The vice president is charged with overseeing the Electoral College vote count -- already certified by individual states -- in a joint session of Congress following a presidential election. Trump called on Pence repeatedly to reject the results confirming President Joe Biden's win, telling supporters in a rally hours before the attack that "it will be a sad day for the country" if his vice president did not come through. Pence said in a statement after the speech he did not have the constitutional authority to do what the president asked. Some rioters began chanting "hang Mike Pence." Committee member Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said at the start of the hearings that upon hearing this, Trump said "maybe our supporters have the right idea."
The committee postponed a hearing scheduled for June 15 that was meant to focus on Trump's efforts to replace Attorney General Bill Barr, who did not support his claims of voter fraud after the election. Members of the committee said this week they thought they had evidence to indict Trump for seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which they will lay out as part of several public hearings this month.