NEW REVELATION: Trump deleted portions of Jan. 7th speech condemning rioters
While Americans were treated to the incriminating outtakes of Donald Trump’s post-insurrection January 7th, 2021 speech last week — thanks to the House Select Committee investigation — committee member Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA) has revealed additional evidence not presented at last Thursday’s hearing that Trump removed multiple lines from a draft version of his video statement that more heavily criticized his MAGA hordes who stormed the Capitol.
In a post on Twitter, Congresswoman Luria shared a photo of a draft of Trump’s remarks that show the handwritten revisions to the initial script drafted by his advisors, including Stephen Miller and Jared Kushner.
In these revisions, verified as being in her father’s handwriting by his daughter Ivanka Trump, the disgraced former president uses a sharpie to cross out a line that read: “I want to be very clear. You do not represent me. You do not represent our movement.”
Trump also cut out lines that directed the Justice Department to prosecute the rioters “to the fullest extent of the law.”
“We must send a clear message. Not with mercy, but with justice. Legal consequences must be swift and firm,” the crossed out text reads.
Trump also deleted a threat of prison sentences to all who broke the law during the insurrection.
Trump was urged by his staff to issue a stronger condemnation of the violent attack on the Capitol after his begrudging tweet on January 6th telling his followers to go home with a underlying message of “We love you, you’re very special.”
According to Cassidy Hutchinson, aide to Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Trump was resistant to the idea of making another statement about the insurrection but acquiesced when it was pointed out that his cabinet was already discussing using the 25th Amendment to remove him from office for the remaining days of his presidency.
“The secondary reason for that was think about what might happen in the final 15 days of your presidency if we don’t do this. There’s already talks about invoking the 25th Amendment. You need this as cover,” Hutchinson said in her testimony to the House Select Committee.
You can watch the video produced by the House Select Committee about Trump’s January 7th video statement in the tweet from Congresswoman Luria below.
It took more than 24 hours for President Trump to address the nation again after his Rose Garden video on January 6th in which he affectionately told his followers to go home in peace.
There were more things he was unwilling to say. pic.twitter.com/cJBIX5ROxs
— Rep. Elaine Luria (@RepElaineLuria) July 25, 2022
Original reporting by Rebecca Beitsch at The Hill.
Follow Vinnie Longobardo on Twitter.
