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JANUARY 6th COMMITTEE HEARING

TAKEAWAYS FOR JULY 21st

The Lincoln Project released the following takeaways from the eighth January 6th Committee Hearing that took place July 21st:

• After eight hearings, only one conclusion can be drawn: Donald Trump directed a conspiracy to violently overthrow the results of a valid election and install himself as the illegitimate ruler of the United States of America. 

• Like Nero standing by as Rome burned, Trump watched the insurrection on television, holding back aid and support in an attempt to stop Congress from fulfilling its constitutional duty to certify the election. 

• Trump’s own Republican loyalists and family members have told the world about his obsession with staying in power. They provide the details of how he personally tried every avenue available to overturn the election by attempting to create political and legal illusions at a scale never before seen. They tell how Trump wanted violence and tried to personally lead the crowd he knew to be armed to take over the Capitol.

• Trump tweeted Mike Pence’s death warrant. His followers, motivated by Trump’s statement, believed that Pence deserved to be hanged for not going along with the fantasies that fueled the coup. This was seen by his supporters as a message to attack and resulted in Secret Service agents calling their families to say goodbye. 

• Fox News pushed the Big Lie and whipped Trump’s supporters into a frenzy…while privately panicking over Trump’s actions. On-air talent coordinated with White House staff and Trump himself to push false legal theories and promote the rally. MAGA’s media wing is culpable in the attack on the capitol and turning the GOP into a violent cult.   

• Congress is full of cowards like Kevin McCarthy who say one thing in private and another publicly. The nation is at a critical crossroads – will it continue to empower weak individuals like McCarthy or instead leaders like Liz Cheney who put the nation ahead of their own personal interests? Every candidate for election must unequivocally agree that Donald Trump lost the election and the attack on the Capitol was a criminal action. 

• Representatives who asked for pardons must be held accountable for breaking the law when they tried to delay the Electoral College count. Their efforts to illegally send the votes back to the states were a key part of the conspiracy. Andy Biggs, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Mo Brooks, Matt Gaetz, Louie Gohmert, Paul Gosar, Jim Jordan and Scott Perry, should face the consequences of supporting the insurrection. 

• On January 6th, Trump set into motion a wider, more insidious effort to impose an authoritarian government that will continue with or without him. The ULTRA-MAGA are working to stifle dissent, strangle their opposition, and consolidate power in the hands of their chosen few. They’re promising to purge the government of anyone who won’t bow to their ULTRA MAGA ideology. They are teaching supporters to challenge election results in critical precincts, or just flat out refuse certifying election results. They want to make free and open elections impossible. 

• Donald Trump is a man-child who threw temper tantrums and had uncontrolled bouts of rage. He perverted our institutions and destroyed the nation’s standing in the world. Trump cozied up to dictators, empowered white nationalists, and scapegoated entire ethnic groups. He is simply the worst America has to offer and is a danger to democracy.

• Trump created the worst moment in American history since the Confederates fired on Fort Sumter. Even today he is still actively engaged in trying to get the results of the 2020 election overturned. He cannot be permitted to occupy any elected office, much less the Presidency. The only place he belongs is in a prison cell. 

• If it were not for the brave patriots standing up to do the right thing in the face of real threats of violence and extreme intimidation, Trump and his cronies may have succeeded in ending democracy. Democracy requires the people to get engaged. Every American who wants free and fair elections must stand up right now and make their voices heard.

The Lincoln Project is a leading pro-democracy organization in the United States — dedicated to the preservation, protection, and defense of democracy.

To learn more about The Lincoln Project, go to lincolnproject.us.

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