Capitol riot hearings: Trump’s claim of voter fraud branded ‘bulls**t’ by close ally | US News

An investigation into the US Capitol riots has heard that close allies of former president Donald Trump – and even his daughter – rejected his false claims of election fraud, with one calling it “bulls**t”.

On the first of six days of public hearings before a House of Representatives select committee, new graphic footage of the insurrection was also shown.

In it, rioters could be seen smashing their way into the Capitol building on Washington DC’s National Mall, following then-President Trump’s incendiary speech in which he repeated his claims he had been denied a second term due to voter fraud.

At the time the Capitol was in session, overseeing the congressional certification of Joe Biden’s win.

The hearing witnessed public statements from key Trump administration figures including his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, Vice President Mike Pence and his chief of staff, Attorney General William Barr and General Mark Milley.

While the facts of the 6 January 2021 attack are well known, the committee is trying to put together the story of how it happened, to prevent it from happening again.

The made-for-TV hearings – shown on US network channels at prime time – included video of police officers being beaten and right-wing extremists leading the crowds into the iconic building.

It came as some have tried to downplay the violence.

“We can’t sweep what happened under the rug,” said Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the committee, “the American people deserve answers.”

He described the attack as an “attempted coup” that put “two and half centuries of constitutional democracy at risk”.

In one video testimony, former US Attorney General Mr Barr called the election fraud claims “bulls**t”, an argument that appeared to have also convinced Mr Trump’s daughter.

“I respect Attorney General Barr. So I accepted what he was saying,” Ivanka Trump said in her videotaped statement.