January 6 hearing takeaways: Committee subpoenas Trump, reveals Secret Service warnings

WASHINGTON – An unprecedented subpoena for former President Donald Trump, newly obtained Secret Service messages warning about the armed crowd targeting the Capitol and previously unseen video of congressional leaders pleading for military reinforcements on Jan. 6, 2021, were among the revelations Thursday at the House committee hearing investigating the Capitol riot.

The subpoena marked the latest development in the investigation of Trump since the riot, along with the seizure of classified documents from his Florida estate Mar-a-Lago.

The explosive session put an exclamation point on the committee’s summary of findings from eight blockbuster hearings in June and July.

Here are six takeaways from what could be the final hearing before the committee issues its final report later this year:

Jan. 6 committee subpoenas Trump in investigation of Capitol attack

The nine-member committee voted unanimously to subpoena Trump.

The vice chair, Rep. Liz Cheney, said 30 witnesses had invoked their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination after speaking with Trump. She listed Republican political operative Roger Stone, former national security adviser Michael Flynn, Trump’s personal lawyer John Eastman and former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark.

Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows declined to testify. Steve Bannon, a Trump political strategist, was convicted of contempt for defying a House subpoena.

“We have sufficient information to consider criminal referrals for multiple individuals and to recommend a range of legislative proposals to guard against another January 6th,” Cheney said. “But a key task remains: We must seek the testimony under oath of January 6th’s central player.

“We are obligated to seek answers directly from the man who set this all in motion.”

Trump said Thursday in posts on Truth Social that the committee was "a total 'BUST' that only served to divide the country." He also cited unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud as the reason for what took place Jan. 6.

Security officials knew mob was targeting Capitol

Trump’s senior advisers at the Justice Department and FBI received an intelligence summary days before Jan. 6 indicating people traveling to Washington were making plans to attack the Capitol.

Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist warned about an attack during a call in early January with White House national security staff.

“Norquist says during one of these calls the greatest threat is a direct assault on the Capitol, I’ll never forget it,” Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the committee in a taped deposition.

Secret Service was aware of people with weapons in Trump rally crowd

A Secret Service field office relayed a tip from the FBI on Dec. 26, 2020, that the extremist group Proud Boys planned to march armed into Washington and outnumber police so they couldn't be stopped.

“Their plan is to literally kill people. Please, please take this tip seriously and investigate further,” according to an unidentified Secret Service source.

A Secret Service briefing Jan. 5, 2021, cited a number of arrests on weapons charges in Washington, D.C., including “multiple weapon offenses to include Carrying a handgun w/out a license, possessing a high capacity feeding device, and unregistered ammunition.”

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said the Federal Protective Service, which protects federal buildings, found a man with a handgun in his waistband. The U.S. Parks Police arrested a man with a rifle in front of the World War II Memorial, he said.

Secret Service agents texted one another on Jan. 6 about all the weapons. “With so many weapons found so far, you wonder how many are unknown. Could be sporty after dark,” said one text.

Pelosi, Schumer pleaded for hours for National Guard reinforcements

The committee played never-before-seen video of congressional leaders calling for military reinforcements to the Capitol Police and considering how to resume counting Electoral College votes after evacuating the House and Senate chambers under siege from the mob.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was walking in a hallway at 2:23 p.m. – soon after the mob breached the building – and talking on the phone. “We have got to finish the proceedings or else they will have a complete victory,” she said.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., urged Trump by phone to call off the mob. Trump replied that rioters were members of Antifa, according to a witness.

“No, they’re your people," McCarthy said in an account recalled by Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash.

Trump replied: “I guess they’re just more upset about the election than you are.”

Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., are shown at 2:57 p.m. urging military leaders to send National Guard troops from Maryland and Virginia. Pelosi urged military officials to treat the situation as if the White House or Pentagon were under siege.

“We need them there now,” Schumer said at 3:46 p.m.

Troops arrived after 5 p.m.

Trump knew he lost 2020 election but fought results anyway

Trump’s top advisers, including Attorney General Bill Barr and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, told him repeatedly that he had lost the 2020 election, but he continued to fight to overturn the results.

“There’s no ‘there’ there,” Meadows told Trump.

Trump became angry after the Supreme Court halted his lawsuit challenging election results. Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide, testified that Trump was “raging” and “fired up” over the court loss.

“This is embarrassing,” Hutchinson quoted Trump as saying. “I don’t want people to know that we lost.”

Eugene Scalia, Trump’s labor secretary, told the committee he spoke with Trump on Dec. 14, 2020 – the day Electoral College votes for president were certified – and told him the time had come to concede. Scalia said the campaign was over if all legal challenges were exhausted and fraud not established.

“I conveyed to him that I thought it was time for him to acknowledge that President Biden had prevailed in the election,” said Scalia, the son of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

Roger Stone: ‘We won. You’re wrong.’

Roger Stone, the Republican political operative who is a Trump confidant, anticipated a close election in 2020 but said Trump would claim victory anyway.

“I really do suspect it’ll still be up in the air,” Stone told Danish documentary director Christoffer Guldbrandsen. “When that happens, the key thing to do is to claim victory. Possession is nine-tenths of the law. No, we won. You’re wrong.”

Stone had been convicted of lying to Congress and other crimes and sentenced to three years in prison. But Trump pardoned him Dec. 23, 2020.

But Stone met with Trump allies at the Willard Hotel near the White House on Jan. 5 and 6, 2021, according to Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif. In the days leading up to the attack, Stone maintained direct connections to the extremist groups Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys, whose members have been charged with seditious conspiracy.

“Multiple associates of Roger Stone from both the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys have been charged with this crime,” Lofgren said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: January 6 hearing: Trump subpoenaed, Pelosi video and other takeaways