Much of the chaos that unfolded on Jan. 6, 2021, happened in full public view: A desperate President Donald Trump , who had already spent weeks spinning lies about the legitimacy of the presidential election, gathered some of his most fervent supporters outside the White House to hear various friends and family members complain about the results before taking the stage himself.

Vice President Mike Pence appeared to have no intention of following Trumps instruction to disrupt the formal election certification process that day. Still, Trump described his fever dream to the crowd, saying, All Vice President Pence has to do is send it back to the states to recertify, and we become president, and you are the happiest people. Trump would be very disappointed in Pence if he did not play along. Trumps supporters, he said, would never take back our country with weakness.

Were going to try and give our Republicans the weak ones, because the strong ones dont need any of our help were going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country, Trump said. He concluded: So lets walk down Pennsylvania Avenue.

Five people died during the melee and its immediate aftermath. Key questions remain about what Trump knew that day, and what he did during those crucial hours when the U.S. Capitol was overrun by his supporters. And beyond the president, not everyone who instigated or participated in the chaos has been held accountable. News reports and congressional investigations over the past year have filled in some of the gaps to help us understand more about the Capitol attack, but theres still a lot we dont know.

What was Trump doing all afternoon?

After his speech, Trump was promptly shepherded back to the safety of the White House while his supporters began the 45-minute trek to Capitol Hill on foot. Some had gotten a head start. Thousands of people attacked the Capitol because they believed it was what the president of the United States wanted many were heard shouting as much all while that president was nowhere to be seen for hours.

The House select committee investigating the attack refers often to a period of 187 minutes between the end of Trumps speech, at 1:10 p.m., and when he posted a video at 4:17 p.m. politely asking the rioters to go home. (Three other Trump tweets posted in that interval reiterated falsehoods about the election and failed to tell protesters to leave the premises.)

Much of that 187-minute block of time is still shrouded in uncertainty.

The leadership of the congressional committee investigating the events of that day revealed this week that they had firsthand testimony confirming one suspicion: that Trump was watching the riot live on television. As his supporters smashed windows, broke open doors and terrorized police officers, Trump watched from his private dining room off of the Oval Office, according to the committees vice chair , Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney (R).

We know from an extensive, hour-by-hour report from The Washington Post published in October that Keith Kellogg, Pences national security adviser, was on hand urging Trump to take action to stop the attack, but that Trump ignored him. He also resisted pleas from his daughter Ivanka, who came into the dining room at least twice, according to Cheney .

Who else did Trump confer with that afternoon? What did they say?