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) LIVE THREAD: I’m live-tweeting the House January 6 Committee primetime hearing from 8PM ET on. I’m an attorney, journalist and historian who has been contacted by the Committee and whose J6-focused substack, PROOF, the Committee has cited. I hope you will RETWEET and follow.
) LIVE THREAD: I’m live-tweeting the House January 6 Committee primetime hearing from 8PM ET on. I’m an attorney, journalist and historian who has been contacted by the Committee and whose J6-focused substack, PROOF, the Committee has cited. I hope you will RETWEET and follow.
1/ At times I may make reference in this thread to evidence previously published in the nearly 200 reports on January 6 that appear at PROOF (link below). About half of these reports are free at PROOF, while the other half are for subscribers ($5/month). http://Sethabramson.substack.com
2/ This live thread is of course free. If, as you follow along over the course of the night, you feel moved to use the tip jar in my bio (see image below for location) I appreciate it, even as I add that it is—as ever—100% optional. I’ll do the best work I can tonight either way.
3/ We know for certain of two live witnesses who’ll testify tonight: the first U.S. Capitol Police officer injured on January 6, and a documentarian who was embedded with the Proud Boys on that awful day.
Many reports indicate we’ll hear from Ivanka and Jared via recorded depos.
Many reports indicate we’ll hear from Ivanka and Jared via recorded depos.
4/ While the hearings will begin with a statement from Democratic chair Bennie Thompson and Republican vice chair Liz Cheney, you should expect that most of the hearing and the 5 that follow it will feature live testimony, visual exhibits, and compelling multimedia presentations.
5/ The hearing at 8PM ET tonight will be run live on ABC, CBS, MSNBC, CNN, C-SPAN, YouTube Live and a link directly from the House January 6 Committee website. Only pro-insurrection media outlets like Fox News are refusing to cover these indisputably historic bipartisan hearings.
6/ At the beginning of tonight’s hearing, the Committee will call America’s attention back to the events of January 6th, 2021 via startling video presentations that may make you briefly think this will be a rehash of the second Trump impeachment trial.
Rest assured, it won’t be.
Rest assured, it won’t be.
7/ The amount of information Congress has now about January 6 dwarfs the amount of information Congress had in February 2021. And the focus of *these* hearings will be legislative-branch oversight of attempts by the federal executive branch to orchestrate the events of January 6.
8/ Remember that this is a *bipartisan* Congressional committee that exists in its current form—with two Republican members (Cheney, Kinzinger) and one Republican co-heading its investigative team (Riggleman)—because House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy *decided* it would be this way.
9/ House Democrats wanted a nonpartisan commission; Republicans said no. Democrats then agreed to a bipartisan committee with 5 Republican members, so long as none of them were witnesses in the case; Republicans said no. Democrats said that the non-witnesses McCarthy selected...
10/ ...could still serve on the committee; Republicans said no. Democrats then issued an open call for Republicans to serve on the Committee; McCarthy replied by ordering his caucus members—under threat of punishment—not to join the Committee. Two joined anyway and were punished.
11/ Republicans thereafter launched a propaganda campaign to spread disinformation about the Committee: they falsely claimed the Committee was partisan rather than bipartisan; falsely claimed they’d been given no opportunity to join it; falsely claimed it was a partisan exercise.
12/ In fact, we *know* the Committee isn’t a partisan exercise because the Democratic Party wanted a *nonpartisan commission* rather than a partisan committee, and it was the *Republican Party* that insisted the January 6 investigation be run by a congressional committee instead.
13/ Where Democrats and Republicans diverged was on the matter of whether the Congressional committee investigating January 6 should be *corrupt*—that is, whether its members/investigators could also be witnesses in the case.
Democrats said no; Republicans *demanded* corruption.
Democrats said no; Republicans *demanded* corruption.
14/ There’s no mystery in this divergence of opinion: Republican leadership quite transparently wants and needs the investigation of January 6 to be both run by Congress and *corrupt* because it knows—as does the nation—that the chief author of January 6 is the leader of the GOP.
15/ There’s no point in watching this hearing if you don’t accept a fundamental premise undergirded by law and etymology: the January 6 attack was *by definition* an insurrection, an act of sedition, and domestic terrorism.
