WATCH: Rep. Liz Cheney's full opening statement for Day 5 - Jan. 6 hearings - PBS NewsHour

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Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., delivered opening remarks on June 23 as the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack presented its findings to the public.

Cheney said a letter co-written by former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark made baseless claims of voter fraud and was intended to be sent to the Georgia state legislature and other swing states. The letter, Cheney said, was proof of how former President Donald Trump intended to use the deparment to stay in office despite losing the 2020 election.

“Neither Mr. Clark nor the other lawyer had any evidence of widespread election fraud. But they were quite aware of what Mr. Trump wanted the justice department to do,” Cheney said.

Cheney also noted that the arguments in the letter were very similar to those being made by Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman who were at the center of Trump’s efforts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election.

The hearing, the fifth of several planned by the Jan. 6 committee, focused on Trump’s pressure on the Department of Justice to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. In the year since its creation, the committee has conducted more than 1,000 interviews, seeking critical information and documents from people witness to, or involved in, the violence that day. Aired on 06/23/2022.

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