Topline
The House January 6 committee will delay the final hearings of its investigation into the Capitol riot and Trump Administration until next month, multiple news outlets reported Wednesday, as the panel reportedly scours troves of new evidence, including documentary footage of former President Donald Trump’s children and inner circle.
Former President Donald Trump speaks on May 28 in Casper, Wyoming.
Key Facts
Lawmakers plan to hold a fifth hearing Thursday, but committee chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) told Politico and CNN all subsequent hearings will likely be delayed until after the House’s two-week recess, which is set to begin at the end of this week.
Thompson said the committee needs a break to look at evidence unearthed in recent weeks, including tapes from Alex Holder, a British filmmaker who was reportedly subpoenaed by lawmakers after capturing videos of Trump and his family.
In a statement Tuesday, Holder said he began filming Trump and his allies in September 2020 for a documentary on the final weeks of the presidential race: Holder claims he interviewed Trump, his children, his son-in-law Jared Kushner and Vice President Mike Pence, and captured footage from “before and after the events of January 6th.”
The exact contents of Holder’s tapes are unclear, but on Tuesday, the New York Times reported Ivanka Trump told the filmmaker in December 2020 she believed her father should “continue to fight until every legal remedy is exhausted,” despite later telling the House January 6 committee she “accepted” former Attorney General William Barr’s conclusion there was no widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.
Forbes has reached out to the January 6 committee for comment.
What To Watch For
The committee’s final hearings were expected to focus on Trump’s behavior before and during the Capitol riot, vice-chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said earlier this month, but Thompson told Politico lawmakers may schedule an extra hearing to present new evidence.
Key Background
The January 6 committee has held four public hearings so far this month, often zeroing in on Trump and his allies’ attempts to overturn his election loss. Lawmakers have struggled to get some former Trump aides like Steve Bannon to cooperate, but their hearings have featured recorded testimony from Barr, former White House attorney Eric Herschmann and other Trump Administration insiders. Holder isn’t the only documentarian whose work has ended up in front of the committee: Two weeks ago, filmmaker Nick Quested publicly testified on the Proud Boys, a right-wing group that he embedded with during the Capitol riot.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2022/06/22/jan-6-panel-delays-hearings-amid-new-evidence-including-tapes-of-trump-family/