the attack and the harm. let's start with the provocation we will show during the course of this trial that this attack was provoked by the president incited by the president and as a result it was predictable and it was foreseeable and of course that makes sense and this mob was well orchestrated their conduct was intentional they did it all in plain sight proudly openly and loudly because they believed they truly believed that they were doing this for him but this was their patriotic duty they even predicted that he would protect them and for the most part they were right in his unique role as commander in chief of our country and is the one

person that the mob was listening to and following orders from he had the power to stop it and he didn't. now some have said the president trumps remarks a speech on generous 6 was just a speech well let me ask you this when in our history has a speech led thousands of people to storm our nation's capital with weapons to scale the walls break windows kill a capitol police officer this was not just a speech it in just happened and as you

evaluate the facts that we present to you it will become clear exactly where that mob came from. because here's the thing president trump's words as you'll see. on january 6th in that speech just like the mobs actions were carefully chosen those words had a very specific meaning to that crowd and how do we know this because in the weeks prior to during and after the election he used the same words over and over and over again you will hear over and over 3 things you can see them on the screens 1st what lead manager rascon referred to as the big lie that the election was stolen full of fraud rigged. you will hear over and over him using that why to

urge his supporters to never concede and stop the steal and finally you will hear the call to arms it was his supporters patriotic duty to fight like hell to do what to stop the steel to stop the election from being stolen by showing up in this very chamber to stop you to stop us i respectfully ask that you remember those 3 phrases as you consider the evidence today election was stolen stop the steel and fight like hell because they did not just appear on january 6th but let me show you what i mean let's start with the big lie you will see during this trial that the president realized

really by last spring that he could lose he might lose the election so what did he do he started planting the seeds to get some of his supporters ready by saying that he could only lose the election if it was still. i mean in other words really what he did is create a no lose scenario either he won the election or he would have some angry supporters not all but some who believed that if he lost the election had to be rigged and they would be angry because he was telling americans that their vote had been stolen and in america our vote is our voice

so his false claims about election fraud that was the drumbeat being used to inspire instigate and ignite them to anger them watch this clip because we're not going to let this election be taken away from a sense the only way they're going to when i was it's the only way we could be it's the only way we can it is in my opinion there's massive fraud and we all know what happened after that he lost he lost the election remember he had no lose scenario i referenced earlier he told his base that the election was stolen as he had forecast it and then he told them your election has been stolen but you cannot concede you must stop the

steel you can't lead another person to steal that election from you all over the country people are together in a holding up signs stop this deal the democrats are trying to steal the why they're us you can't let them you just can't let them now while he's. inciting supporters he's also simultaneously doing everything he possibly can to overturn the election 1st he begins with the courts a legitimate avenue a legitimate avenue to challenge the election but he ignores all of their adverse rulings when all of his claims are thrown out then he moves on

to trying to pressure state election officials to block the election results for his opponent even though he'd lost in their states you'll hear my fellow managers discuss that in detail then he tries to threaten state election officials actually change the votes to make him the winner even threatening criminal penalties if they refused he had the justice department investigate his claims and even they found no support for those claims so he tried to persuade some members of his party in congress to block the certification of his vote with attacks in public forums when that failed he tried to intimidate the vice president of the united states of america to refuse to certify the vote and send it back to the states none of it worked. so

what does he do with his back against the wall when all else has failed he turns back to his supporters who had already spent months telling them that the election was stolen and he amplified it further he turned it up a notch he told them that they had to be ready not just to stop the steal but to fight like hell. we're not right for the survival of our guys we are going to keep trying we were never surrender we were only where now is not the time to read $3.00 to $5.00 harder than ever before we have to go all the way we're going to fight like hell i'll tell you right. we will not we will not break we will not yield we will never give in and we will never give up we will never back down we will never ever surrender.

