REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
The Jan. 6 committee kicked off its long-awaited, prime-time hearing Thursday by laying out how former President Donald Trump fully intended to lead a mob to the Capitol, how he angrily confronted U.S. Secret Service agents who stood in his way, and how he refused to do anything to stop the siege on the Capitol for more than three hours.
“For 187 minutes on January 6th, this man of unbridled destructive energy could not be moved—not by his aides, not by his allies… or the desperate pleas of those facing down the rioters,” Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) said. “He ignored and disregarded the desperate pleas of his own family, including Ivanka and Don Jr., even though he was the only person in the world who could call off the mob. He could not be moved to rise from the dining room table… and carry his message to the violent mob.”
The committee played audio recording of General Mark A. Milley, the top military official as the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, who said, “You’ve got an assault on the Capitol of the United States of America… and there’s nothing? No call? Nothing? Zero?”