Anyone who plotted or aided it is a domestic terrorist.
Anyone who plotted or aided it is a domestic terrorist.
16/ There’s no question anymore about whether Trump aided the attack on the Capitol—he did. This was known back in February 2021 at the latest. So that these hearings will confirm Trump as a domestic terrorist is certain—and explains Republican opposition to the J6 investigation.
17/ Given that all of the GOP leaders now decrying the J6 investigation originally admitted the attack was illegal and treacherous and required investigation, we can say with certainty that there’s one reason and one reason *only* most Republicans won’t participate in this probe:
18/ As he did publicly during the 2016 election cycle, Trump has threatened to bolt the GOP and take approximately 30% to 40% of Republicans with him if party leaders do not do whatever he demands of them. And he demands that they betray America by supporting domestic terrorism.
19/ But for this literal deal-with-a-devil, the Republican Party could *jettison* Trump and the 10 to 20 GOP House members and 2 to 4 GOP senators who aided him in orchestrating the events of January 6. Nearly all these people are in districts or states the GOP would hold anyway.
20/ So when it was revealed that the GOP was creating “war rooms” to spread disinformation about tonight’s hearing and its 5 successors as they unfold throughout June, everyone in politics understood that nothing that’ll come from the GOP this month on J6 is honest or patriotic.
21/ The Republican Party will collapse into two new political units—a center-right “establishment” Republican Party and a fringe-right Patriot Party led by Donald Trump and Michael Flynn—if its members don’t spread domestic disinformation about a domestic terror event this month.
22/ Denver Riggleman doesn’t have to worry about this because he’s retired; Adam Kinzinger doesn’t have to worry about this because he’s retiring; Liz Cheney doesn’t have to worry about this because Trump already made clear that the Bushes and Cheneys have *no place* in his GOP.
23/ Those who remain in the GOP establishment are in a hostage situation at the mercy of a domestic terrorist. They’ve decided to make the best of a bad situation by doing what anyone without scruples would do—use it as an excuse to steal elections and destroy American democracy.
24/ Aligned against this domestic terror movement—which aims to end free and fair elections in the next 24-48 months—is the Democratic Party and ~10% of GOP voters, represented in tonight’s cast of characters in the persons of Cheney, Kinzinger, and (behind the scenes) Riggleman.
25/ These 25 tweets have attempted to summarize the political situation in the U.S. as we head into the most important Congressional hearings held in this country since the American Civil War in the 1860s.
In less than an hour, this thread will resume as the HJ6C hearing begins.
In less than an hour, this thread will resume as the HJ6C hearing begins.
26/ As we hit the T-minus 30 point, there are some other observations that really ought to be made before this hearing begins, as they frame what we should be looking for, who and what we should be listening to (and not listening to), and what we already do know about January 6.
27/ If you’re an avid reader of January 6 news—which I’d estimate only 5% of Americans are—you’re familiar with the long-play viral videos of Insurrection Eve and/or Insurrection Day by Tim Gionet, Eddie Block, and John Earle Sullivan (not to mention major-media video coverage).
28/ Tonight a new video will join the library of long-player J6 videos: the Nick Quested Video. So in a sense, what the Quested video—Quested was embedded with the Proud Boys as a documentarian on January 6—will show is a new perspective on events many of us have seen footage of.
29/ I note this because while it’s a big deal for a new J6 long-player to emerge, it’s also a reality that many of us have seen extensive J6 footage. So the HJ6C walks a fine line between giving Americans a new perspective and giving them something many feel they’ve already seen.
30/ This said, understand that many, many journalists will say tonight something along the lines of, “We already know what happened on January 6.”
Understand that—well—no, you don’t.
I’ve written the equivalent of three 500-page books on J6, and *I* wouldn't dare to say I know.
Understand that—well—no, you don’t.
I’ve written the equivalent of three 500-page books on J6, and *I* wouldn't dare to say I know.
31/ The number of key players in the events of January 6—even if we look *only* at that day and not the *months* of planning, events, and comms preceding it—runs to around 200, and the number of key moments rather more than that. It would take ~5,000 pages to circumscribe it all.
32/ So when a supposedly serious journalist like Chris Wallace says he knows what happened on January 6, I’m sorry—he doesn’t.
