WASHINGTON-
Congressional investigators into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol hope this week to draw connections between the militant groups involved in the unrest and government officials, possibly including then-President Donald Trump, he said. a member of the panel on Sunday.
“We’re going to connect the dots during these hearings between these groups and those who were trying to overturn the election in government circles,” Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Asked if Trump was aware that members of these groups attended a rally he led outside the White House when he urged them to march on Capitol Hill, Lofgren said: “You have to come to your own conclusions, but based on previous events a day, I think that would be a logical conclusion.”
Trump, a Republican, falsely claimed that Democrat Joe Biden defeated him in the 2020 presidential election through massive fraud, claims rejected in US courts, by Trump’s own Justice Department, and even in Republican-led audits.
After Trump spoke outside the White House, his supporters marched on Capitol Hill in a failed attempt to prevent Congress from certifying Biden’s victory in a session chaired by then-Vice President Mike Pence.
Two groups, the self-described Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys, will be in the spotlight at this week’s hearings, scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday.
Federal prosecutors alleged that Jeremy Brown, a member of the Oath Keepers, brought explosives into the Washington area on January 6. Brown, in a statement, called the charges a “disgusting lie.”
During a September 2020 debate between Trump and Biden ahead of the November election, Trump was asked if he would condemn white supremacist and militia groups for violent acts.
activities during his presidency.
Trump responded: “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.” He added: “Someone has to do something about Antifa and the left…this is a leftist issue.”
On Friday, former White House counsel Pat Cipollone testified before committee investigators behind closed doors.
Lofgren, one of nine members of a bipartisan House panel that began public hearings last month, said videotaped excerpts of that testimony will be presented at Tuesday’s hearing.
“He was able to provide information on basically all of the critical issues that we’re looking at, including what I would call the President’s dereliction of duty on January 6th.”
Lofgren said.
The committee has yet to say whether Thursday’s hearing, which will take place in the evening primetime when American television ratings are at their peak, will be the last before a panel report is issued, possibly in September.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, one of two Republicans on the panel, is expected to lead the cross-examination of witnesses that night, along with Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria.
“We’re really going to focus on what the president was doing from the moment the insurrection started until finally, hours later, he posted a tweet that said, ‘We shouldn’t do anything like this,'” Kinzinger said. ABC’s “This Week”.
He added: “Keep in mind that in the middle of that was the tweet that said, essentially, this is what happens when you steal an election; that Vice President Pence deserved it.”
In previous committee testimony, witnesses said Trump signaled his support for rioters calling for Pence to be hanged.
Lofgren also said the committee had received a letter from Trump adviser Steve Bannon saying he would be willing to
testify. Bannon was charged last year with two counts of contempt of Congress for defying a committee subpoena.