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https://www.reuters.com/world/us/links-between-trump-associates-militants-focus-jan-6-hearings-this-week-2022-07-10/
WASHINGTON, July 10 (Reuters) - Congressional investigators into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol expect this week to draw connections between militant groups that took part and government officials, possibly including then-President Donald Trump, a member of the committee conducting the investigation said on Sunday.
"We are going to be connecting the dots during these hearings between these groups and those who were trying in government circles to overturn the election," Democratic Representative Zoe Lofgren said on CNN's "State of the Union."
Asked if Trump was aware members of these groups attended a rally he led outside the White House when he urged them to march on the Capitol, Lofgren said: "You have to reach your own conclusions but based on the events leading up to the day, I think that would be a logical conclusion."
Trump, a Republican, has falsely claimed Democrat Joe Biden defeated him in the 2020 presidential election through massive fraud - assertions rejected in U.S. courts, by Trump's own Justice Department and even Republican-led audits.
After Trump spoke outside the White House on Jan. 6, his supporters marched to the Capitol in a failed bid to prevent Congress from certifying Biden's victory in a session where then-Vice President Mike Pence was presiding.
Two groups, the self-described Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, will be under the spotlight in the two hearings this week, expected on Tuesday and Thursday.
NBC News reported that Jason Van Tatenhove, a former spokesperson for the Oath Keepers, would testify on Tuesday. A committee spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Federal prosecutors have alleged that Jeremy Brown, a member of the Oath Keepers, brought explosives to the Washington area on Jan. 6. Brown, in a statement, called the charges a "disgusting lie."
WASHINGTON, July 10 (Reuters) - Congressional investigators into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol expect this week to draw connections between militant groups that took part and government officials, possibly including then-President Donald Trump, a member of the committee conducting the investigation said on Sunday.
"We are going to be connecting the dots during these hearings between these groups and those who were trying in government circles to overturn the election," Democratic Representative Zoe Lofgren said on CNN's "State of the Union."
Asked if Trump was aware members of these groups attended a rally he led outside the White House when he urged them to march on the Capitol, Lofgren said: "You have to reach your own conclusions but based on the events leading up to the day, I think that would be a logical conclusion."
Trump, a Republican, has falsely claimed Democrat Joe Biden defeated him in the 2020 presidential election through massive fraud - assertions rejected in U.S. courts, by Trump's own Justice Department and even Republican-led audits.
After Trump spoke outside the White House on Jan. 6, his supporters marched to the Capitol in a failed bid to prevent Congress from certifying Biden's victory in a session where then-Vice President Mike Pence was presiding.
Two groups, the self-described Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, will be under the spotlight in the two hearings this week, expected on Tuesday and Thursday.
NBC News reported that Jason Van Tatenhove, a former spokesperson for the Oath Keepers, would testify on Tuesday. A committee spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Federal prosecutors have alleged that Jeremy Brown, a member of the Oath Keepers, brought explosives to the Washington area on Jan. 6. Brown, in a statement, called the charges a "disgusting lie."
