Miss Day 9 of the Jan. 6 hearings? Trump subpoenaed, Secret Service warnings revealed

The special congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 riots held its ninth public – and possibly last – hearing this year on Thursday, which ended with a subpoena of former President Donald Trump for his role in the Capitol attack.

For most of Thursday's proceedings, lawmakers focused on how Trump acknowledged he lost the 2020 election and was continuously alerted to the violence unfolding at the Capitol, but did not try to stop it.

The panel also unveiled recently obtained Secret Service messages and video footage, which showed how worried agents were about armed Trump supporters storming the building.

"It is our obligation to seek Donald Trump's testimony," said Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chairman of the committee.

Thompson said the congressional investigation took the monumental task of delving into Trumps's inner circle in order to get to the bottom of the attack.

He noted how many of the new witnesses presented on Thursday weren't Democrats or the former president's political rivals, but instead a constellation of Trump's aides, lawyers, and family members.

"I want to be clear, not all of these witnesses were thrilled to be talking to us. Some put up quite a fight but, ultimately, the vast majority cooperated with our investigation," he said during the nearly three-hour session.

“This investigation is not about politics. It is not about parties," he added. "It is about the facts, plain and simple. It is about making sure our government functions under the rule of law as our Constitution demands."

Stay in the conversation on politics: Sign up for the OnPolitics newsletter

Over most of the summer the panel heard from witnesses and shared evidence about how Trump and his allies plotted in multiple ways to overturn the 2020 election.

Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who serves as the panel's vice chair, said the committee could ultimately decide to recommend criminal referrals to the U.S. Department of Justice, "but we recognize our role is not to make decisions regarding prosecution.”

She said if action isn’t taken against the former president “another Jan. 6 could happen again.”

"President Trump knew from unassailable sources that his election fraud claims were false. He admitted he had lost the election," she said.

"There is no defense that Donald Trump was duped or irrational," Cheney added. "No president can defy the rule of law and act this way in a constitutional republic. Period."

Here are the highlights from Day 9 of the hearing:

Trump team telegraphed false claims

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., outlined at the outset of the hearing how Trump and his allies had planned well before the 2020 presidential election to declare victory no matter the outcome.

She showed a memo from political activist Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, a conservative-leaning group, which advised Trump to say he won before the counting of millions of mail-in and absentee ballots, which were expected to lean Democratic.

“It was a premeditated plan by the president to declare victory no matter what the actual result was," she said. "He made a plan to stay in office before Election Day.”

Draft statement declared victory

Outside advisors had crafted language ahead of the 2020 election with language Trump could use saying he won.

“We had an election today – and I won,” an Oct. 31 draft statement from Fitton said.

“The ballots counted by the Election Day deadline show the American people have bestowed up on me the great honor of reelection to President of the United States.”

The committee aired parts of a documentary by Danish filmmaker Christoffer Guldbrandsen which showed Roger Stone, a top Trump adviser, telling a group how the former president should say he won before the final results.

"I really do suspect it will still be up in the air," Stone said. "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."

Politics: Is the Jan. 6 committee sitting on explosive evidence of Trump's role in the Capitol assault?

More: What exactly was Roger Stone's role in Capitol riot? The next Jan. 6 hearing could tell us

Pence's staff objected

Vice President Mike Pence's team was concerned, and took steps to make sure he didn't echo Trump's lies.

“It is essential that the vice president not be perceived by the public as having decided questions concerning disputed electoral votes prior to the full development of all relevant facts,” according to a memo sent on election day that the Jan. 6 committee obtained from the National Archives.

Trump admitted he lost, aides said

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., one of two GOP members on the panel, outlined how after the election the former president’s campaign aides knew his chances of pulling out a victory were slim.

The committee showed a videotape testimony by former Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller, who said how aides told Trump, “the odds of us prevailing… were very small.”

Other former White House aides also appeared on video from earlier testimony, telling the committee how Trump acknowledged losing but wanted to keep fighting.

Alyssa Farah, a former White House communications director, said a week after the election was called, she “popped in the Oval (Office)” and that Trump said: “Can you believe I lost to this f-ing guy?”

Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, recalled Trump saying: "I don’t want people to know we lost, Mark. This is embarrassing. Figure it out."

Kushner liked mail-in ballots

One of the more interesting tidbits from Thursday's hearing was that not all in Trump's orbit viewed voting by mail with suspicion.

Some thought it could actually help his reelection.

“Mail-in ballots can be a good thing,” Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law who worked in the White House, told the committee.

Other aides gave a similar accounts to the committee but said “the president’s mind was made up.”

GOP chair pressured on fake electors

One of the blockbuster witnesses the committee presented on Thursday was Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, who testified via videotape how Trump, along with his attorney John Eastman, tried to recruit her to join the plan to overturn the 2020 results.

The fake electors plan, based on a debunked legal theory, relied on key states that went for Biden finding Trump-supporting electors who would go to Washington to swing the Electoral College.

McDaniel told the committee how Trump called her and turned the phone over to Eastman, who explained it was important for the national GOP to get behind the plan and help “gather these contingent electors.”

