Trump Worried 'Nobody Will Care' About Legacy After 2020 Loss: Hope Hicks

Former President Donald Trump was worried that nobody would care about his legacy after he lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden, former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks said on Monday.

The Congressional committee investigating the January 6, 2021, riot convened on Monday for its final meeting, in which members unanimously approved its final report and issued criminal referrals against Trump. The committee has sought to prove Trump's involvement in inciting the riot, where a mob of his supporters unsuccessfully tried to force Congress to block President Joe Biden's electoral college victory.

The committee played video of Hicks' testimony, in which she said at the end of her tenure in the Trump White House, she became "increasingly concerned" that Trump's unfounded claims of widespread election fraud would tarnish his legacy as president.

When pressed on Trump's response to these concerns, Hicks said he was more worried that his legacy would be damaged by defeat.

"He said something along the lines of, 'Nobody will care about my legacy if I lose...The only thing that matters is winning,'" Hicks said.

In a separate video testimony played during Monday's hearing, Hicks said she suggested Trump issue a statement encouraging Jan. 6 protesters to be non-violent, but that he "refused."

"Mr. Herschmann had said he had made the same recommendation directly to the president and that he had refused," she said, referring to a White House lawyer.

Laurence Tribe, a Harvard University legal scholar, responded to Hicks' testimony Monday afternoon.

"Hope Hicks ties a bow around the charge of insurrection," he tweeted.

Ryan Goodman, a New York University law professor, wrote that Hicks' testimony "adds meaningfully to the Insurrection charge."

"Goes to former president Trump's foreknowledge and support for violence on January 6th," he tweeted. "In writing here, and in Hope Hicks' sworn testimony."

Committee Makes Criminal Referrals Against Trump

The committee also announced its criminal referrals against Trump. Representative Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, read the recommendations.

Committee members referred Trump on charges of obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to make a false statement and to incite, assist or aid or comfort an insurrection.

"We understand the gravity of each and every referral we are making today...just as we understand the magnitude of the crime against democracy we describe in our Report," Raskin said. "But we have gone where the facts and the law lead us, and inescapably they lead us here."

Newsweek reached out to Trump's office for comment.

Update 12/19/22 3:13 p.m. ET: This article was updated with more information.