Before the investigative committee on the storming of the Capitol, ex-US Attorney General William Barr calls Donald Trump’s voter fraud allegations “crazy”. He had proclaimed himself the winner on election night, although his team knew that the result was not certain.
Donald Trump has denied the investigative committee’s allegations of the storming of the US Capitol in a multi-page document. The former US President accused the committee of “making a laughing stock of justice” and excluding exonerating witnesses. In the twelve-page letter, which also contains a number of footnotes, the former head of state repeated his unsubstantiated allegations of electoral fraud and fantasies about election victory. He accused the Democrats and US President Joe Biden of destroying the country. “The Democrats are doing everything in their power to stop me – but we cannot be stopped,” it said.
Ex-confidants contradict Donald Trump
At the second public hearing of the committee of inquiry on Monday, several high-ranking people from Trump’s environment had firmly contradicted his allegations of voter fraud. Former government officials and campaign advisors have clearly distanced themselves from Trump’s actions. Ex-Attorney General William Barr and others called Trump’s fraud allegations “insane.” Barr said that Trump seems to have increasingly “lost touch with reality”.
Trump’s campaign manager at the time, Bill Stepien, said that on election night on November 3, 2020, he unsuccessfully advised the incumbent against prematurely declaring himself the winner. “He thought I was wrong, he told me that, and that they were going in a different direction,” Stepien said.
And Trump’s daughter and advisor Ivanka Trump also said in her recorded statement: “It became obvious that the election would not be decided that evening”.
Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, a member of the U Committee, said Trump didn’t listen to Stepien on election night, but to his “apparently drunk” attorney Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York. “Trump’s campaign legal team knew there was no legitimate argument — fraud or irregularities or anything — to overturn the election.”
Democrats call it the “Big Lie”
On the night of November 4, 2020, Trump declared himself the winner of the presidential election against Democrat Joe Biden and at the same time raised allegations of election fraud. Months earlier, in April 2020, the right-wing populist had declared that he could only lose the election through massive voter fraud.
Democrats are calling this the “Big Lie,” which ultimately led to the January 6, 2021 attack by radical Trump supporters on the US Capitol. “Donald Trump lost the election – and he knew he lost the election – and because of that loss he decided to launch an attack on our democracy,” said U Committee chair Democrat Bennie Thompson.
For months, the investigative committee questioned hundreds of witnesses behind closed doors and sift through large amounts of documents and evidence. For a few days now, the panel has been revealing its findings in a series of public hearings. Some Trump confidants, such as former chief strategist Steve Bannon, refused to cooperate with the committee.
The committee’s senior investigative adviser, Amanda Wick, said Trump’s associates raised $250 million from the allegations between election night and the rioting. “The big lie was also a big rip-off.”
