Among the items included in the full report published by the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on Congress was testimony from top White House aide Hope Hicks, who had returned to the White House in the final year of Donald Trump's presidency.
In the first chapter, the report discusses the Nov. 19 press conference with Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and Jenna Ellis at the Republican National Committee (RNC) headquarters in Washington. Powell told the press that there was a "massive influence of communist money through Venezuela, Cuba, and likely China in the interference with our elections here in the United States."
She referred to Dominion Voting Systems, which has since brought lawsuits against Powell, Giuliani, the Fox News empire, OAN and others for lying about the company. According to Powell's false claims, their software was "created in Venezuela" at the direction of Hugo Chavez to make sure he never lost an election. Giuliani agreed.
"Hope Hicks told the Select Committee how that press conference was received in the White House," the report explains. "The day after the press conference, President Trump spoke by phone with Sidney Powell from the Oval Office. During the call, Powell repeated the same claims of foreign interference in the election she had made at the press conference. While she was speaking, the President muted his speakerphone and laughed at Powell, telling the others in the room, 'This does sound crazy, doesn't it?'"
Trump has already responded to the Jan. 6 report by calling the election a fraud.
