House Jan. 6 Committee Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney on Monday blamed former President Donald Trump for “hundreds of our countrymen” being locked up in the wake of the Capitol riot.
The Wyoming Republican said Mr. Trump knowingly deceived his followers with his claims of election fraud, and said those who stormed the Capitol did so at his request.
“Hundreds of our countrymen have faced criminal charges,” Ms. Cheney said. “Many are serving criminal sentences because they believed what Donald Trump said about the election and they acted on it.”
“They came to Washington D.C. at his request, they marched on the Capitol at his request, and hundreds of them besieged and invaded the building at the heart of our constitutional republic,” she said.
The Department of Justice has charged at least 862 people in connection with the Capitol riot.
Ms. Cheney’s remarks kicked off Monday’s hearing, which follows Thursday’s prime-time debut of a series of hearings this month.
Aides said the Monday’s hearing will focus on Mr. Trump’s decision to claim victory on election night in November 2020 “despite sound advice that he didn’t have the numbers to win,” and his decision to “embrace false claims that the election was tainted by widespread fraud” in the days following the election.
• Joseph Clark can be reached at jclark@washingtontimes.com.
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