Whereas the first seven hearings set out unforgivingly what Trump had done, this one told a gripping story about what he did not do
, for 187 minutes on 6 January 2021. As his enraged supporters stormed the US Capitol, the president did not call them off or contact senior law enforcement or military officials who could have curbed the violence as the US Capitol Police and city police were vastly outnumbered.
Congresswoman Elaine Luria noted that Trump was told that the Capitol was under attack within 15 minutes of leaving the stage at the Ellipse near the White House. He had just held a rally, demanding that heavily-armed supporters,, be allowed in. A photo of Trump in the Oval Office had the caption: “Minute 11.”
Indeed, 3D computer graphics showed the Oval Office and dining room, which had a TV above its fireplace, showing Fox News as it was on January 6 – a neat touch. Then there was a display of call logs and the presidential diary from that afternoon, both blank. And the presidential photographer was told “no photographs”.
Did Trump call his devoutly righthand man to check if he was OK? He did not. At 2.24pm, Trump tweeted that Pence “didn’t have the courage” to overturn the election in his favour. Everyone agreed it was appalling timing. Cheney remained po-faced on the dais, maintaining gravitas on this solemn occasion. Was she roaring with laughter inside? We shall never know. But it was another brilliant piece of choreography, guaranteed to provide fodder to late-night TV hosts and go viral on social media.