The committee has evidence that some pro-Trump groups had initially planned to be in D.C. in the days after President Biden’s inauguration to kick off the opposition to his administration, according to a source familiar with the findings.
The panel will contend that a Dec. 19, 2020, tweet from Trump calling supporters to the nation’s capital for a “big protest” on Jan. 6 — the now-infamous day Congress was set to certify electors — spurred supporters to change their plans, the source said.
At least one pro-Trump group allegedly changed its rally permit.
Investigators have long been examining how the tweet — in which Trump wrote, “Be there, will be wild!” — sparked a flurry of activity on pro-Trump online spaces in which extremists coalesced around Jan. 6 as their last stand.
The panel aims to demonstrate that the date was a blip on some groups’ radar before Trump’s tweet.
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