‘Donald Trump was at the center of this conspiracy’: Jan. 6 hearings kick off with searing charges against ex-president

The House committee probing the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol kicked off a prime-time hearing Thursday with searing charges against Donald Trump, painting a portrait of the former president at the center of a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election. 

Trump, charged Rep. Bennie Thompson, the Mississippi Democrat who leads the Jan. 6 panel, engaged in “what became a sprawling, multi-step conspiracy aimed at overturning the presidential election,” that was aimed at replacing Americans’ votes “with his will to remain in power after his term ended.” 

“Donald Trump was at the center of this conspiracy,” said Thompson. 

Lawmakers leading the probe said Thursday’s prime-time hearing would be the start of sessions revealing new details about the insurrection. The panel, led by Thompson and Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican, showed a videotaped deposition by former Attorney General Bill Barr, in which he said he told Trump that claims the election was stolen were “bullshit.” Trump’s daughter Ivanka, in a separate video, said she accepted Barr’s statement about lack of election fraud.