.
Kinzinger, R-Ill., blasted Trump for failing to call off the mob of his supporters attacking the Capitol, and for sending out tweets from the comfort of his private dining room in the White House “that inflamed and expressed support for the desire of some to literally kill Vice President Mike Pence.”
“For three hours he refused to call off the attack,” Kinzinger said. “Donald Trump refused to take the urgent advice he received that day … from his own family, his own friends, his own staff, and his own advisors.:
“Still he refused to lead, and meet the moment to honor his oath,” Kinzinger said.
“Whatever your politics, whatever you think about the outcome of the election, we as Americans must all agree on this: Donald Trump’s conduct on Jan. 6 was a supreme violation of this oath of office and a complete dereliction of his duty to our nation,” he said. “It is a stain on our history, it is a dishonor to all those who have sacrificed and died in service to our democracy, when we present our full findings we will recommend changes to laws and policies to guard against another Jan. 6.”
Kinzinger said the forces and people Trump unleashed that day are still around. “They’re still out there, ready to go. That’s the elephant in the room,” the lawmaker said.
– Dan Mangan
Hearing adjourns
U.S. Representative Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming, speaks during a hearing of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the US Capitol in Washington, D.C., US, on Thursday, July 21, 2022.
Al Drago | Reuters
The Jan. 6 committee concluded its primetime hearing about 15 minutes before 11 p.m. ET. It started at 8 p.m., meaning the hearing was shorter than the 187 minutes Trump didn’t act to halt his supporters’ Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
“Donald Trump made a purposeful choice to violate his oath of office,” Vice Chair Rep. Liz Cheney said during her closing statement.
Ex-Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia urged Trump not to listen to Giuliani after riot
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, personal attorney to U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 7, 2020.
Eduardo Munoz | Reuters
In a memo drafted after the riot, then-Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia urged Trump not to publicly deny the election results for the rest of his presidency, and not listen to private individuals who have served him “poorly.”
Those individuals were unnamed in Scalia’s memo, which pushed for Trump to convene a Cabinet meeting to gain their advice on what decisions to make in the final weeks of his presidency.
But Kinzinger said that Scalia was referring to Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s then-personal attorney who was deeply involved in efforts to overturn the…
Read More: Trump put target on Pence’s back, witnesses say