Panel: Trump's Election 'Lie' Was Premeditated

The House Jan. 6 panel resumed making its case against former President Trump on Thursday, and one key assertion is that Trump planned to declare election victory no matter the results, reports CNN. “This big lie, President Trump’s effort to convince Americans that he had won the 2020 election, began before the election results even came in,” said Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren, per the New York Times. “It was intentional, it was premeditated, it was not based on election results or any evidence of actual fraud affecting the results or any actual problems with voting machines. It was a plan concocted in advance, to convince his supporters that he won.”

• Stone: The panel played footage of Trump adviser Roger Stone, obtained from a Danish filmmaker, telling people ahead of Election Day that he was sure the result would be "up in the air." His advice: "When that happens the key thing to do is to claim victory," he said. "Possession is nine-tenths of the law."
• Bannon: The panel also played video of Trump ally Steve Bannon saying ahead of the election that if "Biden’s winning ... Trump is going to do some crazy s---,” per CNBC.
• Pence counsel: Still more video came of Vice President Mike Pence’s counsel, Greg Jacob, who testified that people in the White House planned to declare victory on election night “prior to the election results being known," per the Washington Post.
• Campaign official: “We also interviewed Brad Parscale, President Trump’s former campaign manager," said Lofgren. "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."

(The panel voted to subpoena Trump himself.)