you will see that in the months the president made these statements people listened armed supporters surrounded election officials homes the secretary of state for georgia got death threats officials warned the president that his rhetoric was dangerous and it was going to result in deadly violence and that's what makes this so different because when he saw firsthand the violence that his conduct was creating he didn't stop it. he didn't condemn the violence he incited it further and he got more specific he didn't just tell them to fight like hell he told them

how where and when. he made sure they had advance notice 18 days advance notice he sent his save the date for january 6th he told them to march to the capitol and fight like hell on january 6th as we said the exact same day that we were certifying the election results what time was that rally scheduled for the exact same time that this chamber was certifying the election results in joint session when did he conclude his speech literally moments before speaker pelosi had gaveled us. into session many of us were in the house during that joint session of congress i was sitting 2 rows behind leader schumer and leader mcconnell i remember it vividly and as

we were standing there fulfilling our solemn oath to the constitution the president was finishing his speech just a couple of miles away how did he conclude that infamous speech with a final call to action he told them to march down pennsylvania avenue to come here bet it was their patriotic duty because the election had been stolen and when they heard his speech they understood his words and what they meant because they had heard it before. let's take just a minute and really look at his words on january 6th as he spoke at the save america rally not remember i told you you hear 3 phrases the election was stolen stop the steel and fight like hell let's start with that 1st phrase.

all of us here today want to see our election victory stolen is that given a thing like this so pure theft in american history everybody knows it make no mistake this election was stolen from you from me from the gutter now of course each of you heard those words before so had the crowd the president had spent months telling his supporters that the election had been stalling in seoul and he used this speech to incite them further to inflame them to stop the steel to stop the certification of the election results. we will never give up we will never concede it doesn't happen you do it so it was i had to use a favorite term that all of you people really came up with we will stop this deal

we must stop this deal finally the president used this speech as a call to arms it was not rhetorical some of his supporters had been primed for this over many months as you'll learn days before the speech sleeve manager rascon noted there were vast reports across all major media outlets that thousands of people would be armed that they'd be filing you'll learn that capitol police and the f.b.i. reported in the days leading up to the attack that thousands in the crowd would be targeting the capitol specifically if they had arrested people with guns the night before the attack on weapons charges and this is what our

commander in chief said to the crowd in the face of those warnings right before they came here we will not let them silence your voices we're not going to let it that it was going to lead the it was of the it when you have to get your people to fight because you'll never take back our country with weak this you have to show strength and you have to be strong and we fight we fight like hell and if you don't fight like hell you're not going to have a country anymore. you have to

get your people to fight he told the senators this clearly was not just one speech it in just happened it was part of a carefully planned months long effort with a very specific instruction show up on january 6th and get your people to fight the certification he incited it it was forseeable. and again you don't have to take my word for it the president's former chief of staff is a retired marine 4 star general was confirmed by this body to be the secretary of homeland security overwhelmingly overwhelming vote that man was john kelly and on the day after the insurrection he said this you know the president

who you don't. want any big statement to start who knows what he wants to do. and the fact that he said that he has been saying that the election. and encouraging people no surprise again what happened yesterday no surprise think about that no surprise the president had every reason to know that this would happen because he assembled the mob he summoned the mob and he incited the mob he knew when he took that podium on that fateful morning. that those in attendance and he did his words and they were waiting for his orders to begin fighting and that of course brings me

my fellow managers to what happened here in this building. as lead manager rascon stated my colleagues are going to walk through the evident events of january 6th and the evidence in very great detail they are painful to watch and to recount and i'm not going to repeat the evidence now but i do want to be clear about what also happened during that terrible attack and that is this that president trump once again. failed us because when the violence erupted when we and the law enforcement officials protecting us protecting you were under attack as each of you were being evacuated from this chamber from a violent mob as we were being evacuated from the house he could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence it was his duty as commander in chief to stop the violence and he alone had that power

not just because of his unique role as commander in chief but because they believed that they were following his orders they said so. was. that it was following my president i thought i was following what we were called to do. that we'd be in d.c. . you heard it from them they were doing what he wanted them to do they wouldn't have listened to you to me to the vice president of the united states

who they were attacking they didn't stop in the face of law enforcement police officers fighting for their lives to stop them they were following the president. hilo our commander in chief had the power to stop it and he didn't you will hear evidence tonight tomorrow throughout the trial about his refusal as commander in chief to respond to numerous desperate pleas in the phone across social media begging him to stop the attack and you will see his relentless attack on vice president pets who was at that very moment hiding with his family as armed extremists were chanting hang my pants calling him a traitor you will see that even when he did finally 3 and

a half hours into the attack tell these people to go home in peace he added this lead manager raskin said a quote very special we love you. think for a moment just a moment. of the lives lost that day of the more than 140 wounded police officers and ask yourself if as soon as this had started president trump had simply gone on to t.v. just log on to twitter and said stop the attack if he had done so with even half as much force as he said stop the steel how many lives would we have saved sadly he didn't do that