Even lead Committee investigator Denver Riggleman—an intel expert—says he’d need another *year* just to work through the *basics* he’s been able to get.
Even lead Committee investigator Denver Riggleman—an intel expert—says he’d need another *year* just to work through the *basics* he’s been able to get.
33/ To understand January 5-6 you have to understand what was going on in Trump International Hotel, the Willard Hotel, The Downtown DC Marriott, the White House, the Pentagon, the Mayor’s Office, the Senate side of the Capitol, the House side of the Capitol, “on the streets”...
34/ ...at a hotel across the river in Virginia, in encrypted communications channels involving hundreds of people, in the offices of OANN, atop the Newsmax building a few hundred yards from the Capitol... and that’s just for starters.
It was a coup attempt—it was wildly complex.
It was a coup attempt—it was wildly complex.
35/ What Wallace is gesturing to is the fact that different Americans *want* a different amount of info; different Americans have an easier or harder time—and take a longer or shorter time—convincing themselves they *know* something; and different folks focus on different angles.
36/ So for example, we have already heard congressional testimony from *many* USCP and D.C. Metropolitan officers about their experiences on January 6—including officers who were injured—but as a former federal investigator I am interested in hearing from Caroline Edwards today.
37/ Edwards will testify tonight; she was the first casualty—which definitionally includes injuries, under US Army parlance—of January 6, and that positions her differently from some others because she was present at the *moment* Trump’s mob became a riot and then a coup attempt.
38/ By the time Officer Fanone (who’s already testified) was injured, the mob had already coalesced into a seditious force of Trumpist irregulars: it knew it had crossed any and every line of human decency.
Edwards had a different view because she occupied a different J6 moment.
Edwards had a different view because she occupied a different J6 moment.
39/ So for an overrated—IMHO—journalist like Wallace, the extent of what he wants to know is, “Were cops injured?” Once he knows the answer is yes, that’s all he wants to know on the subject. As an attorney, journalist, author, academic and historian I think we need to know more.
40/ But YMMV. You may have seen the Sullivan video and decided you therefore don’t need—say—the Quested video. You may have heard from Fanone and therefore feel you don’t need Edwards’ voice. My view: this was one of the biggest events in our history; we need maximum information.
41/ “Maximum information” doesn’t mean information for information’s sake. It means that investigations, indictments, history books, future elections and far more may hinge on Americans having an exact—not amorphous—understanding of what happened on January 6. Close isn’t enough.
42/ So this live thread will listen to Edwards and consider (as I did when I was a practicing criminal defense attorney and federal criminal investigator) what in what we’re getting is *new*. And this live thread will watch the Quested video and note here what in *that* is *new*.
43/ But no matter how extensive the evidence at these hearings is, everyone must understand that it can’t be more than a transient summary of what we know at the moment. That means a) we’ll learn much more in the months/years ahead, and b) much that we know won’t be covered here.
44/ So if you see something in tonight’s hearing that startles you, realize that you can do a deeper dive—via outlets like PROOF and many others—and find *much* more on that moment and the people involved in it. Hopefully these hearings will be a J6 entrypoint for many Americans.
45/ By the same token, if you’re someone who’s decided you are bored by January 6 and believe—as Wallace does—you already know everything about it even though I promise you you do not, remember that the HJ6C aims to show us *also* that the J6 plotters *remain* an *active* threat.
46/ And chief among these active threats is Trump, who according to the Washington Post has told his inner circle that he will without question run again for President of the United States in 2024.
That means he is a clear and present danger—as a domestic terrorist—to all of us.
That means he is a clear and present danger—as a domestic terrorist—to all of us.
47/ The first June 2022 hearing of the House January 6 Committee is beginning now.
48/ In his opening statement Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) is emphasizing how diverse the Committee is as to party, hometown and perspective. He’s putting January 6 in historical context—situating it as one of the gravest attacks against America, our democracy and the public trust.
49/ Thompson says it is clear that former president Donald Trump "tried to stop the transfer of power"—an indisputable federal crime.
50/ Rep. Thompson is making a striking point now: that even during the Civil War, there was *no belief* that there would not be a peaceful transfer of power.
It took Donald Trump to bring us to the point of total civil collapse during a presidential transfer of power.
