- steal and stand behind Trump when he decides to cross the rubicon. If you are a patriot I believe it's your duty to be there. I see it as my civic responsibility."[10]
- Garret Miller, who brought a gun to the Capitol on January 6th, explained: "I was in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021, because I believed I was following the instructions of former President Trump and he was my president and the commander-in chief. His statements also had me believing the election was stolen from him."[11]
- John Douglas Wright explained that he brought busloads of people to Washington, DC, on January 6th "because [Trump] called me there, and he laid out what is happening in our government."[12]
- Lewis Cantwell testified: If “the President of the United States … [is] out on TV telling the world that it was stolen, what else would I believe, as a patriotic American who voted for him and wants to continue to see the country thrive as I thought it was?"[13]
- Likewise, Stephen Ayres testified that "with everything the President was putting out" ahead of January 6th that "the election was rigged … the votes were wrong and stuff … it just got into my head." "The President [was] calling on us to come" to Washington, DC.[14] Ayres "was hanging on every word he [President Trump] was saying"[15] Ayres posted that "Civil War will ensue" if President Trump did not stay in power after January 6th.[16]
The Committee has compiled hundreds of similar statements from participants in the January 6th attack.[17]
House Resolution 503 instructed the Select Committee to "investigate and report upon the facts, circumstances, and causes relating to the January 6, 2021, domestic terrorist attack upon the United States Capitol Complex" and to "issue a final report" containing "findings, conclusions, and recommendations for corrective measures." The Select Committee has conducted nine public hearings, presenting testimony from more than 70 witnesses. In structuring our investigation and hearings, we began with President Trump's contentions that the election was stolen and took testimony from nearly all of the President's principal advisors on this topic. We focused on the rulings of more than 60 Federal and State courts rejecting President Trump's and his supporters' efforts to reverse the electoral outcome.
Despite the rulings of these courts, we understood that millions of Americans still lack the information necessary to understand and evaluate what President Trump has told them about the election. For that reason, our hearings featured a number of members of President Trump's inner circle refuting his fraud claims and testifying that the election was not in fact stolen. In all, the Committee displayed the testimony of more than four
