Donald Trump’s former White House counsel told lawmakers investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill insurrection that the ex-president should have conceded the election to Joe Biden, and that there wasn’t evidence of fraud to overturn the results.
In taped testimony, Pat Cipollone, the ex-White House counsel whose remarks were given Friday, was asked if he believed Trump should have conceded after the election.
“If your question is did I believe he should concede the election at a point in time, yes, I did,” he responded. The comments were aired Tuesday at a panel hearing.
Cipollone also said about pushing election fraud after evidence showed otherwise: “at some point you have to put up or shut up.”
The Jan. 6 panel’s Tuesday hearing was scheduled to focus on the plotting and planning of the insurrection by white nationalist groups.
The House panel, made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans, has worked to investigate the connection between Trump and his allies and the violence that ensued at the Capitol.
About half of Americans believe Trump should be charged with a crime for his role in the U.S. Capitol attack, a poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows.
Read: Nearly half of Americans think Trump should face charges for Jan. 6 attack
Trump has denied responsibility or any wrongdoing related to the Jan. 6 attack.
