When you put the evidence together—Trump’s instructions to the crowd at his Jan. 6 rally, his subsequent tweets, Miller’s rejected drafts, Christie’s plea, and the text messages from Hannity and Ingraham—all of it is consistent with this theory: For about two hours, despite being asked to tell his people to leave the Capitol and go home, Trump refused to do so, because he wanted to maintain leverage over Congress. This theory makes sense of Trump’s otherwise confusing comments to McCarthy. It also explains the discrepancy between what he was being asked to say and what he tweeted instead. It’s just a theory, but one person, other than Trump, can shed light on the extent to which it’s true: Meadows. Meadows was the intermediary between Trump and everyone else that day. He was in and out of the Oval Office, relaying requests to the president. He got a phone call from D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, pleading for help from the National Guard. He talked throughout the day with Kash Patel, Trump’s point man at the Department of Defense. He got text messages warning him that the Capitol was “under siege” and that “if someone doesn’t say something, people will die.” According to the people who sent those messages—including former White House Communications Director Alyssa Farah—Meadows never replied.

That’s why it’s important that Meadows, testify. He’s the key to finding out what Trump was told and how the president responded. We also need to hear from others who were involved in backstage efforts to persuade Trump, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, and Jared Kushner. McCarthy must testify about his phone call. According to White House aides, Trump recorded two other video messages that day that were so defiant and incendiary they were never released; let’s see those videos. And let’s find out whether the president, as alleged by at least one witness, “rebuffed and resisted requests to mobilize the National Guard.” We need to know not just what Trump did that day, but what he didn’t do, and why.