at the end of the day. the president was not successful in stopping the certification that we know thanks to the bravery of our law enforcement and of the bravery of the senators in this room. each of you who still filled your constitutional duty even under the threat of mortal peril but there can be no doubt of the grave harm that he cost to our elected leaders to us our families to all who work in the capitol our staff your staff to our brave capitol police who defend us tirelessly with little thanks who believed that they had a commander in chief who would defend and protect them and instead put them in harm's way to those killed for heeding his command to our

democracy and the system which ensures that we have a president elected by the people to our national security and our standing in the world the harm was real the damage was real 5 people lost their lives on that terrible tragic day a woman was shot dead 50 feet from where we later certified the election results. and for those who question just how bad it was criminal complaints recently unsealed by the department of justice are more than revealing you'll see one of these documents on the screen in the charging affidavit of one of the leaders of the prob ois we learned that members of this

group said i'm going to quote they would have killed mike pence if given the chance . in another we learned of a tweet in real time while they were in the building stating we broke into the capitol we got inside we did our part we were looking for nancy pelosi to shoot her in the frickin brain but we didn't find her. and for anyone who suggests otherwise these defendants themselves have told you exactly why they were here you'll see this in the trial that in the halls of the capitol on social media in news interviews and in charging documents they confirm they were following the

president's orders you can see some of the statements on that screen one who said trump wants all able bodied patriots another that president trump is calling us to fight this isn't a joke another one i thought i was following my president i thought i was following what we were called to do our president wants us here we wait and take orders from the president he made them believe over many weeks but the election was stolen and they were following his command to take back their country as i prepared for today yesterday it's trial one memory and i couldn't shake it was on the night of january 6th and the feeling of walking back on to the house floor and seeing many of you there. i remember us

finishing our task at 4 in the morning and as often as i walked off the floor i was so grateful so grateful for the opportunity to thank the vice president of the united states mike pence for his actions for standing before us and asking us to follow our oath and our faith and our duty we only got a couple hours of sleep at morning early the next day i called my dad who came to this country as i mentioned as an immigrant 40 years ago and i told him that the proudest moment by far of serving in congress for me. i was going back onto the floor with each of you to finish the work that we had started.

i'm humbled to be back with you today and just as on january 6th when we overcame that attack on our capital and our country i'm hopeful that at this trial we can use our resolve and our resilience to again up hold our democracy i think fully applying the law the indicating the constitution and holding president trump accountable for his actions. senators and representatives working castro in iraq swalwell will now show the evidence of president trumps a long campaign to de litigious de legitimizes electoral defeat and to galvanize his supporters to help him retain his power at any cost so we're going to go at

this point step by step and explain the progression all the way up until the attack . good afternoon y'all my name is walking goss through i represent san antonio in the united states congress there's a saying that a lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth as a chance to put on its shoes that was before the internet the point of

that saying is that a lie can do incredible damage and destruction and that's especially true when that lie is told by the most powerful person on earth our commander in chief the president of the united states this attack did not come from one speech and it didn't happen by accident the evidence shows clearly that this mob was provoked over many months by donald j. trump and if you look at the evidence his purposeful conduct. you'll see that the attack was forseeable and preventable i'll start by discussing president trump's actions leading up to the election when he set up his big lie beginning in the spring of 2020 president trump began to fall behind in the polls and by july president trump had reached a new low he was running 15 points behind his opponent and he was scared.

he began to believe that he could legitimately lose the election. and so he did something entirely unprecedented in the history of our nation he refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power here's what he said. and you give a direct answer you will accept the allowance to see uk you have to see nothing just say yes. you commit to making sure that there's a nice little. bit of the balance and you'll have a very transpo have a very peaceful that won't be a transfer frankly they'll be a continuation senators the president of the united states said quote there won't be a transition of power they'll be

a continuation president trump was given every opportunity to tell his supporters yes if i lose i will peacefully transfer power to the next president instead he told his supporters the only way he could lose the election is if it was stolen in tweet after tweet he made sweeping allegations about election fraud that couldn't possibly be true but that was the point he didn't care if the claims were true he wanted to make sure that his supporters were angry like the election was being ripped away from them. on may 24th 6 months before the election he tweeted it will be the greatest rigged election in history how could he possibly know it would be the greatest rigoletto in history 6 months before the election happens and on june 22nd more of the same rig 2020

election it will be the scandal of our times.