Thread by @weareoversight

On January 6, our democracy was under attack. We know Donald Trump was watching and tweeting. We need to know what he did.

We’re suing for records to uncover what the president did while his supporters ransacked the Capitol.
americanoversight.org/american-overs…

On Jan. 6, mobs of Trump supporters violently attacked and invaded the U.S. Capitol building with the intent of overturning the democratic will of the American people. Donald Trump had repeatedly encouraged and incited the mob.

At roughly 1 PM, he spoke at the “Stop the Steal” rally on the ellipse, where he told his supporters to “fight like hell” to get their “country back.”
nytimes.com/2021/02/13/us/…

At 1:34 PM, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser asked the Army secretary for backup. The Capitol Police chief asked for assistance at 1:49.
npr.org/2021/01/15/956…

At 2:24 PM, minutes after the mob breached the Capitol and Mike Pence was taken to a secure location, Trump attacked Pence on Twitter.

As news coverage repeatedly showed the mob violently attacking law enforcement and ransacking the Capitol building, Trump tweeted a video at 4:17 PM in which he again lied about the election and told the rioters “Go home, we love you, you’re very special.”

But, during all of that time and amid all of the chaos, the Department of Defense had reportedly still not authorized sending National Guard troops to restore order at the Capitol. Trump reportedly resisted deploying the guard.
nytimes.com/2021/01/07/us/…

It took more than three hours from the time the rioters breached the Capitol until the time National Guard troops arrived. We want to know what happened during that three-hour delay and what, if any, role President Trump had in it.
npr.org/2021/01/15/956…

Less than a week after the attack, we FOIA’d DOD and the Army for communications with Donald Trump or his chief of staff. americanoversight.org/document/ameri…

We also asked DOD and the Army for communications with Mike Pence, who reportedly facilitated the decision to send in the National Guard after Trump’s hesitation.
cnn.com/2021/01/06/pol…

There’s more. Just five days after the insurrection, we filed FOIA requests with the National Guard, DOD, the Army, and DOJ for the call logs of top officials, which document incoming and outgoing calls — and can reveal what kinds of contacts took place. americanoversight.org/document/ameri…

Agencies are legally required to respond to FOIA requests within 20 business days. We filed these requests nearly two months ago, but we still haven’t received any records. \

Now, we’re going to court to demand answers.

Critical questions remain unanswered. The public needs to know what role President Trump played on Jan. 6, including what happened during the three-hour delay before the National Guard arrived to respond after rioters breached the Capitol. americanoversight.org/american-overs…

These lawsuits are part of our ongoing investigation into the Jan. 6 attacks and the assault on our democracy. Learn more here:
americanoversight.org/investigation/…