Here's what President Trump did not do: He did not call any relevant law enforcement agency to ensure they were working to quell the violence. He did not call the Secretary of Defense; he did not call the Attorney General; he did not call the Secretary of Homeland Security.[140] And for hours on end, he refused the repeated requests—from nearly everyone who talked to him—to simply tell the mob to go home.[141]
Throughout the afternoon, senior staff regularly entered the room to give him updates on what was happening at the Capitol.[142] And, of course, President Trump used Twitter, where information is shared on an instantaneous basis.
Shortly after President Trump entered the dining room, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany swung by to "check in with him" about the letter Vice President Pence released around 1:00 p.m. announcing that he would not, in fact, overturn the will of the voters.
The President, once again, brought up going to the Capitol.[143] McEnany recorded what he said in her notes, certain of which she later produced to the Select Committee: "POTUS wanted to walk to [sic] capital. Physically walk. He said fine ride beast," referring to the nickname for the presidential vehicle. "Meadows said not safe enough[.]"[144]
Meadows told Hutchinson at some point in the day that "the President wasn't happy that Bobby [Engel] didn't pull it off for him," meaning the trip to the Capitol, "and that Mark didn't work hard enough to get the movement on the books."[145]
Despite the turmoil just outside its walls, the proceedings in the joint session—which had begun at 1:00 p.m.—were still ongoing, and the President was watching them on the television.[146] He was eager to know which senators were lodging objections on his behalf.[147] "Back there and he wants list of senators," McEnany's notes read. "Who [sic] objecting to what. He's calling them one by one."[148]
The Select Committee subpoenaed several Members of Congress who reportedly spoke with President Trump during the afternoon.[149] None of them complied.[150]
Cellular records obtained by the Select Committee suggest that President Trump was on the phone with his lawyer Rudolph Giuliani at least twice during this period. Giuliani's phone connected with the White House switchboard for 3 minutes and 53 seconds at 1:39 p.m. and again for more than 8 minutes at 2:03 p.m.[151] Between the two calls, at 1:49 p.m., President Trump tweeted a link to a video of his speech from the Ellipse.[152]
