The third session, open to the public, will be held tomorrow in the special commission established within the US House of Representatives and investigating the January 6 Congress attack. The session will focus on former President Donald Trump’s efforts to pressure former Vice President Mike Pence to refuse to count the votes on January 6 and earlier.
Greg Jacob, Mike Pence’s former attorney, and retired appellate court judge J. Michael Luttig, unofficial counsel, will testify at Thursday’s hearing.
Trump supporters tried to stop the ratification of the results by pressing the joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021, where the election results won by Democratic President Joe Biden will be registered.
Some were seen putting up gallows-like things outside the Capitol and were heard chanting “Hang Mike Pence”. These images were also watched in the first session organized by the commission.
Vice President Mike Pence, in a statement in Florida in February, said that Trump was wrong to think he had the authority to change the results of the election, saying, “I had no right to reverse the election.”
Liz Cheney, the Republican vice chair of the January 6 commission, gave information about the content of tomorrow’s session in a video message she shared on Twitter.
Liz Cheney shared a part of the testimony of Trump-era White House attorney Eric Herschmann. In this part of Herschmann’s testimony, he cites that John Eastman, his legal adviser close to Trump, reached out to him the day after the Congressional attack.
Herschmann said that Eastman told him on the phone about something about the state of Georgia, and Herschmann said, “Are you out of your mind? From now on, I want to hear two words come out of your mouth: A due process,” and to Eastman, “I’m going to give you the best free legal advice you’ll ever get in your life. Find a very good criminal defense attorney, you’ll need it,” and then hung up.
Did a Republican congressman give a group a tour of the building the day before the attack?
The day before the January 6th Congressional attack, Barry Loudermilk, a member of the Republican House of Representatives, allegedly gave a group tour of the Capitol building.
In a letter to Loudermilk, commission chair Bennie Thompson noted that the new footage showed the congressman showing a group of about 10 people past the Rayburn, Longworth and Cannon office buildings, as well as the entrances to the tunnels leading to Congress.
In his letter, Thompson stated that this group stayed inside for a few hours and that some of them photographed areas that would not be of interest to tourists.
The footage shows an unnamed person taking photos of tunnels and security checkpoints inside the capitol during the tour led by Republican congressman Loudermilk.
In another video released by the commission, it is stated that the same person used threatening expressions on the leading figures of the Democratic Party as he approached the Congress building with thousands of Trump supporters on January 6.
Loudermilk’s office accused the January 6 Commission of running a smear campaign. In a written statement, it was stated that the police stated that the activities of the tour group were not suspicious, referring to a letter from Congressional police.
The congressional police letter stated that the group had not been seen in the tunnels leading to the Congressional building and there was no evidence that Loudermilk had entered the congressional building during their visit.
Wednesday’s session was postponed
The commission’s session planned for Wednesday was postponed to another day. Congressional sources said the delay was due to technical issues.
A spokesperson for the commission said the session was delayed as a result of a combination of factors such as planning, production schedule and witnesses’ schedules.
The January 6 Commission will hold two public hearings on 21 and 23 June.