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Donald Trump ordered a complete withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and Somalia after he lost the 2020 election, the January 6 committee said at their Thursday hearing.
The memo was written to the acting Secretary of Defense on November 11 to take effect on January 15, 2021 – just before President Joe Biden was meant to take office.
The revelation was made by GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who is retiring from Congress at the end of this year after facing opposition from Trump over his re-election.
Trump National Security Council Official Gen. Keith Kellogg said he warned the former president that it could be ‘catastrophic’ in a video played by Kinzinger.
He also played footage of Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Mark Milley stating of the US’s then-ongoing conflicts there, ‘Yeah we lost, we need to let that issue go to the next guy.’
Lawmakers say it’s proof that Trump knew he lost the 2020 election.
‘These are the highly consequential actions of a President who knows his term will shortly end,’ Kinzinger said.
Trump’s order was clearly never carried out.
A video of former US President Donald Trump is played during a hearing by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the US Capitol
The panel showed a memo signed by Trump directing for the immediate withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and Somalia
The withdrawal ended up happening under President Joe Biden at the end of August
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley testified to the committee that Trump said of some of the US’s ongoing conflicts, ‘Yeah we lost, we need to let that issue go to the next guy’
Biden was widely criticized for his end-of-August 2021 Afghanistan troop withdrawal, which came amid the Taliban’s lightening fast offensive to take back the country from its US-backed government.
But if Trump had withdrawn them earlier, ‘it would have been a debacle,’ Kellogg said.
At other points of the hearing, lawmakers showed yet more evidence that people closest to Trump in the lead-up to the January 6 attack knew that the election was settled.
The committee showed footage of their deposition from former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for the first time.
When asked by Cheney if Trump should abide by courts that were throwing out his legal challenges to the election, Pompeo replied that ‘we should all abide by the rule of law to the best of our ability.’
Asked if he believed the election was over after the Electoral College met on December 14, Pompeo replied: ‘Yes.’
Committee Vice Chair Rep. Liz Cheney indicated at the outset that the Thursday hearing is largely focusing on Trump and the interactions others had with him between Election Day 2020 and the January 6 attack.
‘None of this would have happened without him,’ Cheney said pointedly. ‘He was personally and substantially involved.’
She said he was driven by a ‘motivation to spur others to do his bidding.’
And if he doesn’t see justice, Cheney warned that another attack on US democracy – that has an even greater chance of succeeding – could follow.
‘Why would we assume those institutions will not fall?’ she said.
‘Any future president inclined to attempt what Donald Trump did in 2020 has now learned not to install people who could stand in the way.’
Unlike in previous hearings, the panel is having no live witnesses at its Thursday event
The committee also used newly unveiled messages obtained from the Secret Service to show that Trump was aware he lost – and that those around him knew there was danger coming.
‘Just fyi. POTUS is pissed – breaking news – Supreme Court denied his lawsuit. He is livid now…’ one email read.
More documents show that the Secret Service was warned by multiple tips about the Proud Boys, the far-right military group accused of playing a key role in the violence that day.
‘Their plan is to literally kill people. Please please take this tip seriously and investigate further,’ one message passed to the Secret Service read.
Multiple correspondences between agents on the day of the riot show agents were aware that at least some people who had come to DC that day were armed.
‘With so many weapons found so far, you wonder how many are unknown. Could be sporty after dark,’ one agent texted another.
A post on a pro-Trump message board alerted by the agency called then-Vice President Mike Pence a ‘dead man walking’ if he didn’t do the ‘right thing’ to overturn the election.
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