Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., spoke on Dec. 19 as the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack presented its final findings to the public. Luria said that former president Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election came to a head when he addressed a crowd of his supporters on the Ellipse on the afternoon of January 6. She said that Trump watched the crowd descend on the Capitol on television, and refused for several hours to issue a public statement instructing them to go home or to diffuse the situation. “For 187 minutes, he actively disregarded his constitutional obligation to take care that the laws are faithfully executed,” Luria said. “As we've established through months of investigation, that is because the mob wanted what President Trump wanted — to impede the peaceful transition of power.” Luria then presented a summary of Trump’s behavior throughout that period of time, including his refusal to contact law enforcement for help and his continued pressure on Congressional leaders to delay the joint session. She noted that he eventually released a video statement that reiterated the lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, but also suggested that his supporters at the Capitol disperse, which led a portion of them to do so. She also said that Trump attempted to downplay the seriousness of the attack on the Capitol in the days that followed the insurrection, and that he believed the rioters’ actions were justified. “President Trump lit the flame, he poured gasoline on the fire, and sat by in the White House dining room for hours watching the fire burn,” Luria said. “And today, he still continues to fan those flames. That was his extreme dereliction of duty.” The Jan. 6 committee will release its full report later this week as the panel wraps up its work. Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG Find more from PBS NewsHour at www.pbs.org/newshour Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/2HfsCD6 Follow us: Facebook: www.pbs.org/newshour Twitter: www.twitter.com/newshour Instagram: www.instagram.com/newshour

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