It took Donald Trump to bring us to the point of total civil collapse during a presidential transfer of power.
51/ And we have our first witness: former AG William Barr, in a recorded deposition.
AG Barr says he had to resign because Trump’s claims of a stolen election were BS, and his decision to push forward into chaos and mayhem anyway was constitutionally and morally unsustainable.
AG Barr says he had to resign because Trump’s claims of a stolen election were BS, and his decision to push forward into chaos and mayhem anyway was constitutionally and morally unsustainable.
52/ Rep. Thompson is not mincing words: Trump was at the "center" of a "sprawling conspiracy" that involved marshaling "enemies of the Constitution" to commit illegal acts to prevent the peaceful transfer of power.
Thompson: this was "an attempted coup."
Thompson: this was "an attempted coup."
53/ Thompson is reading from a teleprompter, which is necessary—you don’t want to wing it in a hearing this critical—but it’s led to some slips in speech from a man who’s not necessarily known as a sterling public speaker. But (but!) he’s doing fairly well, all things considered.
54/ Rep. Thompson emphasizes that Democrats wanted a nonpartisan, 9/11-style commission, but it was rejected by Republicans—who now appear, he says (and he’s right) do not want January 6 investigated at all.
55/ Now Cheney is beginning her opening statement. She emphasizes the bipartisan nature of the J6 Committee in her first sentence.
56/ Cheney notes that Trump’s first response to the attack on the Capitol was to a) support, b) condone it. (We also know that he was thrilled by it.)
Cheney says we will hear from *more than half a dozen people* who were in the West Wing on January 6. (Wow! More than expected.)
Cheney says we will hear from *more than half a dozen people* who were in the West Wing on January 6. (Wow! More than expected.)
57/ Rep. Cheney says Trump was *angry* at being asked to do anything to stop the attack. Cheney says he told aides that Pence "deserved" to be hung. Cheney says Trump did nothing but watch TV as the attack happened—he knew what was occurring but did nothing to stop it for hours.
58/ Cheney: former president Trump "summoned the mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack."
She says federal filings from J6 defendants make absolutely clear that they were inspired by Trump’s words/claims specifically.
Cheney: J6 was *not* a "spontaneous riot."
She says federal filings from J6 defendants make absolutely clear that they were inspired by Trump’s words/claims specifically.
Cheney: J6 was *not* a "spontaneous riot."
59/ Cheney: Trump’s intent on the morning of January 6 was to remain President of the United States despite it being against the law. Cheney says Trump had a 7-point plan to overturn the election results and illegally stay in power.
She says the evidence shows he *knew* he lost.
She says the evidence shows he *knew* he lost.
60/ The second witness: Trump’s leading communications adviser, Jason Miller (via recorded deposition).
Miller confesses that Trump was privately told—by his own trusted data experts—that he was going to lose the 2024 presidential election.
Trump *knew* he was lying to America.
Miller confesses that Trump was privately told—by his own trusted data experts—that he was going to lose the 2024 presidential election.
Trump *knew* he was lying to America.
61/ Third witness: Alex Cannon, Trump campaign lawyer. He says he told Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows *quite clearly* that there was "no there, there" on Trump’s claims of fraud.
So Trump was *told* that he had no legal argument to remain in power. He *knew* he was lying.
So Trump was *told* that he had no legal argument to remain in power. He *knew* he was lying.
62/ Correcting typo in #60: "2020 election."
Next witness is Barr again, saying he told Trump in no uncertain terms there were no legal grounds whatsoever for him to claim that there was systemic corruption in the U.S. electoral system.
Barr says he told Trump it was "crazy."
Next witness is Barr again, saying he told Trump in no uncertain terms there were no legal grounds whatsoever for him to claim that there was systemic corruption in the U.S. electoral system.
Barr says he told Trump it was "crazy."
63/ Rep. Cheney outlines the timeline of Trump *continuing to lie about the election* even after he *knew*—from many, many trusted sources—that he was lying. (The Committee is here establishing "mens rea" for the commission of a crime, i.e. in colloquial terms "criminal intent").
64/ Rep. Cheney emphasizes that Trump's knowingly false claims (claims ignoring his information from DOJ, DHS, his own campaign, and many others) were so crazy that Rudy Giuliani got his law license suspended for passing them on to state and federal judges.
