Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol

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Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (2022)
Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol
4190549Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol2022Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol

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FINAL REPORT

Select Committee to Investigate the
January 6th
Attack on the United States Capitol

December 22, 2022
117th Congress Second Session
House Report 117-663




Final Report

of the

Select Committee to
Investigate the
January 6th
Attack on the
United State Capitol

An elaborate seal for the House of Representatives with an eagle int he center



December 22, 2022

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed



U.S. Government Publishing Office
Washington : 2022

49-937


For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office
Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512‒1800; DC area (202) 512‒1800
Fax: (202) 512‒2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402-0001

Bennie G. Thompson

Liz Cheney

Zoe Lofgren

Adam B. Schiff

Pete Aguilar

Stephanie N. Murphy

Jamie Raskin

Elaine G. Luria

Adam Kinzinger

Mississippi, Chairman

Wyoming, Vice Chair

California

California

California

Florida

Maryland

Virginia

Illinois

David B. Buckley

Kristin L. Amerling

Hope Goins

Joesph B. Maher

Timothy J. Heaphy

Jamie Fleet

Timothy R. Mulvey

Candyce Phoenix

John F. Wood

Staff Director

Deputy Staff Director and Chief Counsel

Senior Counsel to the Chairman

Senior Counsel to the Vice Chair

Chief Investigative Counsel

Senior Advisor

Communications Director

Senior Counsel and Senior Advisor

Senior Investigative Counsel and Of Counsel to the Vice Chair

Katherine B. Abrams, Staff Associate

Temidayo Aganga-Williams, Senior Investigative Counsel

Alejandra Apecechea, Investigative Counsel

Lisa A. Bianco, Director of Member Services and Security Manager

Jerome P. Bjelopera, Investigator

Bryan Bonner, Investigative Counsel

Richard R. Bruno, Senior Administrative Assistant

Marcus Childress, Investigative Counsel

John Marcus Clark, Security Director

Jacqueline N. Colvett, Digital Director

Heather I. Connelly, Professional Staff Member

Meghan E. Conroy, Investigator

Heather L. Crowell, Printer Proofreader

William C. Danvers, Senior Researcher

Soumyalatha O. Dayananda, Senior Investigative Counsel

Stephen W. DeVine, Senior Counsel

Lawrence J. Eagleburger, Professional Staff Member

Kevin S. Elliker, Investigative Counsel

Margaret E. Emamzadeh, Staff Associate

Sadallah A. Farah, Professional Staff Member

Daniel George, Senior Investigative Counsel

Jacob H. Glick, Investigative Counsel

Aaron S. Greene, Clerk

Marc S. Harris, Senior Investigative Counsel

Alice K. Hayes, Clerk

Quincy T. Henderson, Staff Assistant

Jenna Hopkins, Professional Staff Member

Camisha L. Johnson, Professional Staff Member

Thomas E. Joscelyn, Senior Professional Staff Member

Rebecca L. Knooihuizen, Financial Investigator

Casey E. Lucier, Investigative Counsel

Damon M. Marx, Professional Staff Member

Evan B. Mauldin, Chief Clerk

Yonatan L. Moskowitz, Senior Counsel

Hannah G. Muldavin, Deputy Communications Director

Jonathan D. Murray, Professional Staff Member

Jacob A. Nelson, Professional Staff Member

Elizabeth Obrand, Staff Associate

Raymond O'Mara, Director of External Affairs

Elyes Ouechtati, Technology Partner

Robin M. Peguero, Investigative Counsel

Sandeep A. Prasanna, Investigative Counsel

Barry Pump, Parliamentarian

Sean M. Quinn, Investigative Counsel

Brittany M. J. Record, Senior Counsel

Denver Riggleman, Senior Technical Advisor

Joshua D. Roselman, Investigative Counsel

James N. Sasso, Senior Investigative Counsel

Grant H. Saunders, Professional Staff Member

Samantha O. Stiles, Chief Administrative Officer

Sean P. Tonolli, Senior Investigative Counsel

David A. Weinburg, Senior Professional Staff Member

Amanda S. Wick, Senior Investigative Counsel

Darrin L. Williams, Jr., Staff Assistant

Zachary S. Wood, Clerk

Rawaa Alobaidi
Melinda Arons
Steve Baker
Elizabeth Bisbee
David Canady
John Coughlin
Aaron Dietzen
Gina Ferrise
Angel Goldsborough
James Goldston
Polly Grube
L. Christine Healey
Danny Holladay
Percy Howard
Dean Jackson
Stephanie J. Jones
Hyatt Mamoun
Mary March
Todd Mason
Ryan Mayers
Jeff McBride
Fred Muram
Alex Newhouse
John Norton
Orlando Pinder
Owen Pratt
Dan Pryzgoda
Brian Sasser
William Scherer
Driss Sekkat
Chris Stuart
Preston Sullivan
Brian Young

Innovative Driven

House of Representatives,
Select Committee to
Investigate the
January 6th Attack on the
United States Capitol
,
Washington, DC,
December 22, 2022.