The plan also required former Vice President Mike Pence to toss aside the real electors, which he refused to do and later called the idea “un-American.”

Elections: ‘Ignoring racism will not solve it.' Georgia voters weigh in on Walker, Warnock and race

More: Texas family of 5 sentenced in Capitol riot; parents get 14 days in jail, children probation

Trump urged to concede by labor sec.

Trump's former Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia testified how he toldthe president on Dec. 14, 2020 — the day Electoral College votes were certified — that the time had come to concede.

“I conveyed to him that I thought it was time for him to acknowledge that President Biden had prevailed in the election,” he said.

Scalia, the son of late conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, said the campaign was over if legal challenges were exhausted and fraud not established.

Troop withdrawal rushed

One sign that Trump knew he had lost the election, the committee members said Thursday, was his plan to hurry up on unfinished business to avoid incoming President Joe Biden getting any credit.

Kinzinger cited how Trump immediately signed a Nov. 11 order requiring immediate withdrawal of troops from Somalia and Afghanistan to be completed before the Jan. 20 inauguration.

“I personally thought it was militarily not feasible, nor wise,” Gen, Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the panel in a videotaped testimony.

Gen. Keith Kellogg, the national security adviser for the president, said in video testimony he thought the memo “was a tremendous disservice to the nation.”

“An immediate departure that that memo said would have been catastrophic,” he said.

Elections: Endangered Democrat in Nevada Senate race sees her lead shrink, poll shows

'Watching the crazies'

One of the most important moments during Thursday's hearing was the unveiling of text messages between Secret Service agents, who were warning each other about Trump's supporters leading up to the attack.

“Calm before the storm,” one agent texted.

Another said in a group message how they were looking up live-streams and, “watching the crazies.”

By 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 6, more than 25,000 people were outside the Ellipse, where Trump later gave a speech that morning encouraging loyalists to march to the Capitol.

Secret Service knew crowd was armed

Agents observed some Trump supporters with guns and others wearing body army, ballistic helmets, pepper spray and riot shields.

“With so many weapons found so far, you wonder how many are unknown," one agent said. "Could be sporty after dark."

“The documents we obtained from the Secret Service make clear that the crowd outside the magnetometers was armed and the agents knew it,” said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., one of the committee members.

Tips of attack prior to Jan. 6

At least 10 days before the Capitol riot, the Secret Service and other intelligence agencies had information about potential violence, Schiff said.

In a report from the Secret Service field office, a tip that had been received by the FBI included information from a source that the Proud Boys planned to march armed into Washington and outnumber police.

“Their plan is to literally kill people. Please, please take this tip seriously and investigate further,” the source said.

Trump returning Capitol?

Once Trump returned to the White House as the violence at the Capitol escalated, there was a worry he would return to lead his supporters, according to Secret Service agents and White House officials.

“Front office concerned about OTR to (the Capitol)” one Secret Service agent wrote in an email to Bobby Engel, the head of the president’s security detail.

OTR is short for “off the record," describing an unscheduled and unannounced trip.

Former Trump press secretary Kayleigh McEnany testified to the Jan. 6 committee that Trump wanted to physically walk to the Capitol or ride “the beast,” the nickname for presidential limousine, if he needed.

Courts: Weeks into the job, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is already having a moment on the Supreme Court

More: Supreme Court debates Warhol copyright case with broad implications for art, pop culture

Pelosi: Do you believe this?

Previously unreleased – and dramatic – footage presented by the committee showed Speaker Nancy Pelosi, of California, reacting to the violence.

She was among a group of congressional leaders who evacuated from the Capitol to a secure location.

Speaking on the phone to then-Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, she blamed Trump for the violence.

“It’s just horrendous, and all at the instigation of the president of the United States,” Pelosi said in the video.

Watching rioters breaking into the Capitol, she said: "Do you believe this?" During another call, Pelosi is describing how there was “poo-poo, literally and figuratively” in the Capitol.

Schumer pleading for help

The committee continued to play never-before-seen video of congressional leaders calling for help from the military and local law enforcement.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen and demanded he tell Trump to call off the protesters. He also pleaded for National Guard troops from Maryland and Virginia to help Capitol Police.

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

Troops didn’t arrive until after 5 p.m.

McCarthy: '...they’re your people'

During the attack, Trump told Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy that the rioters were members of the left-wing group Antifa, according to an aide's testimony.

“No, they’re your people,” McCarthy told Trump, the aide said.

Trump fired back to McCarthy, “I guess they’re just more upset about the election than you are.”

The committee showed video of McCarthy’s congressional staff scampering to hide as the attack unfolded.

Jan. 6 panel subpoenas Trump

Saying Trump was "the center" of the Jan. 6 events, the panel voted unanimously to subpoena the former president for his role in the attack.

"He must be accountable" Thompson, the committee chair, said. "He is required to answer for his actions."

Cheney, the committee's vice chair, said the panel believes it has gathered enough information to "consider criminal referrals for multiple individuals."

"We must seek the testimony, under oath, of Jan. 6's central player," she said. “We are obligated to seek answers directly from the man who set this all in motion.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump subpoenaed, Secret Service warnings revealed: Jan. 6 committee