US House committee to ‘connect the dots’ at Capitol riot hearing

The congressional committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol sought to draw connections yesterday between then-president Donald Trump’s closest allies and right-wing militants who stormed the seat of government in a bid to keep him in power.The House of Representatives committee held its seventh hearing in five weeks focused on the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, two pro-Trump groups that investigators say helped plan the attack, as well as QAnon, a right-wing conspiracy theory movement.The hearing was to explore ties between the two groups and Trump associates, including Roger Stone and Mike Flynn.It also will examine Trump’s role in encouraging the Capitol attack, said Representative Bennie Thompson, the committee chairman.“The committee will explain how as a part of his last-ditch effort to overturn the election and block the transfer of power, Donald Trump summoned a mob to Washington, DC, and ultimately spurred that mob to wage a violent attack on our democracy,” Thompson said.“We are going to be connecting the dots during these hearings between these groups and those who were trying – in government circles – to overturn the election,” Democratic Representative Zoe Lofgren of California said.The Oath Keepers provided security to Stone, a self-described “dirty trickster” who has advised Trump off and on for decades, in Washington on January 5-6.Flynn, a retired Army general, served as Trump’s first national security adviser.The committee’s seven Democrats and two Republicans have used the hearings to build a case that Trump’s efforts to overturn his defeat in the November 2020 election constitute illegal conduct, far beyond normal politics.Committee members say Trump incited the riot through his refusal to admit he lost the election and through comments like his December 19, 2020, call on Twitter for supporters to flock to Washington for a “big protest”, saying: “Be there, will be wild.”They also have questioned the role of some members of Congress in Trump’s Republican Party.Committee aides said yesterday’s hearing would explore the involvement of some lawmakers.The hearing is expected to feature video testimony from Pat Cipollone, Trump’s former White House counsel, who spoke to committee investigators behind closed doors on Friday.The attack on the Capitol, following a speech Trump gave at a rally outside the White House, delayed certification of Joe Biden’s election for hours, injured more than 140 police officers and led to several deaths.In response to a request for comment, Stone said he was facing the “tactic of guilt by association”.In an e-mail, he said: “Any assertion that I knew in advance about, was involved in or condoned any of the illegal actions at the Capitol is false. Any claim that I knew from any member of the Proud Boys or Oath Keepers about any plan for illegal activities on January 6th is also false.”An attorney for Flynn did not respond to a request for comment.Neither Flynn nor Stone has been charged in connection with the attack on the Capitol and both have invoked their Fifth Amendment constitutional right against self-incrimination before the January 6 committee.Trump pardoned both after they were convicted or pleaded guilty in cases unrelated to the Capitol attack.The Oath Keepers and Proud Boys gained national attention during the Trump administration for their support of the Republican president.Trump urged the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” during a September 2020 debate as he campaigned against Biden.About 800 people, including members of both groups, have been charged with taking part in the Capitol riot, with about 250 guilty pleas so far.Five members of the Proud Boys were indicted in June on seditious conspiracy charges and 11 members of the Oath Keepers face the same charges.Three of the Oath Keepers have pleaded guilty.Questioning of witnesses during the hearing will be led by Democratic Representatives Stephanie Murphy and Jamie Raskin.Trump, who has hinted he may seek the White House again in 2024, denies wrongdoing and has falsely asserted that he lost only because of widespread fraud that benefited Biden.Trump and his supporters – including many Republicans in Congress – dismiss the January 6 panel as a political witch hunt, but the panel’s backers say it is a necessary probe into a violent threat against democracy.Trump was impeached for a historic second time by the House of Representatives after the riot – he was charged with inciting an insurrection – but was acquitted by the Senate.