‘I’ve lost my name, I’ve lost my reputation’: Voting official givers testimony at Jan 6 hearings
Thursday’s January 6 hearings have taken an in-depth look at how Donald Trump and his allies put extreme pressure on the Justice Department to help overturn the 2020 election.
Former acting deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue told the committee that Mr Trump instructed him personally to say that the election was “corrupt,” and that he would use that as the impetus for Congress to act and refuse to certify the results.
“Just say it was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican congressmen,” Donald Trump said, in words read aloud by Jan 6 committee member Adam Kinzinger.
Even after being repeatedly brief by DOJ officials that his election claims were meritless, Mr Trump still said he considered supporters who rioted at the Capitol “smart” because of their views the presidential contest was stolen.
“They were angry from the standpoint of what happened in the election,” Mr Trump told filmmaker Alex Holder. “Because they’re smart, and they see and they saw what happened, and I believe that that was a big part of what happened on January 6.”
As Republicans’ plan to challenge the election progressed, congressmembers Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Mo Brooks all sought pardons from Donald Trump.
