Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images Sif, citing a federal judge, said Trump and his allies “probably violated many federal laws” by pressuring government officials to reverse the results and validate the ballots. He cited U.S. District Judge David Carter, who in a previous court case described the conspiracy of Trump and his allies as a “coup d’etat in search of a legal theory.” Schiff, a former U.S. attorney general, said Trump could be guilty of “conspiracy to defraud the United States.” “President Trump’s campaign of pressure to stop the countdown did not end with Vice President Pence – he targeted every level of federal and state elected officials,” Carter wrote. “Convincing state legislatures to certify competing voters was necessary to stop the count and ensure President Trump’s re-election.” Trump’s lie “was and is a dangerous cancer for the political body,” Sif said. “If you can convince Americans that they can not trust their election, that every time they lose, it is somehow illegal, then what is left but violence to determine who will rule?” – Kevin Breuninger

Cheney: “We can not let America become a nation of conspiracy theorists and thugs”

An image of a troublemaker appears on a screen during the fourth hearing by the House Selection Committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol at the Cannon House office building on June 21, 2022 in Washington, DC. Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images Trump “did not care about threats of violence” against election officials, Cheney said. “He did not condemn them, he did not make any effort to stop them; he went on with his false allegations anyway.” Cheney also said that Georgia Sterling election official “explicitly warned” Trump of possible violence more than a month before the Jan. 6 Capitol uprising. “I urge everyone watching today to focus on the facts,” Cheney said. “Do not be distracted by politics. This is serious. We can not let America become a nation of conspiracy theories and violence by criminals.” – Kevin Breuninger

Trump knew his campaign allegations were “nonsense,” but he continued to pressure states, Cheney said.

A picture of former President Donald Trump’s campaign scenario is shown on a screen during the fourth House Electoral Commission hearing to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol at the Cannon House office building on June 21, 2022 in Washington. , DC. Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images As in previous hearings, the commission sought to make it clear from the outset that Trump had repeatedly said that his allegations of widespread electoral fraud were “nonsense” – but he continued to spread them. Cheney urged viewers to heed this by listening to Trump’s calls to officials in Georgia and other key states. He then played clips of Trump Attorney General William Barr and Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoye, telling the commission they saw no evidence to support key allegations of fraud. Former Attorney General William Barr (C) appears on screen during the fourth hearing by the House Selection Committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol at the Cannon House office building on June 21, 2022 in Washington, DC. Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images Allegations of fraud in Georgia’s Fulton County “were of no value,” Barr told the commission in a recorded interview. “There was no evidence of harassment to create an opportunity to feed things into the count … so we did not see any evidence of fraud in the Fulton County episode.” Donoghue, in a separate excerpt, quoted Trump as saying, “Sir, we have done dozens of investigations, hundreds of interviews. The main allegations are not supported by the evidence presented.” – Kevin Breuninger

“Trump played a direct and personal role” in pressuring government officials to help overthrow the 2020 election, Cheney says

Republican Rep. Liz Cheney speaks during a House Electoral Committee hearing to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol at the Cannon House office building on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 21, 2022. Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images Trump and his allies were directly involved in pressuring government officials and institutions as part of their efforts to overthrow the 2020 election, Cheney said. “Trump played a direct and personal role in this effort,” Cheney said in her opening remarks, along with former Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman.
“In other words, the same people who were trying to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to turn down the ballot illegally were working at the same time to overturn the outcome of the 2020 state election,” Cheney said. “Each of these attempts to overthrow the election is independently serious; each one deserves the attention of both Congress and our Department of Justice,” Cheney said. “And all this was done in preparation for January 6.” – Kevin Breuninger

“The lie is not gone,” warns Thompson

President Bennie Thompson (D-MS) is attending the third of eight scheduled public hearings by the U.S. House Selection Committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol Hill in the United States on June 16, 2022. Sarah Silbiger | Reuters The chairman of the jury, Bennie Thompson’s spokeswoman D-Miss., Warned that the “Big Lie” that the 2020 election was marred by widespread fraud “has not disappeared” in the wake of the Capitol uprising. “It corrupts our democratic institutions. People who believe this lie are now looking for places of public trust,” Thompson said at the start of the hearing. The president’s inaugural statement was quoted by a New Mexico county committee that initially refused to validate the results of the primary election weeks earlier. After the courts intervened, two of the three commissioners “finally resigned,” Thompson said, but one refused, saying his vote was “based on my feelings and my intuition, and that’s all I need.” For these officials, “their oath to the people they serve will take back their commitment to the Big Lie,” Thompson said. – Kevin Breuninger

Schiff says Trump’s former chief of staff, Meadows, had a “familiar role” in plotting to assassinate government officials.

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows speaks to reporters at the US Capitol in Washington on July 29, 2020. Erin Scott Reuters The hearing will show that Trump’s last chief of staff, Mark Meadows, played a “familiar role” in trying to force Trump and other state officials in Georgia to change the 2020 election results. Siff, who is due to chair the committee’s fourth hearing, told the LA Times that the committee will share new information about Meadows’s appearance at a key election rally in Georgia. The commission will also reveal new text messages about Meadows’s plans to send Trump-autographed merchandise to people in control of Peach State, Schiff said, the newspaper reported Monday. – Kevin Breuninger