WASHINGTON — Americans watching the first Jan. 6 Select Committee hearing Thursday night were jolted back to the horror of the Capitol attack in early 2021, with the panel deploying never-before-seen footage of violence and graphic, emotional testimony from an officer wounded in the melee to place then-President Donald Trump at the center of what House members called a conspiracy to overrule the will of voters.
“President Trump summoned the mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of this attack,” committee vice chairwoman Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said at the hearing, which highlighted a 10-minute video montage of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection as well as recorded depositions of those closest to the former president.
The hearing included bombshell allegations that Cheney said the committee will corroborate during subsequent hearings to prove a coordinated effort to stop certification of the 2020 presidential election and keep Trump in office.
