Stephen Miller on January 6th

Stephen Miller, a former senior advisor to the president, was subpoenaed by the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th attack for his role in crafting the president's speech preceding the event. His deposition testimony frames the January 6th speech as one in a series intended to educate the public on claims of election fraud and garner support for election reform measures, such as voter ID and citizenship verification. He explicitly stated that any suggestion of a "darker or more nefarious purpose" for the speech is "preposterous" and that he believes the entire effort was about promoting a better understanding of the election contest, which he saw as an ongoing, legitimate effort. His defense of the speech's purpose aligns with his broader, documented pre-election focus on disputing the election's integrity, including seeking analysis on purported statistical anomalies in key states.

Miller's account of the speech's creation suggests the final version, which included rhetoric urging people to march to the Capitol, evolved from earlier drafts where the focus was more on thanking Members of Congress for objecting to certification. He noted that his edits—like changing the focus from Congressional actors to a collective "we" stopping the steal—were rhetorical choices to make the opening more inviting for the assembled attendees. Throughout the deposition, he claimed to have limited memory of specific pre-January 6th planning conversations due to being hospitalized but confirmed his general worldview that election laws were violated and that there was universal agreement among the inner circle regarding the existence of fraud that warranted contestation.