Schiff: Evidence Trump Responsible for January 6 ‘Very Powerful’

Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) said on Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that the evidence that former President Trump is responsible for the January 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol was “very powerful.”

Schiff said, “The evidence is very powerful that Donald Trump began telling this big lie even before the election that he was saying that any ballots counted after election day were going to be inherently suspect. That lie continued after the election and ultimately led to this mob assembling and attacking the Capitol. I think you heard just a few examples of what those witnesses have said behind closed doors. There’s a lot more testimony where that came from.”

Anchor Martha Raddatz said, “Let me ask you, is there an actual conversation between people in Trump’s orbit and Proud Boys, Oathkeepers?”

Schiff said, “Well, you know, as I think the committee already disclosed and has been publicly reported, of course, there are connections between these white nationalist groups and some in Trump’s orbit. Again, I don’t want to get into specifics of the evidence. You’ll just have to wait until we get to that point of our hearings. But I think what’s important, again, is the broad context of all of this, the knowledge prior to January 6 that there were going to be violent white nationalist groups assembling along with others on that mall. And the decision by the president nonetheless to incite that mob and do nothing while that attack was taking place. That dereliction of duty, I think, is as powerful as the president’s actions, his inactions on that day.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN