Here are the most critical findings so far by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack
The first public hearings of the House Select Committee will air on Thursday in prime time and they'll not only ask witnesses to testify about their experiences, but they'll also review all of the evidence they've collected from text messages, documents and over 1,000 witnesses.
Thus far, the evidence gathered by the committee has shown that Trump had a lot of help in his efforts to overturn the 2020 election -- below we'll go through some of the most shocking evidence the committee has gathered so far.
1.) Trump's campaign encouraged "alternate" electors in a bid to deny Biden the White House.
One way Trump sought to cling to power was a scheme encouraged by his own campaign to create a series of phony "alternate" electors in key swing states who would back him instead of President Joe Biden.
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Monday night it was revealed that emails revealed that a Trump campaign staffer told fraudulent Georgia electors to stay quiet in their efforts to stop the legitimate electors from being counted in the state. The email from the Trump staffer walked the supporters through the process, although it's unclear if this aide was acting on his own or simply following orders.
One little-known Trump aide appeared before the committee at least twice to reveal that the White House Counsel’s office made it clear to Meadows and Giuliani that fake electors would be illegal. The dates of the meeting are important because it makes it clear that Meadows and Giuliani knew it was illegal but the Trump campaign attempted to push the fake electors anyway.
2.) Testimony indicates Trump approved of violent threats issued against Vice President Mike Pence.
Another shocking allegation is the claim made by a former aide to Mark Meadows that Trump apparently expressed approval at his supporters who were calling for Mike Pence's hanging.
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"Mr. Meadows, according to an account provided to the House committee investigating Jan. 6, then told the colleagues that Mr. Trump had said something to the effect of, maybe Mr. Pence should be hanged," the New York Times reported last month, citing testimony from a Meadows aide.
3.) Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, was a central play in the scheme to keep Trump in power.
Messages published by CBS News and the Washington Post revealed Ginni Thomas was far more involved with the attempt to overthrow the election than previously known. Since then, other White House staffers have come forward with tales of Mrs. Thomas trying to assert her authority over the staff in the West Wing and push QAnon conspiracy theories.
Thomas's involvement is particularly notable because her husband, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, was the sole vote to oppose the release of text messages and documents from Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows.
4.) Fox News hosts were intimately involved in the Trump campaign's strategy and messaging during and after the campaign.
Fox News has decided against airing primetime January 6th hearings, even though Fox News host Sean Hannity in late 2020 was taking directions from White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on how to help the president stay in office.
At one point, Hannity tweeted to Meadows, "[North Carolina] gonna be ok?"
Meadows replied back, "Stress every vote matters. Get out and vote. On radio."
"Yes sir," replied Hannity. "On it."
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Hannity wasn't the only one. Laura Ingraham, for instance, was found to have frantically texted Meadows on January 6th in an attempt to get him to convince Trump to call off the rioters.
“Mark, the president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home,” Ingraham told Meadows. “This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy.”
“Please get him on tv. Destroying everything you have accomplished," her colleague, Brian Kilmeade wrote.
“Can he make a statement?” Hannity asked on Jan. 6. “Ask people to leave the Capitol.”
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5.) Trump allies made a push to use the military to seize voting machines.
Another shocking finding was that Trump allies pushed the president to seize voting machines that they blamed for purportedly stealing the election. Both Michael Flynn and lawyer Sidney Powell met with Trump, according to Axios, asking that Trump appoint a special counsel to investigate the election.
Politico revealed that the two crafted an executive order for Trump to sign that would give the Defense secretary 60 days to craft an assessment. The DOD could then keep Trump in power until at least Feb. 2021.
More findings will be revealed in the coming days -- the first hearing begins at 8 p.m. EST on Thursday.
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