前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)周一在一份冗长的声明中回应了众议院正在进行的1月6日的委员会听证会，抨击该小组是非法的，他们的陈述是片面的——但他没有反驳他们的证据，而是重申了他对2020年总统大选和该团体案件的核心问题的同样毫无根据的说法企图发动“政变”
特朗普周一晚上发给记者的12页声明是在第二次公开听证会由调查去年国会大厦致命袭击的众议院特别委员会召开。他的声明充满了特有的感叹和侮辱，称听证会是“一场烟雾和镜子秀”，未能包括“所有开脱罪责的证人，以及任何轻易指出他们故事中漏洞的人。”
然而，这份声明没有直接回应该委员会迄今为止向公众公布的具体细节，包括周一早些时候特朗普核心团队的证词，即他知道自己在上次总统竞选中失败了，没有正当理由声称存在广泛的欺诈，而是选择听鲁迪·朱利安尼(Rudy Giuliani)的话，虚假地声称战胜了乔·拜登(Joe Biden)。相反，特朗普的大部分声明都是针对拜登总统和国会中的民主党多数派，建立在共和党人在11月中期选举前提出的论点上。特朗普表示，民主党人对困扰这个国家的各种问题负有责任，他将1月6日的调查视为转移对这些问题的注意力的一种方式。
“美国正在崩溃，民主党人没有解决方案。在民主党的领导下，我们的国家没有希望变得更好，”特朗普说。“人们绝望了。民主党人没有解决问题，而是在重复历史，希望改变叙事。
包括两名共和党人在内的委员会成员反驳了他们的调查是出于党派偏见的说法。相反，他们说，他们的工作揭露了前总统在多大程度上削弱了民主进程并继续掌权。
“宪法不仅仅保护民主党人或共和党人。它保护我们所有人，我们，人民。这个计划是企图破坏人民的意志，”众议员本尼·汤普森说。该委员会的主席说第一次公开听证会周四。
特朗普在周一的声明中反复强调虚假或无根据的主张他、他的竞选团队和他的支持者认为，2020年的选举通过窃取选票、错误计票和其他各种方式受到操纵，有利于拜登。
特朗普表示，正在进行的1月6日听证会是民主党人撰写的“叙事”，旨在“转移对2020年大选被操纵和窃取的更大、更重要的真相的注意力。”
特朗普和其他人的无数法律挑战以及2020年大选后的审计和调查没有发现普遍问题的模式。同样，全国各地的地方选举官员——包括民主党人和共和党人——都表示，欺诈指控毫无根据。
特朗普利用他的声明提出了超越上次选举的论点，针对拜登和民主党在选民眼中的脆弱性，如不断上升的通货膨胀。
特朗普说:“我们的国家正在急剧下滑。”。“美国人正在努力填充他们的油箱，喂养他们的婴儿，教育他们的孩子，雇用员工，订购物资，保护我们的边境免受入侵，以及其他一系列100%由民主党人造成的悲剧...我们国家的人民既愤怒又悲伤。”
特朗普声称，1月6日的调查及其听证会旨在阻止他参加下届总统选举。“这仅仅是试图阻止一个在每次民意调查中都领先的人，无论是对共和党人还是民主党人，”他吹嘘道，但没有提供证据。
特朗普一再调侃，但尚未正式宣布他是否会在2024年竞选总统。他在正在进行的2022年中期选举初选在全国各地的竞选中支持候选人，结果喜忧参半。
在前两次听证会上播放的视频证词包括选举时和1月6日与特朗普关系密切的证人，包括他的女儿和顾问伊万卡·特朗普以及时任司法部长比尔·巴尔。
巴尔已经陈述了他的团队没有找到证据描述了他对特朗普越来越关注此类指控的感受，告诉调查人员:“如果他真的相信这些东西，他就变得脱离现实了。"
该委员会的下一次公开听证会目前定于周四，此前一次听证会定于周三延期了
Trump issues 12-page statement amid Jan. 6 hearings alleging he plotted a 'coup'
Former President Donald Trump on Monday responded in a lengthy statement to the House's ongoing Jan. 6 committee hearings, assailing the panel as illegitimate and their presentation as one-sided -- but rather than refute their evidence, he reiterated the same baseless claims about the 2020 presidential election that are at the center of the proceedings and the group's case that he hadattempted a "coup."
Trump's 12-page statement, sent to reporters on Monday night, comes after thesecond public hearingheld by the House select committee investigating last year's deadly Capitol attack. His statement, marked by characteristic exclamations and insults, called the hearings "a smoke and mirrors show" that failed to include "all exculpatory witnesses, and anyone who so easily points out the flaws in their story."
The statement, however, did not directly respond to the specifics laid out by the committee to the public thus far -- including testimony earlier Monday from Trump's inner circle that he knew he had lost the last presidential race and had no legitimate reason to claim widespread fraud, instead choosing to listen to Rudy Giuliani to falsely claim victory over Joe Biden.
Much of Trump's statement, instead, went after President Biden and the Democratic majority in Congress, building on arguments Republicans are making ahead of November's midterms. Trump said Democrats were at fault for various issues plaguing the country, and he framed the effort to investigate Jan. 6 as a way to deflect attention away from these issues.
"America is crumbling, and Democrats have no solutions. Our nation has no hope of change for the better under Democrat leadership," Trump said. "People are desperate. Rather than solving problems, Democrats are rehashing history in hopes of changing the narrative."
Members of the committee, which includes two Republicans, have pushed back at the characterization that their investigation is motivated by partisanship. Instead, they have said, their work uncovered the extent to which the former president worked to undercut the democratic process and remain in power.
"The Constitution doesn't protect just Democrats or just Republicans. It protects all of us, we, the people. And this scheme was an attempt to undermine the will of the people," Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who chairs the committee, said duringthe first public hearingon Thursday.
Throughout much of his Monday statement, Trump rehashedfalse or unfounded claimsby him, his campaign and his supporters that the 2020 election was rigged in favor of Biden through stolen ballots, mistaken vote counts and various other means.
Trump said the ongoing Jan. 6 hearings were a "narrative" authored by Democrats "to detract from the much larger and more important truth that the 2020 Election was Rigged and Stolen."
Numerous legal challenges by Trump and others as well as audits and investigations in the wake of the 2020 election discovered no pattern of widespread issues. Likewise, local election officials across the country -- both Democrats and Republicans -- said the fraud claims were without merit.
Trump used his statement to make arguments beyond the last election, targeting Biden and the Democratic Party's perceived vulnerabilities with voters, such as rising inflation.
"Our country is in a nosedive," Trump said. "Americans are struggling to fill their gas tanks, feed their babies, educate their children, hire employees, order supplies, protect our border from invasion, and a host of other tragedies that are 100% caused by Democrats ... and the people of our country are both angry and sad."
The Jan. 6 investigations and its hearings, Trump contended, were meant to bar him from running in the next presidential election. "This is merely an attempt to stop a man that is leading in every poll, against both Republicans and Democrats by wide margins," he boasted, without offering evidence.
Trump has repeatedly teased but has not formally announced if he will run for president in 2024. He has played a large role in the ongoing2022 midterm election primariesby endorsing candidates in races across the country, with mixed results.
Video depositions played at the first two hearings included witnesses who were close with Trump at the time of the election and on Jan. 6, including his daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump and then-Attorney General Bill Barr.
Barr, who has stated his teamfound no evidenceof extensive fraud, described how he felt about Trump's increasing focus on such claims, telling investigators: "He's become detached from reality if he really believes this stuff.'"
The next open hearing by the committee is currently set for Thursday, after one scheduled for Wednesdaywas postponed.