Hon. Cheryl L. Johnson,
Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.

Dear Ms. Johnson: By direction of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, I hereby transmit its final report pursuant to section 4(a) of House Resolution 503, 117th Congress.

Sincerely,

Bennie D. Thompson,

Chairman.

Contents Page
PRELIMINARIES
Foreword: Speaker of the House vii
Foreword: Chairman viii
Foreword: Vice Chair xiv
Executive Summary 1
Executive Summary: Overview of the Evidence Developed 8
Referrals to the U.S. Department of Justice Special Counsel and House Ethics Committee 98
Efforts to Avoid Testifying, Evidence of Obstruction, and Assessments of Witness Credibility 118
Summary: Creation of the Select Committee; Purposes 128
Select Committee Witnesses Were Almost Entirely Republican 131
Endnotes (not in original TOC) 134
NARRATIVE
Chapter 1 THE BIG LIE 195
1.1 The Big Lie Reflected Deliberate Exploitation of the "Red Mirage" 197
1.2 Trump's Pre-Election Plans to Declare Victory 199
1.3 Trump's Pre-Election Efforts to Delegitimize the Election Process 201
1.4 President Trump's Launch of the Big Lie 202
1.5 Post-Election: President Trump Replaces His Campaign Team 203
1.6 President Trump's Campaign Team Told Him He Lost the Election and There Was No Significant Fraud 204
1.7 President Trump Had His Day in Court 210
1.8 President Trump Repeatedly Promoted Conspiracy Theories 213
1.9 President Trump's January 6th Speech 231
Endnotes (not in original TOC) 233
Chapter 2 "I JUST WANT TO FIND 11,780 VOTES" 263
2.1 The Electoral College, and President Trump's Attempt to Subvert It 265
2.2 The Plan Emerges 266
2.3 Outreach and Implementation of the Plan 270
2.4 An Outright Request for Victory 291
2.5 Some Officials Eagerly Assisted President Trump With His Plans 293
2.6 The Final Outreach to State Legislators 296
2.7 The Harm Caused by Demonizing Public Servants 300
Endnotes (not in original TOC) 307
Chapter 3 FAKE ELECTORS AND THE "THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE STRATEGY" 341
3.1 Laying the Groundwork for the Fake Elector Plan: The Chesebro Memos 343
3.2 President Trump and the Campaign Adopt the Fake Elector Scheme 345
3.3 The Campaign Legal Team Bows Out, and Giuliani Steps In 346
3.4 Some of the Proposed Fake Electors Express Concerns About the Plan 351
3.5 On December 14th, The Fake Electors Meet and Vote 352
3.6 The Fallout from the Fake Elector Plan 354
Endnotes (not in original TOC) 359
Chapter 4 "JUST CALL IT CORRUPT AND LEAVE THE REST TO ME" 373
4.1 The DOJ Found No Significant Evidence of Fraud 373
4.2 November 23, 2020: Barr Challenges President Trump's Election Lies 374
4.3 December 1, 2020: President Trump is Irate After Barr Says There is No Significant Fraud 376
4.4 December 14, 2020: Barr Submits His Resignation 379
4.5 Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue Hold the Line 381
4.6 President Trump is Introduced to Jeffrey Clark 382
4.7 December 27th Phone Call 384
4.8 Congressman Scott Perry Calls Donoghue 387
4.9 December 28, 2020: The Clark Letter 389
4.10 December 29th Meeting 393
4.11 Rosen's December 30th Call with President Trump 395
4.12 December 31st Meeting 396
4.13 January 2, 2021: Rosen and Donoghue Confront Clark Again 397
4.14 January 3, 2021: Clark Informs DOJ Leadership that He Will Accept President Trump's Offer 398
4.15 President Trump's Unprecedented Attempt to Subvert the DOJ 402
Endnotes (not in original TOC) 403
Chapter 5 "A COUP IN SEARCH OF A LEGAL THEORY" 427
