Jan. 6 hearings highlights: Committee focuses on extremist groups on Day 7

Stone, in a text message to NBC News, denied any advance knowledge or involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection. He texted moments after the committee investigating the attack on the Capitol concluded its seventh hearing, in which it revealed the existence of a "Friends of Stone" group chat that included the longtime Trump confidant and leaders of extremist groups.

“Any claim assertion or implication that I knew in advance about, was involved in or condoned any illegal act at the Capitol on January 6 is categorically false,” Stone wrote in the text. “Nor was I involved in the effort to delay the certification of the Electoral College.” Stone said he gave a speech a day before the riot that was “consistent with my constitutional free-speech rights to skepticism about the anomalies and irregularities in the 2020 election,” adding that he was “entitled to my apocalyptic view of America’s future as expressed in my speech.”

Earlier Tuesday, a lawyer for Stone told NBC News that Stone “did not participate” in the “Friends of Stone” group chat. “Mr. Stone was included in the group chat by whoever established it at the time. Mr. Stone did not participate in any discussions in the chat and has no recollection of ever posting anything in the chat,” attorney Grant Smith said.

During the hearing, the Jan. 6 committee showed images of encrypted chats between Stone and leaders of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, like Enrique Tarrio and Stewart Rhodes, that indicated that they were intent on promoting pro-Trump events in November and December 2020, as well as the Jan. 6 riot.

After nearly three hours, the hearing concluded.

Ranking member Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said at the end of her closing statement that former President Donald Trump "tried to call a witness in our investigation" following the committee's last hearing, which was on June 28.

Cheney said it was "a witness you have not yet seen in these hearings."

"That person declined to answer or respond to President Trump’s call, and instead alerted their lawyer to the call. Their lawyer alerted us, and this committee has supplied that information to the Department of Justice," Cheney said.

"Let me say one more time. We will take any efforts to influence witnesses' testimony very seriously," Cheney said.

In closing remarks, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., described how her family fled Vietnam decades ago over fears of political violence, only to find herself "fleeing my fellow Americans" on Jan. 6.

“On January 6th, four decades after my family fled a place where political power was seized through violence, I was in the United States Capitol — fleeing my fellow Americans,” she said after she noted that she is the only committee member who was not born in the U.S.

Murphy was born in Vietnam after the Vietnam War ended, and her family was later granted sanctuary in the U.S.

In his closing statement, Raskin zeroed in on how Trump’s own inaugural address — in which he referred to “American carnage” — forecast the violence of the Jan. 6 insurrection.

“In his inaugural address, Trump introduced one commanding image: American carnage. Although that turn of phrase explained little about America before he took office, it turned out to be an excellent prophecy of what his rage would come to visit on our people,” Raskin said. 

“American carnage is Donald Trump’s true legacy. His desire to overthrow the people’s election and seize the presidency interrupted the counting of Electoral College votes for the first time in American history, nearly toppled the constitutional order and brutalized hundreds of people,” he continued.

“The Watergate break-in was like a Cub Scout meeting compared to this assault on our people and institutions,” Raskin said.

Van Tatenhove said the public was extremely lucky that the violence that unfolded on Jan. 6 wasn't even worse.

"I think we've gotten exceedingly lucky that more bloodshed did not happen, because the potential's been there from the start. And we got very lucky that the loss of life was, and as tragic as it is, that we saw on Jan. 6, the potential was so much more," he said, noting "the iconic images of that day with the gallows setup for Mike Pence."

He added, “I do fear for this next election cycle, because who knows what that might bring?”

Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, who delivered emotional testimony last year about confronting the pro-Trump mob on Jan. 6, suffered permanent injuries during the riot and has to leave his job, Raskin said in his closing remarks Tuesday.

"On June 28, his team of doctors told him that permanent injuries he suffered to his left shoulder and right foot made it impossible for him to continue as a police officer. He must now leave policing for good and figure out the rest of his life," Raskin said.

Gonell, an Army veteran who spent a year on active combat duty in the Iraq War, has said he was "'savagely beaten,' 'punched, pushed, kicked, shoved, stomped and sprayed with chemical irritants' by members of a mob carrying 'hammers, knives, batons and police shields taken by force' and wielding the American flag against police officers as a dangerous weapon," Raskin said.

Raskin told Gonell, a 16-year veteran of the Capitol Police, that "we wish you and your family all the best, we are here for you, and we salute you for your valor, your eloquence and your beautiful commitment to America."

Raskin, D-Md., also wondered aloud what former President Donald Trump "would say to someone like Sergeant Gonell, who must now remake his life. I wonder if he could even understand what motivates a patriot like Sergeant Gonell." 

Jason Van Tatenhove, former spokesman for the Oath Keepers, said the president of the group, Stewart Rhodes, had asked him to create a "deck of cards" identifying people the group should target and take out.

"You may remember back to the, the conflict in the Middle East where our own military created a deck of cards, which was a who’s who — have kind of the key players on the other side that they wanted to take out," Van Tatenhove said in live testimony. "And Stewart was very intrigued by that notion and influenced by it, I think, and he wanted me to create a deck of cards."

Van Tatenhove said the deck of cards Rhodes wanted would include "different politicians, judges, including up to Hillary Clinton as the Queen of Hearts. This is a project that I refused to do."

He added that from the start, there was always a push for military training, including courses on explosives.

Ayres said he left the Capitol as soon as Trump tweeted — several hours after rioters had entered the Capitol — for them to go home.

“We literally left right after that came out,” he said.

Ayres, who earlier testified that he had only come to the Capitol because Trump asked his supporters to, added that he would have gone home earlier in the day had Trump said to — noting that doing so could have perhaps limited the damage and destruction.

“You know, if he would have done that earlier in the day, 1:30 p.m., we wouldn’t be in this, maybe we wouldn’t be in this bad of a situation,” Ayres said.

Ayres told Raskin later that once Trump's tweet went out, he saw that the crowd had noticeably dissipated.