65/ Rep. Cheney is outlining what the HJ6C will discuss in each of its coming five hearings, including Trump’s plot to replace the Attorney General of the United States to get a handpicked stooge to spread his *knowingly* false statements about the 2020 presidential election.
66/ Cheney notes that Trump created or caused to have created documents containing fraudulent information that he knew was false but which he wanted spread to American voters anyway for an illegal purpose—overthrowing American democracy.
67/ Next witness (recorded depo) is Trump appointee former deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue, who says the White House secretly was trying to get DOJ to "meddle" (his words) in a presidential election.
68/ Cheney notes that many of Trump’s allies in his plot are now pleading the Fifth Amendment, fighting subpoenas, or otherwise stonewalling investigators.
She says an upcoming hearing will focus on Trump’s efforts to bring VP Mike Pence into his circle of criminal conspirators.
She says an upcoming hearing will focus on Trump’s efforts to bring VP Mike Pence into his circle of criminal conspirators.
69/ Recordings now from both VP Mike Pence and from a depo from his chief of staff Marc Short, who will be testifying live at a future hearing along with J. Michael Luttig, who counseled the VP and his team that Trump attorney John Eastman was wrong "at every turn" on the law.
70/ Rep. Cheney is now more or less accusing Eastman of a crime—saying he did not believe what he was saying and that evidence will show he knew what he was saying was untrue. She notes that a federal court has found that Eastman and Trump more than likely committed major crimes.
71/ Cheney notes that Trump’s Insurrection Week Willard Hotel war room (which PROOF has written about extensively) continued trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election even *after* it knew the Capitol was under violent assault.
72/ At the fifth hearing it holds in June, Cheney says Congress will establish that Trump and his team were intimately involved in an illegal "fake elector" plot that relied on criminally fraudulent documents.
73/ Cheney notes the HJ6C’s investigation is *not* over, it’s only sharing *some* of what it will or does have, and DOJ has information Congress does not have. Cheney is now focusing on the December 18 White House meeting—Flynn, Byrne, Powell—PROOF has covered over the last year.
74/ NOTE: Any attorney listening to this hearing would deem the House January 6 Committee to be accusing Trump of major federal crimes, and his co-conspirators of major federal crimes. There is no fuzz on this: the HJ6C clearly believes Trump should be indicted by DOJ.
75/ Now audio and video from Steve Bannon as part of a preview of a broader topic the HJ6C will tackle during its last June hearing: that all of Team Trump knew that violence was coming on January 6, and that Trump knew violence was happening long before he agreed to do anything.
76/ Cheney says Trump didn’t contact, DOJ, DOD, or DHS on January 6. In fact he made no consequential calls. Now we get audio from Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley saying Pence did all of those things and was very commanding in trying to quell the Capitol attack.
77/ Milley says all he was getting from Trump’s office on January 6 was political nonsense about not making Mike Pence look like he was the one really in control (which, apparently, he was).
Rep. Cheney notes how many Trump administration members quit in disgust after January 6.
Rep. Cheney notes how many Trump administration members quit in disgust after January 6.
78/ Cheney says members of the Trump administration actively discussed the 25th Amendment after January 6. There was real consideration of replacing Trump with Pence on the grounds Trump was a clear and present danger to the United States of America post-January 6/pre-January 20.
79/ Cheney said something unheard of happened—repeatedly—before January 6: the White House counsel threatened to resign over and over again. She notes that Jared Kushner treated his historic threat as mere (as Kushner said) "whining" because he was focused (he says) on "pardons."
80/ Cheney is wrapping up her statement. I will say candidly that it was very, *very* effective. An excellent presentation—really compelling and persuasive.
81/ Thompson announces that the Committee will now show "never before seen" video of January 6 to remind America of what happened on that terrible day. The video has just started; it is focused on the Proud Boys.
82/ The video juxtaposes the Proud Boy attack (from some incredible angles I’ve never seen before) and Trump knowingly lying at the White House Ellipse about the power Pence had to overturn the 2020 election (which Trump well *knew* he did not have).
83/ Video shows "riot declared" at Capitol—officially—at 1:49PM on January 6, 2021.
