Striking Testimonies and New Details: After months of quiet work, the U-Committee on the Capitol Attack reveals what it has amassed.  Trump harshly denies the allegations.
 
 Washington.  
Several high-ranking people associated with ex-US President Donald Trump have openly denied his allegations of voter fraud and election-victory fantasies.
 
 The committee of inquiry into the storming of the US Capitol showed video recordings of various private witness interviews at a hearing in Congress on Monday, in which several former government members and campaign advisers clearly distanced themselves from Trumps actions.  Ex-Attorney General William Barr and others called Trumps fraud allegations "insane."  Barr said the 75-year-old seems to have increasingly "lost touch with reality".
 Trump then rejected the allegations of the committee of inquiry in a multi-page document.  He accused the committee of "making a mockery of justice" and excluding exonerating witnesses.  In the twelve-page letter, which also contains a number of footnotes, Trump repeated his unsubstantiated allegations of election fraud and fantasies of election victory.  He accused the Democrats and US President Joe Biden of destroying the country.  "The Democrats (...) are doing everything in their power to stop me - but we cannot be stopped," it said.
 
Resistance against the election outcome 2020
 Trump claims to this day without any evidence that he was deprived of victory in the presidential election 2020 through electoral fraud.  For weeks he tried to use the most questionable methods to subsequently overturn the election victory of his democratic challenger Joe Biden.  His camp failed with dozens of lawsuits against the election results.  Resistance to the outcome of the election culminated in the attack on the Capitol, which the investigative committee in Congress is working on.
 Trump supporters violently stormed the House of Parliament in Washington on January 6 2021.  Congress met there to certify Bidens election victory.  Five people died as a result of the riots.  Trump had recently incited his supporters at a rally that his election victory had been stolen.  He then had to face impeachment proceedings, at the end of which he was acquitted.
 For months, the investigative committee had questioned hundreds of witnesses behind closed doors and viewed large amounts of documents and evidence.  Now the panel is revealing its findings in a series of public hearings.
 
Ex-Secretary Barr: Allegations "complete bullshit"
 In its first public meeting last week, the panel had already shown video recordings of an interview with Barr, in which he accused Trump.  More powerful statements from the ex-minister followed.  "I felt like it was possible to reason with the president before the election," Barr said.  After the election, however, Trump stopped listening.  "I was a bit demoralized because I was like, Boy, if he really believes this stuff, hes lost touch with reality," Barr said of Trumps allegations of voter fraud.
 Barr called them "complete bullshit" and "stupid".  He emphasized: "I told him that the stuff that his people dish out to the public is bullshit."  Former Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue also said he had repeatedly told the President that the allegations of voter fraud were unfounded.
 
Former advisers disagree with election victory claims
 Trumps campaign manager at the time, William Stepien, should have appeared live as a witness at Mondays hearing.  However, due to the birth of his child, he canceled his participation in the meeting at short notice.  Instead, video clips of him from a previous survey were also shown.  Stepien said that on election night it was far too early to announce any outcome.  He advised Trump to say exactly that when he appeared in front of his supporters and to refer to the ongoing count.  However, Trump saw it differently.  The Republican had claimed victory over Biden on election night - without any basis.
 Trumps campaign adviser at the time, Jason Miller, also said he advised the president not to declare a victory until there was a better overview of the numbers.  Miller reported on various scenes in the White House on election night.  When the Fox News broadcaster announced a critical victory for Biden in the state of Arizona, anger and disappointment spread, and concern "that our numbers might not have been correct".  When asked if anyone in attendance had drunk too much alcohol, Miller named Rudy Giuliani.  The former mayor of New York was one of the major proponents of the allegations of voter fraud alongside Trump.
 
Conspiracy theories: criticism of Giuliani
 Several witnesses were highly critical of Giuliani and others who kept whispering new conspiracy theories to Trump in the campaign against the election outcome - including an alleged technical manipulation of the vote count.  "I thought what they suggested was crazy," said former Trump attorney Eric Herschmann.  Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner, when asked if he ever told the President his opinion on Giuliani, said he made it clear "that would be "fundamentally not the approach I would take if I were you."
 The next public hearing of the committee of inquiry is scheduled for this Wednesday.  The committee intends to publish a final report in September.  (dpa)