House Jan. 6 probe turns focus to Trump’s 187 minutes of inaction: ‘He chose not to act’
The House committee probing Jan. 6 turned its focus Thursday to President Donald Trump’s insidious and calculated inaction during the Capitol attack, presenting testimony indicating the president watched the violence live on TV but snubbed a flurry of appeals from his allies and family to intervene.
“President Trump did not fail to act during the 187 minutes between leaving the Ellipse and telling the mob to go home — he chose not to act,” said Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), a member of the panel, referencing the site of Trump’s pre-attack rally.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., speaks as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, July 21, 2022. (J. Scott Applewhite/)
Kinzinger delivered the line scolding Trump at the outset of the panel’s eighth public hearing so far and possibly its last of this summer; more hearings may be coming in September.
On Thursday, the panel also played intense Secret Service radio traffic describing the dangerous scenes within the Capitol during the deadly attack. Rioters breached the Capitol about 2:13 p.m., smashing through windows and soon filling the halls with smoke.
Trump ripped Vice President Mike Pence in a tweet at 2:24 p.m. accusing him of a lack of “courage” for not working to overturn the 2020 election results. But Trump did not ask the mob to relent until after 4 p.m..
Sarah Matthews, former White House deputy press secretary, testifies as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, July 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) (Patrick Semansky/)
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), a member of the panel, said Trump’s inaction came despite appeals from an army of allies begging him to halt his supporters’ violent attack.
“Donald Trump’s own White House counsel, his own White House staff, members of his own family, all implored him to immediately intervene, to condemn the violence,” Cheney said. “For multiple hours, he would not.”
Pat Cipollone, who served as Trump’s White House counsel, testified that he strongly “disagreed” with his boss’ tweet, and said he almost immediately urged the president to tell his supporters to withdraw once the attack began.
“Many people suggested it, not just me,” Cipollone said in video testimony played Thursday. Asked if he was joined by other members of Trump’s staff and family in pushing for a statement, Cipollone said, “Yes.”
Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, said that Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leader, seemed “scared” during the siege as he rang the White House.
Matt Pottinger, former deputy national security adviser, testifies as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, July 21, 2022. (Patrick Semansky/)
Donald Trump Jr., the ex-president’s son, sent a text shortly before 3 p.m. saying that his father needed to “condemn this s--t ASAP,” according to the panel, a message first publicly unearthed in December.
The son added that the situation was worth going “to the mattresses on,” according to a text to Mark Meadows, Donald Trump’s chief of staff, bared by the panel on Thursday.
But Trump would not. Gen. Mark Milley, who has served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff since the Trump administration, described his incredulity at the ex-president’s behavior in testimony presented Thursday.
“You’re the commander-in-chief,” Milley said. “You’ve got an assault going on on the Capitol of the United States of America. Nothing? No call? Nothing? Zero.”
Then-President Donald Trump smiles as he speaks to members of the National Border Patrol Council at the White House in Washington, D.C. on Friday, Feb. 14, 2020. (J. Scott Applewhite/)
Kinzinger said the multi-hour silence came because the mob, which Trump whipped in a falsehood-filled speech on the Ellipse, was “accomplishing President Trump’s purpose.”
When Trump finally gave in and urged an end to the chaos — in a video address from the Rose Garden — he laced his statement with grievances and continued to falsely claim he had beaten President Biden in November.
“We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election and everyone knows it, especially the other side,” Trump said, despite losing by 74 votes in the electoral college and 7 million in the popular vote. “This was a fraudulent election.”
A video of President Donald Trump is shown on a screen, as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, July 21, 2022. (J. Scott Applewhite/)
The panel said Trump went off-script from the White House’s prepared remarks for the statement, which was published at 4:17 p.m. The president, unmovable in his insistence that he had won an election he had lost, could only be pushed so far by his handlers.
“For 187 minutes on Jan. 6, this man of unbridled destructive energy could not be moved,” said Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chair of the committee. “Not by his aides. Not by his allies. Not by the violent chants of rioters or the desperate pleas of those facing down the riot.”
