Vittert on Jan. 6 committee attempts to tie riot to Trump

(NewsNation) — The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol has laid the blame firmly on former President Donald Trump, saying the assault was not spontaneous but an “attempted coup” and a direct result of the defeated president’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

With a never-before-seen 12-minute video of extremist groups leading the deadly siege, and startling testimony from Trump’s inner circle, the Jan. 6 committee provided gripping detail Thursday night in contending that Trump’s repeated lies about election fraud and his public effort to stop Joe Biden’s victory led to the attack and imperiled American democracy.

The hearings may not change Americans’ views on the Capitol attack, but the panel’s investigation is intended to stand as its public record.

“Are people talking more about gas prices and about food prices? Or are they talking about whether or not President Trump wanted to call the people inside the Capitol or there illegally or there without authorization? Which one affects you more? That’s a decision the American people largely have to make,” NewsNation’s Leland Vittert said on “Morning in America.” Vittert will co-anchor the network’s prime-time coverage.

Vittert said the hearings are both about informing the American people and maintaining a certain narrative keeping alive this discussion of why this happened and how to avoid happen again. They’re presenting the hearings in June, he observed, before people go on vacation in July and August and before the midterm elections hit their stride in September.

“Most of the people who are sitting on the dais will be out of power come November, come January. So this is their last chance to make the argument, as Bernie Sanders said, that the other guys are worse.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.