The House Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol is holding its seventh public hearing.
The beginning of the hearing focused on the lengths former President Donald Trump took after members of his inner circle concluded in December he lost the 2020 presidential election.
“Did I believe he should concede the election at a point in time? Yes, I did," said former White House attorney Pat Cipollone
Trump refused to concede and continued to listen to people outside of the White House, including his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell.
In December, Giuliani and Powell showed up at the White House to discuss strategies to keep Trump in power, according to the committee.
Powell floated the idea of seizing voting machines.
"To have the federal government seize voting machines, that's a terrible idea for the country, you know? That's not how we do things in the United States. There's no legal authority to do that," Cipollone said in his taped deposition.
Powell left the meeting believing Trump was appointing her as special counsel.
Cipollone said he was opposed to the idea and Trump never followed through.
Former Oath Keepers spokesperson Jason Van Tatenhove provided live testimony on Tuesday. The Justice Department has accused the Oath Keepers of bringing weapons to the Capitol on Jan. 6. Multiple members of the Oath Keepers have received some of the most serious charges stemming from the insurrection.
"They may not like to call themselves a militia, but they are," Van Tatenhove said.
He added that Jan. 6 could've been the spark that started a new civil war.
"All I can do is thanks the Gods that it did not go any worse," Van Tatenhove said.
Stephen Ayres, who entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, testified he did so because Trump convinced him the election was stolen.
"The president got everybody riled up, told everyone to head on down, so we basically were just following what he said," Ayres stated.
The committee will hold its eighth hearing next week. They plan to give a detailed timeline of the events of Jan. 6.
