A report by the Guardian claims that Donald Trump placed calls to a group of trusted advisors at the Willard hotel in Washington to plan how to overturn the results of the presidential election.
Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer for former President Donald Trump, will speak at a news conference in 2020. In this file photo, President Barack Obama.
The Associated Press.
According to sources with knowledge of the communication, the advisers at the Willard took calls late in the evening on January 5 or early in the morning on January 6.
Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal attorney, and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon were among those who took the calls and held discussions with the president.
The group came up with an unsuccessful plan to lobby Republican lawmakers to delay the election certification process because of Trump's concern that Vice President Mike Pence did not plan to join in efforts to overturn the election.
"This is completely false," Liz Harrington said in a statement to Forbes.
It's not clear where in the White House Trump made the calls.
The key background.
Many of the former president's actions on the day of the rioting and immediately leading up to it are unknown and remain the subject of much speculation. It's not clear what contact he had with those at the Willard hotel, the historic Washington landmark where his most trusted advisors reportedly rented out rooms and suites to discuss plans to overturn the election. The House select committee investigating the January 6 rioting has subpoenaed dozens of former Trump officials to try to piece together "every detail of what went on in the White House on January 6th," according to the committee chairman. The National Archive was asked to turn over documents related to the events of January 6, but a D.C. federal appeals court temporarily blocked the release of those documents. The documents are protected by executive privilege, according to Trump.
The first person to be indicted on contempt of Congress charges since 1983 was Bannon, who was indicted after he failed to comply with a subpoena. The committee cited his presence at the Willard as a reason for issuing the subpoena. The man has pleaded not guilty.
Trump called aides to discuss how to stop Biden.
The Willard hotel in D.C. was a command center for the effort to deny Biden the presidency.
Stephen Miller and Kayleigh McEnany were subpoenaed by the House.
The court blocks the release of the documents.
The man who leads the charge to contempt of Congress is not guilty.
Steve Bannon was indicted for contempt of Congress after he refused to comply with Subpoena.
