Top aides repeatedly told Trump fraud claims were baseless, Jan 6 panel hears

When Trump began spreading lies about widespread fraud in the election, some of his top aides, including ex-attorney general and former Trump loyalist William Barr, repeatedly told him that the claims were baseless.

Facing the reality of his defeat, Trump chose to peddle baseless claims of widespread fraud in the election. In the days after the election, factions developed within the Trump campaign, as some aides backed Giuliani and his lies about the election while others supported Stepien and his pleas for reason.

Barr, who participated in a closed-door interview with investigators earlier this month, repeatedly tried to convince the former president that the election had been secure.

Select committee member Zoe Lofgren also showed how Trump and the Republican political apparatus used those baseless claims of fraud to rake in millions of dollars from unsuspecting Americans in fundraising, and how the Capitol attack was fueled by those claims perpetuated by Trump.

The hearing on Monday, which saw Lofgren take a lead role in questioning witnesses instead of committee counsel, comes four days after the panel held its first hearing in prime time.

At that first session, the select committee featured shocking and at times emotional testimony from key witnesses who have spoken to investigators over the past year as they conducted the first stage of their inquiry behind closed doors in Washington.

Although Trump was impeached by the House for inciting the insurrection, he was acquitted by the Senate, leaving many of his critics feeling as though he was not held accountable for his actions.

Hugo Lowell contributed to this report