Huffpost: WASHINGTON — Donald Trump knew his “big lie” that the 2020 presidential election had been stolen from him was, in fact, a big lie, according to testimony the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol laid out at the public hearing Monday morning.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, the California Democrat handling much of Monday’s questioning of witnesses, said the testimony of Trump’s own aides was clear. “On election night, he claimed even before the votes were counted that his loss was because of fraud,” she said. “Mr. Trump’s election fraud claims were false. Mr. Trump’s closest advisers knew it. Mr. Trump knew it.”

Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien, who had been scheduled to testify in person Monday, withdrew at the last minute when his wife went into labor and Stepien went to join her.

In a video clip of Stepien’s taped deposition, Stepien said he and other top campaign aides recommended that Trump say that “votes were still being counted, that it was too early to tell, it was too early to call the race.”

But Trump refused to accept that advice, he told investigators. “He thought I was wrong,” Stepien said. “He told me so ? that he was going to go in a different direction.”