Signals Trump was focused on Capitol protest during unusual 2020 Christmas visit to Palm Beach

The congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 violence at the U.S. Capitol, and purported coup attempt, will begin televised hearings on Thursday evening.

One topic of interest should be the meetings and proceedings at Mar-a-Lago during then-President Donald Trump's 2020 Christmas visit.

Specifically, how much of the plan to launch an assault on the Capitol and other efforts by the former president to overturn the 2020 election and abort the counting of Electoral College votes were hashed out at the Southern White House in late December of that year.

Here are five reasons to think the events of Jan. 6 were a high-priority for Trump during that abbreviated, atypical holiday stay.

Prior story: Trump expected to arrive on Dec. 23 for last presidential Christmas at Mar-a-Lago

More: Trump is back in Florida for Christmas, New Year's, but he vows to still fight 2020 vote

Trump tweets about "wild" protest ahead of arrival in West Palm Beach

Four days before Trump arrived for his final Christmas stay at Mar-a-Lago as president, he tweeted a link to a report he said proved it was "statistically impossible" for him to have lost the 2020 presidential election.

The tweet cited a 36-page analysis by Peter Navarro, the White House trade and economics adviser who spent part of his youth in Palm Beach County. Navarro's report alleged there was "more than sufficient" election fraud that, if those votes were voided, it would swing the election to Trump, according to the tweet.

It turns out Navarro was a central figure in the saga to upend the electoral vote counting in January 2021. Just last year, he published a book in which he detailed a scheme, dubbed the Green Bay Sweep, that he and Steve Bannon devised to overturn the election results.

At the time of Trump's tweet about Navarro's findings, however, roughly 60 legal challenges to election results in a variety of states had been dismissed in court. The rulings by judges, Republicans and Democrats, and some appointed by Trump himself, dismissed the allegations and accusations of election fraud as meritless and frivolous.

Trump in Palm Beach: Three Christmases: Highlights of Trump's previous Mar-a-Lago holiday stays

More: What Trump said in rally speech to spark U.S. Capitol storming

But Trump's social media missive concluded that a big protest was planned in Washington on Jan. 6. "Be there, will be wild," the tweet read.

In a footnote of historical irony, then-Vice President Mike Pence was in West Palm Beach the day before Trump arrived for his Christmas break.

In a speech to the Turning Point USA summit, Pence echoed Trump's defiance in the face of re-election defeat.

"As our election contest continues, I'll make you a promise," Pence said to loud cheers from the young conservatives gathered. "We're going to keep fighting until every legal vote is counted. We're going to keep fighting until every illegal is thrown out."

Rudy Giuliani hinted at other challenges in brief chat

Air Force One had landed at Palm Beach International Airport just minutes before on Dec. 23, 2020. Trump and first lady Melania Trump had been whisked away to their private Palm Beach club in the presidential motorcade.

A curious sight that evening was Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, walking toward a black SUV parked in in a lot at Atlantic Aviation, the PBIA aviation business where Air Force One was routinely kept during presidential stays.

Giuliani, a part-time Palm Beach resident, declined to say why he didn't ride with the Trumps to Mar-a-Lago. But he did say he was in town to continue discussions on legal challenges to the Nov. 3 election as well as the Dec. 14 Electoral College balloting.

At the time, though, it appeared the Trump team was out of options.

The U.S. Supreme Court had refused to even listen to the most recent challenge, a seemingly last ditch effort filed by attorneys general in GOP-won states, including Florida's Ashley Moody. Moreover, all 50 states had already counted, certified and sent in their electoral college votes.

It appeared all over but the counting, or so it seemed.

But Giuliani insisted more challenges would be forthcoming, but declined to discuss specifics, including fringe ideas such as a suggestion the president declare martial law in a handful of states. That call came from a narrow group of presidential advisers, including attorney Sidney Powell, who had been summarily dropped from Rudy Giuliani's legal team in November.

"I can't tell you that," he said when asked what the Trump legal team's next move would be. Then he added that was specifically the reason he had come to Palm Beach for the holiday, to continue working on those "challenges."

Election court fights failed, but Trump could still count on supporters' loyalty

Before leaving Washington, Trump issued 26 additional pardons, including ones for former Palm Beach County commissioner Mary McCarty and developer James Batmasian. But those were overlooked by pardons for Palm Beach Gardens resident and 2016 Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and South Florida political trickster Roger Stone.

As Trump flew down, one thing he could count on was the fealty of his supporters.

The mood among Trump's ardent supporters, more than a hundred of them along Southern Boulevard despite the late hour of his arrival that night, was festive as usual.

Many Trump supporters said the flag-waving events and gatherings along the motorcade route had become social affairs, with food, music and lots of Trump merch — from rhinestone necklaces to Trump dog attire.

"I have made friends for life," said Michael Bafumo, of West Palm Beach. "We're patriots ... we're not loyal to the Republican Party, we are loyal to Donald Trump."

Trump's Christmas 2020 stay at Mar-a-Lago was unusual

At about the time he and the first lady landed at PBIA, the president revealed on Twitter what he thought should be the next step — a special counsel probe — in the ongoing but failed and futile attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election result that saw him lose the popular vote by 7 million votes and a lopsided electoral tally, 306 to 232.

"After seeing the massive Voter Fraud in the 2020 Presidential Election, I disagree with anyone that thinks a strong, fast, and fair Special Counsel is not needed, IMMEDIATELY," read Trump's tweet, which was marked as "disputed" by the social media platform. "This was the most corrupt election in the history of our Country, and it must be closely examined!"

During his nine-day visit, Trump stayed out of public sight but raged on Twitter.

There was not the photo opportunity at a local church for Christmas Eve services, for example. On Christmas Day, the president tweeted that he would speak to military troops via videoconference but did not allow media coverage of the event, which he'd done in previous years. On Dec. 27, the president signed the coronavirus stimulus legislation but opted for a written statement instead of a live ceremony to announce the decision.

Another oddity: Air Force One was noticeably absent at its regular spot along Southern Boulevard during the president's visit.

Trump spent many of his days at his West Palm Beach-area golf course and tweeting his ire about the Nov. 3 election defeat.

A pair of Trump's social media postings also pointed to the rally he planned in Washington on Jan. 6, the day set aside in Congress for the reading and official recording of Electoral College votes. In this case, affirming that his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, won the presidential election.

Trump then departs Palm Beach early, misses New Year's Eve gala

Originally, Trump was reportedly expected to have stayed in Palm Beach through Jan. 3. But in a planning document sent ahead of his Dec. 23 arrival, the White House travel schedule had him leaving Palm Beach on New Year's Day.

That changed rather abruptly when the president left aboard Air Force One just before noon on Dec. 31. A White House press corps reporter had broken the news of the early departure only the night before.

Why Trump decided to return earlier was not publicly revealed. He did not issue any tweets in his final hours at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Palm Beach.

What is clear is Trump missed the annual New Years Eve gala, a red carpet, swanky, big-ticket fetes, that is a tradition on the island like his annual Super Bowl party. It was the second time as president that he skipped the gala — the first was in 2018 when he remained in Washington due to the government shutdown.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Jan. 6 prime time hearings: Did Trump plan Capitol riot at Mar-a-Lago?