Former President Donald Trump “distanced himself from reality,” former Attorney General William Barr told congressmen investigating the assault on Capitol Hill, both former officials and other high-level advisers and collaborators They confirm that they warned the president that there was no reason to believe that there was electoral fraud.
“He has distanced himself from reality if he really believes in these things… There was never an indication about being interested in what the real facts were,” Barr said, according to a video about his testimony in the January 6 Select Committee in the House of Representatives.
Trump even stated at one point that there was a “large number of votes” in Detroit, recalled Barr, who would have questioned those claims and who told him.
“Did someone point it out to you? Did all the people who complained point out to you that you actually did better in Detroit than you did last time? I mean, there’s no indication of fraud in Detroit,” Barr recalled of that conversation.
The dialogue with the former president, recalled Barr, was also about other state elections, such as the one in Pennsylvania.
“The president has repeatedly suggested that there was some kind of unexpected vote outpouring in inner-city areas like Philadelphia…That was absolute nonsense,” Barr said.
One of the key points about the so-called Big Lie is that former President Trump alleged there was voter fraud, even before there was any evidence.
“ from the very first moment on election night…before there was really any potential reason to look for evidence,” adds Barr.
Also conservative Republican election lawyer Ben Ginsberg told lawmakers there was no credible case of voter fraud.
“There was never that case. In all the cases that were presented [en tribunales], and I observed more than 60 that include more than 180 charges. And no, the simple fact is that the Trump campaign did not make the case for him,” he told the committee.
Drunk Giuliani
One of the highlights of Monday’s hearing is the revelation that Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s former personal lawyer, led a meeting while intoxicated, pushing his former boss to claim victory.
“Mayor Giuliani… the mayor was definitely intoxicated, but I don’t know the level of intoxication when he spoke to the president,” said Jason Miller, a longtime Trump adviser.
Even Ivanka Trump suggested her father wait before making any pronouncement, since it was “too early” to claim victory.
The situation was reconstructed with several testimonies in a video presented at the committee’s hearing this Monday, in which Giuliani is heard acknowledging that he met with former President Trump on November 4th.
The panel played a video of the statement by former Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien, where he assured that he met with Miller, Justin Clarke and the former White House chief of staff , Mark Meadows, to suggest they “listen to what Rudy presumably wanted to say to the president.”
“There were suggestions, I think it was Mayor Giuliani, to go and declare victory and say that we had completely won it,” Miller said.
Stepien suggested to the former president to wait, although he could talk about how well his campaign went and that he believed he was “in a good position.” Former President Trump did not like the plan.
Jared Kushner, the former president’s son-in-law, also opposed Giuliani’s lies, according to one of the videos played.
“It’s basically not the approach I would take if I were you,” Kushner reportedly told the former president, who said he trusted Rudy.
Messages… of death
The commissioner of the City of Philadelphia Al Schmidt said the threats against him became more specific after former President Trump tweeted against him.
“On a certain level, it feels almost silly to talk about a tweet, but we can really see the impact they have,” he said in Congress. “After the president tweeted quoting my name, calling me the way he did, the threats became much more specific, much more graphic.”
Trump described Schmidt as RINO, a pejorative term that applies to those Republicans who he considers are not really, only in name.
Schmidt revealed that the threats included his family after that tweet from the former president.
“They not only included me by name, but they included members of my family by name, their ages, our address, photos of our house,” he said. .
Prosecutors watch
Attorney General Merrick Garland was questioned about the revelations in the recent two hearings on the assault on the Capitol and affirmed that both he and his collaborators “closely follow” the testimonies.
“I am observing and I will be observing all the hearings… and I can assure you that the prosecutors who work on January 6 are also observing all the hearings,” he said at a press conference. press about a North Carolina subject accused of illegally handling weapons.
Garland’s question about the hearings comes amid reports of a possible indictment against Trump over how he incited violence to attack Capitol Hill.