WARNING: This video includes strong and disturbing language and images.
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., gave a closing statement on July 21 as the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack presented its findings to the public. The hearing focused on what former President Donald Trump was doing during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol in an effort to interrupt the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential victory.
She condemned Trump for his role on Jan. 6, which the committee has laid out a timeline that points to his responsibility for pushing his supporters to carry out the Capitol attack. The committee played an audio clip from former Trump adviser Steve Bannon from October 2020; in the excerpt, he talks about his perspective on Trump’s post-election strategy.
“What Trump’s gonna do is just declare victory. He’s just going to declare victory, but that doesn’t mean he’s the winner. He’s just gonna say he’s the winner,” Bannon said. “Also, if Trump is losing by 10 or 11 o’ clock at night, it’s going to be even crazier because he’s going to sit right there and say, ‘They stole it.’”
Cheney said that audio shows “Trump’s plan to falsely claim victory in 2020, no matter what the facts actually were, was premeditated.”
She said Trump’s behavior on Jan. 6 – from when he got back to the White House and before he issued a video telling rioters to go home – was “indefensible.”
“Every American must consider this: Can a president who is willing to make the choices Donald Trump made during the violence of Jan. 6 ever be trusted with any position of authority in our great nation again?” Cheney asked.
In the year since its creation, the committee has conducted more than 1,000 interviews, seeking critical information and documents from people witness to, or involved in, the violence that day.
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