As he went before the camera, footage showed former US President Donald Trump refused to concede the 2020 election was over and Joe Biden had won.
As he went before the camera, footage showed former US President Donald Trump refused to concede the 2020 election was over and Joe Biden had won.
Donald Trump refused to concede the US election was "over" after his supporters stormed the Capitol last year, angry outtakes of his taped remarks revealed.
The former US president was pressured into recording a video message a day after the January 6 attack on Congress amid mutinous threats from members of his cabinet.
But even as he went before the camera, footage showed that Trump refused to concede the 2020 election was over and Joe Biden had won.
"I can't say that ... I don't want to say the election's over. I just want to say Congress has certified the results without saying the election's over," he said in the outtakes.
With the White House in the background, Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Washington, before the Jan. 6 riots. Photo / AP
It was one in a string of shocking moments in a primetime TV hearing by the congressional committee investigating the riot broadcast to millions on Thursday night.
The eighth public hearing by the bipartisan committee focused on Trump's refusal to act in 187 minutes as his supporters stormed Capitol Hill, leaving elected officials fearful for their safety.
Donald Trump speaks during an event with Joe Lombardo, Clark County sheriff and Republican candidate for Nevada governor. Photo / AP
After the committee presented its evidence, member Adam Kinzinger said the investigation had "proven different components of a criminal case against Donald Trump".
A decision on whether to bring criminal charges lies with Merrick Garland, the US attorney general, who has said that "no one is above the law". However, it is unclear whether he is willing to take the unprecedented step of charging a former president with a crime.
Thursday night's hearing revealed how Trump spent hours in the White House dining room on Jan 6 watching the violence on Fox News while his daughter Ivanka and senior aides urged him to publicly condemn the riot.
While Trump watched the riot on TV, Mike Pence, his vice president, was being evacuated from the Senate floor.
It emerged on Thursday that, as the violence escalated, some of Pence's security detail began to fear for their lives. "There were calls to say goodbye to family members," one official, who was not identified to prevent reprisals, told the committee.
There were also moments of levity during the more than two hours of live and recorded testimony. The chamber burst into laughter as footage of Josh Hawley, the Republican senator who infamously raised a fist in support of the rioters, later showed him fleeing the same crowd.
The committee sought to underscore Trump's criminal culpability in the violence by sharing messages from the former president's relatives and allies urging him to act.
They included a text exchange between his eldest son, Donald Jr, and Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff.
"He's got to condemn this s---. Asap," Donald Jr told Meadows in a text shortly before 3pm on Jan 6. "I am pushing it hard. I agree," Meadows responded.
Text messages between Donald Jr and Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff. Photo / Supplied
As members of Congress sought shelter from the mob, some pleaded with Trump and his aides to tell his supporters to end the carnage – but to no avail, according to witness testimony.
Instead, one former aide accused Trump of "pouring gasoline on the fire" by repeating his false claims of a stolen election in his tweets.
They included attacking Pence for failing to "have the courage" to heed his unconstitutional demand to reject the election results.
Finally, at 4.17 pm, Trump tweeted a video from the Rose Garden in which he urged the rioters to "go home".
Even then, however, he diverted from his prepared remarks to cast his supporters as victims and repeat his unsubstantiated fraud claims. "We had an election that was stolen from us... but you have to go home now," he said.
Two witnesses, Matthew Pottinger, Trump's former deputy national security adviser, and Sarah Matthews, the former deputy press secretary, told the committee the tweets led them to resign in disgust.
The following day, Jan 7, Trump recorded another video message intended to reassure Americans that he would commit to an orderly transfer of power.
Outtakes of the video broadcast by the Jan 6 committee revealed his frustration as he navigated his prepared script. At points, he clenched his teeth and slammed his fist on the lectern as he recorded the message.
His daughter Ivanka could be heard off-camera coaching her father through the script and suggesting edits to sections he did not like.
With the White House in the background, Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Washington, before the Jan. 6 riots. Photo / AP
Jason Miller, a senior Trump campaign aide, said the then president wanted to say that a "peaceful transition" of power would now take place.
"That ship's kind of already sailed, so we're going to say 'orderly transition'," Miller said he told him in video testimony.
The blockbuster hearing had been intended to conclude the committee's findings, but the panel announced it would continue with more broadcasts in September because of the additional evidence it had received.
Trump denounced the committee as a "kangaroo court" and asked why the panel was not examining evidence that challenged Biden's election win.
Meanwhile, Axios reported that Trump's top allies are preparing to radically reshape the US government if he wins another term in 2024. The plans involve purging potentially thousands of civil servants and filling roles traditionally held by career officials with Trump loyalists, according to those involved.
Axios reported the overhaul could extend to several layers of government, including top roles at the FBI, State Department, the Pentagon and several national security posts.
