Topline
The House committee investigating last year’s Capitol riot plans to offer new evidence and witness testimony in a prime-time hearing next week, the first of several public hearings that the committee says it will use to unveil the results of a months-long investigation into the attack.
Rioters storm the Capitol following a rally with then-President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021.
Key Facts
In a press advisory, the January 6 committee said its June 9 hearing will give an overview of lawmakers’ findings on the push to overturn President Joe Biden’s election win, in a presentation that will include some “previously unseen material.”
Witnesses will also speak during the hearing: The panel did not offer any names, but said it expects to send out details on witness testimony next week.
The committee will hold several other hearings this month, with The Guardian reporting last week lawmakers are eying six hearings, two of which will air during prime time.
Key Background
Since it was formed last year, the January 6 committee says it has interviewed hundreds of witnesses and pored over Trump-era documents, part of a sweeping probe of both the Capitol riot and former President Donald Trump’s failed attempts to stay in office after losing reelection. Some of the committee’s findings have leaked to the press, including a never-signed draft executive order to seize voting machines and texts in which Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ wife Ginni urged Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows to fight to overturn the election. The thousands of text messages turned over to the committee by Meadows—which reportedly feature members of Trump’s inner circle reacting to the election results and the riot—could feature heavily in the committee’s findings. Former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-Va.), who has advised the January 6 committee, called Meadows “the MVP for the committee” and suggested paying the Trump loyalist in an interview with CNN on Wednesday.
Tangent
The committee has struggled to get some Trump allies to cooperate with its probe. Trump filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent the committee from receiving some documents from his administration that it had subpoenaed, arguing the records were protected by the legal doctrine of executive privilege, but federal judges have rejected his argument. The Department of Justice charged ex-Trump advisor Steve Bannon with contempt of Congress last year after he refused to testify before the committee, and the House voted to recommend contempt charges for Meadows—who initially cooperated with the committee’s subpoena but later stopped—and former Trump Administration aides Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2022/06/02/jan-6-committee-will-release-previously-unseen-material-in-hearing-next-week/