5.1 President Trump and His Allies Embark on a Desperate Gambit to Block Certification of the 2020 Presidential Election 430
5.2 President Trump and his Allies Exert Intense Public and Private Pressure on the Vice President in Advance of the Joint Session of Congress on January 6th 441
5.3 President Trump and his Allies Continue to Pressure the Vice President on January 6th, Threatening His Life and Our Democracy 456
5.4 President Trump Endangers Pence's Life, Causing the Vice President, His Family, and Staff to Narrowly Miss the Rioters as They Flee the Mob Attacking the Capitol 465
5.5 Aftermath of the Attack 469
Endnotes (not in original TOC) 469
Chapter 6 "BE THERE, WILL BE WILD!" 499
6.1 How Far-Right Extremists and Conspiracy Theorists Planned for January 6th 502
6.2 The Proud Boys: "[Y]ou Want to Storm the Capitol" 507
6.3 The Oath Keepers: "He Called Us All to the Capitol and Wants Us to Make it Wild!!!" 512
6.4 "Trump Said It's Gonna be Wild!!!!!!! It's Gonna be Wild!!!!!!!" 514
6.5 "Ready to Step in And Do What Is Needed" 516
6.6 "Friends of Stone" 517
6.7 White Nationalists: "The Capitol Siege was Fucking Awesome…" 519
6.8 The Three (III%) Percenters: "#OccupyCongress" 521
6.9 QAnon: "Operation Occupy the Capitol" 525
6.10 TheDonald.win: "Occupy the Capitol" 527
6.11 How the White House and Rally Organizers Prepared for January 6th 530
6.12 "He's Calling on You, He Needs Your Help" 531
6.13 "Trump is Supposed to Order Us to the Capitol" 532
6.14 "Well, I Should Walk With the People." 533
6.15 "POTUS…Likes the Crazies." 534
6.16 January 5, 2021: "Fort Trump" 536
6.17 "Together, We Will STOP THE STEAL." 538
Endnotes (not in original TOC) 540
Chapter 7 187 MINUTES OF DERELICTION 577
7.1 "Reinsert the Mike Pence Lines" 581
7.2 "I'll Be There With You" 585
7.3 The President's Anger When He Could Not March to the Capitol 587
7.4 "We're Going to Try to Get the President to Put Out a Statement" 592
7.5 "He Doesn't Want to Do Anything 595
7.6 "He Thinks Mike Deserves It" 596
7.7 "I Guess They're Just More Upset About the Election Theft Than You Are" 597
7.8 "Stay Peaceful!" 599
7.9 "The President Needs to Stop This ASAP" 600
7.10 "We Love You. You're Very Special" 603
7.11 "Remember This Day Forever!" 607
7.12 President Trump Still Sought to Delay the Joint Session 608
7.13 He "Just Didn't Want to Talk About It Anymore" 610
7.14 President Trump's "Rhetoric Killed Someone" 611
Endnotes (not in original TOC) 612
Chapter 8 ANALYSIS OF THE ATTACK 637
8.1 The Mob Assembles in Washington 639
8.2 March of the Proud Boys 642
8.3 The Initial Attack 645
8.4 President Trump's Mob Descends on the U.S. Capitol 647
8.5 The Mob Surges 651
8.6 The United States Capitol is Breached 653
8.7 President Trump Pours Fuel on the Fire 659
8.8 The Evacuation 664
8.9 Clearing the U.S. Capitol Building and Restricted Grounds 666
Endnotes (not in original TOC) 670
RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommendations 689
Endnote (not in original TOC) 692
APPENDICES
Appendix 1 GOVERNMENT AGENCY PREPARATION FOR AND RESPONSE TO JANUARY 6TH 693
Endnotes (not in original TOC) 712
APPENDIX 2: DC NATIONAL GUARD PREPARATION FOR AND RESPONSE TO JANUARY 6TH 724
Endnotes (not in original TOC) 749
APPENDIX 3: THE BIG RIP-OFF: FOLLOW THE MONEY 770
Endnotes (not in original TOC) 790
APPENDIX 4: MALIGN FOREIGN INFLUENCE 806
Endnotes (not in original TOC) 811

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work of the United States federal government (see 17 U.S.C. 105).

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