Capitol Riot

Trump Planned Before Jan. 6 to Direct Crowd to March on Capitol, Draft Tweet Shows

“The evidence confirms that this was not a spontaneous call to action, but rather a deliberate strategy decided upon in advance by the president,” said Rep. Stephanie Murphy, a committee member.

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The House committee investigating last year's attack at the Capitol shared a draft tweet in which Donald Trump planned on explicitly telling his supporters to march to the Capitol on Jan. 6, suggesting his comments during a speech outside the White House were not "spontaneous," but in fact pre-meditated and "deliberate."

“I will be making a Big Speech at 10AM on January 6th at the Ellipse (South of the White House),” the draft tweet says. “Please arrive early, massive crowds expected. March to the Capitol after. Stop the Steal!!”

The draft tweet, which was obtained by the Jan. 6 committee from the National Archives, was not dated and it was not clear when it was crafted, but it was stamped with the words “PRESIDENT HAS SEEN."

“The evidence confirms that this was not a spontaneous call to action, but rather a deliberate strategy decided upon in advance by the president,” said Rep. Stephanie Murphy, a committee member.

The committee also showed messages they obtained from Jan. 6 rally organizers, indicating that they knew of plans to march to the U.S. Capitol days in advance and before Trump's speech on the Ellipse.

The message from Kylie Jane Kremer to Mike Lindell, the founder of MyPillow and a Trump ally, outlines details of the rally and notes that Trump would call for the march to the Capitol “unexpectedly.”

"It can also not get out about the march because I will be in trouble with the national park service and all the agencies but POTUS is going to just call for it 'unexpectedly,'" Kremer wrote in an email, the House committee showed.

This is a live update. Click here for complete coverage of the Jan. 6 hearings.

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