84/ Trump issues tweet attacking Pence and further inciting crowd at 2:24 PM on January 6, 2021—*35 minutes* AFTER a riot had been declared at the Capitol.
85/ Never before seen footage now being shown of Kevin McCarthy’s staff—yes, *that* McCarthy—running for their lives on January 6.
86/ Insurrectionists hunting for Pelosi on video, chanting for the Vice President of the United States to be captured and hung.
87/ This graphic content is hard to watch: officers down, blood, absolute chaos and maximum violence.
88/ Video ends with audio of Trump from July 2021 saying the January 6 crowd was peaceful and full of love.
The hearing is now in a 10-minute recess. CNN sends it back to Jake Tapper—who immediately says the video was "devastating." Tears among those present in the hearing room.
The hearing is now in a 10-minute recess. CNN sends it back to Jake Tapper—who immediately says the video was "devastating." Tears among those present in the hearing room.
89/ ANALYSIS: I agree with what CNN analysts are saying, that this presentation—so far—was *laser-focused* on Donald Trump. The Proud Boys would come in a distant second, though they were mentioned repeatedly.
90/ Anyone who feared this’d be some sort of slick, bloodless presentation clearly now has nothing to fear. This was very professional but also very real—not slick. It felt like the opening statement in a federal criminal prosecution of Donald Trump. It had that sort of gravity.
91/ Caroline Edwards and Nick Quested (see earlier in this live thread for references to who they are) have just been sworn in.
92/ In January 2021, the founder of the Proud Boys threatened to sue me for reporting that the Proud Boys led the attack on the Capitol.
Today—a year and a half later—Congress has confirmed that that’s *exactly* what happened, McInnes’s attempts to intimidate me notwithstanding.
Today—a year and a half later—Congress has confirmed that that’s *exactly* what happened, McInnes’s attempts to intimidate me notwithstanding.
93/ Insurrectionists who try to intimidate PROOF from reporting the truth will lose. Count on it. Everything in this hearing tonight was reported by PROOF, without even a single error in my journalism. Not one.
Okay—now back to Caroline Edwards’ important and gripping testimony.
Okay—now back to Caroline Edwards’ important and gripping testimony.
94/ Edwards gave an abbreviated statement (her full statement has been entered into the record).
Now Quested, acclaimed documentarian, is giving his opening statement about what he and his three colleagues saw on January 6. He says the crowd turned from protest to insurrection.
Now Quested, acclaimed documentarian, is giving his opening statement about what he and his three colleagues saw on January 6. He says the crowd turned from protest to insurrection.
95/ Thompson says that Trump’s December 19, 2020 tweet—which he sent right after his private *three-hour* meeting in the Oval Office and Presidential Residence with Flynn, Powell, Byrne, and Giuliani—is what brought people to Washington on January 6, specifically the Proud Boys.
96/ Marcus Childress, a House Committee investigator, is narrating (via video) his findings about how the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers were *specifically* "called to duty" (in their mind) by their commander-in-chief. They showed up to D.C. armed and ready to attack the Capitol.
97/ PROOF readers will be familiar with everything we’re hearing about January 6—but that doesn’t mean I’m not thrilled it’s being presented to an even wider audience. The Committee is establishing why the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers came to DC and what they did once there.
98/ Thompson is now asking Quested about the Insurrection Eve Tarrio-Rhodes parking garage meeting PROOF was the first American media outlet to report on (citing Quested) over a year ago.
99/ PROOF is here: http://sethabramson.substack.com
100/ Quested details Tarrio meeting with Rhodes on Insurrection Eve—but does not discuss the meeting’s content, which he did not hear in full (though he heard the Capitol mentioned)—and then Tarrio travelling to Baltimore after a federal court had ordered him to leave Washington.
101/ Quested says there were a "couple hundred" Proud Boys who began marching on January 6 during the 10AM hour and curiously—in Quested’s mind—kept marching *away* from Trump’s upcoming speech at the White House Ellipse. He says the atmosphere among the Proud Boys was "dark."
102/ Quested has again testified to info first reported by PROOF: the Arizona Proud Boys wearing orange hats/armbands joining the rest of the Proud Boys as the attack on the Capitol got closer. PROOF reported this in January 2021, and was threatened with a suit by the Proud Boys.
