Trump planned to prematurely declare victory as early as 4 months before Election Day 2020, Jan. 6 committee claims
Evan Vucci/AP
- The January 6 committee claimed Trump hatched plans to prematurely declare victory months before the 2020 election.
- The panel received testimony that Trump's plans began as early as July 2020.
- The 2020 election was uniquely susceptible to premature victory claims due to the sheer amount of mail-in ballots.
President Donald Trump and his top aides planned as early as July 2020 for him to prematurely declare victory on election night if it was not apparent who was going to win, the January 6 committee claimed on Thursday, ahead of election that featured historic levels of mail-in voting that would take longer to tabulate.
"He told us he understood that President Trump planned as early as July that he would say he won the election even if he lost," Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a member of the panel, said during the hearing.
Lofgren was summarizing testimony former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale gave to the committee.
The California Democrat also presented evidence that Steve Bannon had "advanced knowledge" of Trump's intent to declare victory on election night regardless of the outcome of the 2020 presidential race.
She then played a recording of Bannon telling associates just days before the election that Trump was "going to be off the chain" and "crazy."
"If Trump is losing by 10 or 11 at night, it's going to be even crazier … He's going to sit right there and say, 'They stole it. I'm directing the attorney general to shut down all ballot places in all 50 states,'" Bannon predicted on October 31, 2020."If Biden is winning," he added, "Trump is going to do some crazy shit."
Trump did eventually follow-through with a plan to prematurely declare victory. Despite last-minute pleas from top aides, Trump announced without any evidence, "Frankly, we did win this election" in the early morning hours of the day after the election.
It wasn't just Trump pushing these claims either. The panel outlined how long-time Trump friend Roger Stone and former White House official Steve Bannon were openly talking about how Trump should declare victory to seize the moment in the event of an unsure outcome.
For weeks before the 2020 election, officials and journalists warned it might take more time to predict a winner. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, millions more Americans were voting by mail than in previous elections. Key states like Pennsylvania also did not change laws that would have allowed election officials to begin prepping absentee ballots for counting. Just as many predicted, people voting on Election Day tended to cast ballots for Trump before a so-called "blue shift" as more absentee ballots, many of whom voted for Biden, were counted.
Thursday's hearing is expected to be the January 6 committee's final public hearing. Lawmakers focused on Trump's state of mind before and after the Capitol riot.
A spokesperson for the former president did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This is a breaking news story. Stay with Insider for more updates.
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