Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the vice chair of the Jan. 6 select committee, said Thursday that the panel has information to consider criminal referrals for multiple individuals.
Driving the news: "We have sufficient information to consider criminal referrals ... and recommend a range of legislative proposals to guard against another Jan. 6," Cheney said just before the committee voted to subpoena former President Trump.
The latest: The panel also played new materials from the Secret Service that underscores the agency's advanced knowledge of the violence planned for that day.
- "Their plan is to literally kill people. Please please take this tip seriously and investigate further," one tip to the Secret Service from Dec. 26, 2020, said of the Proud Boys' plan, per messages obtained and displayed by the panel.
- "By the morning of Jan 6, it was clear that the Secret Service anticipated violence," Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said during Thursday's meeting.
- The Secret Service on Jan. 6 also received notice of online threats directed toward former Vice President Mike Pence.
- A message at 10:39am ET on Jan. 6 said: "[A]lert at 1022 regarding the VP being a dead man walking if he doesn't do the right thing," per a message displayed during the hearing.
Committee says Trump had premeditated victory plan
The panel during its Thursday hearing, the last televised meeting before the midterms, and perhaps ever, is highlighting evidence that former President Trump planned before the election to declare victory regardless of the actual results in November 2020.
- "President Trump knew the truth," but decided to conduct an "unlawful effort to overturn the election," Cheney said on Thursday.
- “This big lie, President Trump’s effort to convince Americans that he had won the 2020 election, began before the election results even came in," Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) said on Thursday.
- "It was intentional, it was premeditated, it was not based on election results or any evidence of actual fraud affecting the results or any actual problems with voting machines. It was a plan concocted in advance, to convince his supporters that he won.”
Ex-officials testify Trump privately acknowledged election loss
Cassidy Hutchinson, a top aide to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, testified to the committee that Trump was irate after the Supreme Court rejected a case challenging election results.
- "I don't want people to know we lost, this is embarrassing. ... I don't want people to know that we lost," Trump told Meadows, Hutchinson recalled.
An email from the Secret Service obtained by the committee also showed Trump's increasing frustration over losing an elections case at the Supreme Court.
- "Just fyi. POTUS is pissed - breaking news - Supreme Court denied his law suit. He is livid now," the email from Dec. 11, 2020, read.
Stephen K. Bannon, a former Trump campaign manager and White House adviser, per audio days before the election, said, "If Biden's winning, Trump is gonna do some crazy shit."
- Footage from Danish documentary filmmakers shows Trump associate Roger Stone saying ahead of the election that Trump should declare victory while the result is “still up in the air.”
- The footage also shows Stone saying, “F--k the voting, let’s get straight to the violence,” and “it’s time to start smashing pumpkins if you know what I mean.”
The big picture: "The central cause of Jan. 6 was one man: Donald Trump, who many others followed," Cheney said on Thursday
- "None of this would have happened without him, he was personally and substantially involved in all of it."
- Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), during opening remarks on Thursday, also said that the bulk of evidence used by the committee came from Republicans.
- "When you look back at what has come out through this committee’s work, the most striking fact is that this evidence comes almost entirely from Republicans," he said.
Committee warns about future threats in upcoming elections
Cheney issued a warning with a look toward November, the 2024 election and beyond: “Our institutions only hold when men and women of good faith make them hold, regardless of the political cost. We have no guarantee that these men and women will be in place next time.”
Go deeper:
- Jan. 6 panel: Trump ordered large-scale U.S. troop withdrawals after election
- What to know ahead of Thursday's closing Jan. 6 hearing
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional details.