103/ In this recent PROOF report, which is free, PROOF revealed where the orange armbands appear to have come from—and who was behind them. https://sethabramson.substack.com/p/new-the-coming-collapse-of-donald-518?s=w
104/ Cheney is now questioning Edwards about the initial breach of the Capitol perimeter at the (sadly, now ironically named) "Peace Circle."
105/ Edwards makes clear that Biggs (Proud Boys) was using a megaphone to egg the crowd on before the attack began. She makes clear everything changed once the blaze-orange-hatted Arizona Proud Boys arrived. Biggs changed his rhetoric the moment they arrived (this is important).
106/ This is why we need Edwards testifying. This is different from Fanone testifying because it’s a *very* different moment in the lifespan of the insurrection: the very beginning. Critically important testimony that easily could be heard in a federal court in the medium future.
107/ Edwards was knocked unconscious in the initial attack by the Arizona Proud Boys and the crowd incited by Biggs (Florida Proud Boys). Early on, PROOF identified the leading insurrectionists as being from 3 states: AZ, FL and AL. It was one of PROOF’s first three reports ever.
108/ It goes without saying, but I want to say anyway that Edwards is a hero. She kept getting injured by Trump’s January 6 irregulars and *kept getting back on the line*.
109/ This is so hard to watch. Edwards is testifying to the fact of Officer Brian Sicknick starting to decline physically, which she saw personally (he ultimately died). She reports her line getting tear-gassed by Trump’s armed January 6 irregulars.
110/ EDWARDS: "There were officers on the ground, they were bleeding, they were throwing up. I saw friends with blood all over their faces. I was slipping in people's blood. I was catching people as they fell. It was carnage; it was chaos. I can't even describe what I saw."
Wow.
Wow.
111/ EDWARDS: "It was hours of hand-to-hand combat, things way beyond what any officer is trained for...[it was] an absolute war zone."
She unambiguously describes January 6 as a "battle," and I think in military terms it was just that and should be recorded that way: a battle.
She unambiguously describes January 6 as a "battle," and I think in military terms it was just that and should be recorded that way: a battle.
112/ NOTE: Insurrectionists are desperately trying to get "Ashli Babbitt" trending. Babbitt was a military veteran who betrayed America on January 6 by leading the insurrectionists’ violent attack on the Speaker’s Lobby of the Capitol. She was lunging toward members of Congress.
113/ We are now watching a video of January 6 insurrectionists saying—one after another—that they came to D.C. *because of Trump’s words* and looked to him specifically for active guidance in the lead-up to January 6 and on that day. Many of these men were charged and imprisoned.
114/ The House January 6 Committee has just adjourned, 5 minutes shy of the two-hour mark. CNN calls the hearing testimony "stunning," "difficult [emotionally] to hear," and "sickening." The Committee will meet again Monday at 10AM ET. Find more info here: http://sethabramson.substack.com
115/ This concludes tonight’s live thread. It was of course free, but if you feel moved to use the tip jar in my bio (see image below for location) I appreciate it, even as I add that it is—as ever—100% optional. I plan to do another live-thread event at 10AM this coming Monday.
PS/ I want to add: I thought this hearing was excellent—incredibly professional, earnest yet smooth, just the right length, focused on the words of *Trump’s own allies*, and legitimately at the level of quality one might hope for in a federal criminal prosecution of Donald Trump.
PS2/ The missing link here—which I hope the Committee pursues—is linking the Proud Boys and Trump. If *DOJ* does so, it’s a Seditious Conspiracy charge against *Trump*.
The link between Trump and the Proud Boys exists. You’ll find one report on this here: https://sethabramson.substack.com/p/new-the-coming-collapse-of-donald-518?s=w
The link between Trump and the Proud Boys exists. You’ll find one report on this here: https://sethabramson.substack.com/p/new-the-coming-collapse-of-donald-518?s=w
PS3/ The Proud Boys saying they were responding to Trump’s public words goes to an Incitement charge, *not* a Seditious Conspiracy charge. But based on PROOF’s reporting, the Trump-Proud Boys link goes *way* beyond Trump’s public statements. We *know* who his three liaisons were.
