Congressional Panel Says Trump Knew His Election Fraud Claims Were False

WASHINGTON — The congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol presented strong evidence Monday that former President Donald Trump knew his allegations of election fraud were false.

In addition, the mob that stormed the Capitol was “sent by Donald Trump to stop the transfer of power,” said Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chairman of the House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Whereas the first of six hearings last week by the committee focused on the violence of the mob as it tried to block Congress from certifying the 2020 election results, the second hearing directed the blame squarely at Trump.

“He betrayed the trust of the American people,” Thompson said. “We had an election. Mr. Trump lost.”

Trump, however, was unwilling to accept the election results showing he lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden, according to witnesses who testified before the committee.

The witnesses included former U.S. Attorney General William Barr, who investigated Trump’s claims and reached the conclusion there was no evidence to support them.

“The election was not stolen by fraud and I haven’t seen anything since the election that would change my mind on that,” Barr said in videotaped testimony.

Barr said he informed Trump that the election results were accurate but found it was a waste of time.

“After the election, he didn’t seem to be listening,” Barr said.

Barr mentioned to members of the media that he found no evidence of election fraud even while Trump continued to insist the election was stolen from him. Their disagreement led to a heated meeting in the Oval Office of the White House and to Barr’s resignation on Dec. 14, 2020.

“The president was as mad as I’ve ever seen him,” Barr said about the meeting.

Other witnesses at the hearing also undercut allegations by Trump and his attorney, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, that Democrats conspired to alter the true vote counts.

Among the allegations, Giuliani said during court proceedings to contest the election that the votes of more than 8,000 dead persons were tallied for Biden in Pennsylvania and ballots that would have given a win to Trump in Georgia were carried away in boxes and suitcases.

His account was denied by officials who investigated the fraud accusations.

“Not only was there no evidence of 8,000 dead voters voting in Pennsylvania, there wasn’t evidence of even eight,” said Al Schmidt, a former Philadelphia city commissioner who helped oversee the state’s 2020 election.

Byung Pak, a former U.S. attorney who investigated election fraud in Georgia, said the “black suitcase” Giuliani told lawmakers was used to carry away pro-Trump ballots “was actually an official lockbox where ballots were kept safe.”

“The allegations made by Mr. Giuliani were false,” Pak said.

The testimony drew only thinly veiled anger from Democrats and Republicans on the committee.

Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., accused Trump of irresponsibly dragging other persons into his resentment over losing the election.

“President Trump ignored the advice of his campaign advisors,” Cheney said.

The only person whose advice he followed was Giuliani, who appeared to be drunk when he suggested that Trump challenge the election results, witnesses said.

Trump incited his supporters to break into the Capitol with a result that “many are serving criminal sentences because they believed what Donald Trump said and they acted on it,” Cheney said.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., said Trump also used disputes over the election for financial gain.

He and his campaign officials sent out emails nationwide seeking donations for a legal fund to pay for state and federal court challenges to the election. They raised about $250 million, Lofgren said.

Trump allegedly gave much of the money to organizations affiliated with his business and political associates, Lofgren said.

“The Big Lie was also a big rip-off,” she said.

The committee’s next hearing is scheduled for Thursday.

Tom can be reached at [email protected] and @TomRamstack