WASHINGTON – The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack is holding its ninth public hearing after proceedings scheduled for the end of September were postponed because of Hurricane Ian. This is the first hearing since July.
Committee members have not shared official details or a witness list, but Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., told reporters the hearing will include information that has developed over the summer. The committee’s final report is expected this fall.
In a tweet sent late Wednesday, the committee said it would present “key facts we’ve uncovered during our investigation.”
“The Select Committee has developed a massive body of evidence,” Thompson said in a statement on Sept. 12. “It hasn’t always been easy … because the same people who drove the former President’s pressure campaign to overturn the election are now trying to cover up the truth about Jan. 6th.”
The Washington Post reported Wednesday the committee plans to highlight recently obtained Secret Service records and video footage that reveal Trump was continuously alerted to the violence on Jan. 6 and did not stop it, according to three people familiar with the records.
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It is expected the committee may also focus on Roger Stone, a confidant of former President Donald Trump, and his efforts to keep Trump in power following the 2020 election. Stone was behind the “Stop the Steal” movement that falsely claimed Trump won the 2020 election and had close contact with two right-wing extremist groups involved in the Jan. 6 attack.
The Jan. 6 committee reportedly plans to show documentary footage revealing additional information about Stone in Thursday’s hearing, which takes place less than a month before the midterm elections.
Watch it:How to watch today’s Jan. 6 committee hearing on the Capitol attack
Hearing day 8 recap: What we learned from the eighth Jan. 6 hearings
During the last public hearing on July 21, the special congressional committee focused on former Trump’s inaction in stopping his supporters from swarming the Capitol.
As the hearing ended, Vice Chair Liz Cheney, who lost her primary in August to Trump-backed candidate Harriet Hageman, said the committee had found more evidence and new witnesses had come forward.
“We have considerably more to do,” she said.
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Since that hearing, the legal landscape for one of the committee’s key targets – Trump – has shifted significantly following the FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago estate and a lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James against Trump, his company and three of his adult children alleging fraud.
Jan. 6 panel promises ‘never-before-seen footage’ before hearing begins
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol says it will show “never-before-seen footage” during Thursday’s public hearing and “more details about the ongoing threat to American democracy.”
That’s according to a tweet from the Jan. 6 committee posted shortly before the hearing is set to begin at 1 p.m. EDT.
Thursday will mark the 9th hearing of the committee, which has worked to highlight the central role former President Donald Trump played ahead of and during the attack.
— Joey Garrison
What is the future for Jan. 6 committee members?
Weeks away from the midterms, seven Jan. 6 committee members are gearing up for key races in their home districts while three others will not be returning to Congress next term.
Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., was defeated in Wyoming’s GOP primary race this August against Trump-backed candidate Harriet Hageman.
Both Republican Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger and Democrat Rep. Stephanie Murphy of Florida announced did not seek reelection.
The remaining committee members face bids to keep their seats on Nov. 8.
Committee chair Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., faces GOP military veteran Brian Flowers, who won the Republican primary earlier this summer.
In Virginia, Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria is running against Navy veteran and Virginia state Sen. Jen Kiggans in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District.
Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin is running against republican Gregory Coll, a rocket scientist, to keep his seat in Maryland’s 8th Congressional District.
In California, Democrats Adam Schiff, Pete Aguilar and Zoe Lofgren are facing off against Republican primary winners to remain in office.
Roger Stone’s role:What exactly was Roger Stone’s role in Capitol riot? The next Jan. 6 hearing could tell us
Who are the members of the January 6 committee?
The committee is composed of nine members of the House — seven Democrats and two Republicans. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., appointed each member.
Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi serves as the committee chair. He previously worked on legislation to create a bipartisan commission to investigate Jan. 6, but it died in the Senate. Thompson, who also serves as chair of the Homeland Security Committee, sued Trump after Jan. 6 and accused the president of inciting the attack and conspiring with extremist groups.
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., serves as the vice chair and is one of two Republicans on the committee. Cheney condemned Trump for his role in the attack and voted to impeach him, resulting in her being ousted from GOP leadership for criticizing the former president and those who remain loyal to him.
Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger serves as the other Republican on the committee. Kinzinger was one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump. He has condemned members of his own party and has been an outspoken member of the GOP.
Also on the committee are Democratic Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Adam Schiff of California, who both served as lead impeachment managers for Trump’s first and second impeachments.
Other Democrat House members include Stephanie Murphy of Florida who co-chairs the Blue Dog Coalition; Pete Aguilar of California, the only Latino representative on the committee; Zoe Lofgren of California, who was involved in prosecuting one of Trump’s impeachment trials and retired Navy commander Elaine Luria of Virginia.
Who else is the committee seeking to testify?
The committee sought testimony from Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, specifically over a phone call Trump made to Vos asking to overturn the results of the election.
The committee expressed interest in speaking again with two Secret Service officials who protected Trump – Anthony Ornato and Robert Engel – after former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony.
Neither have testified under oath. Cheney said the committee received 800,000 pages of communication from the Secret Service after committee members filed a subpoena in July for text messages reportedly deleted.
The committee also requested former House Speaker Newt Gingrich provide information related to Jan. 6.
More:Former Proud Boys leader pleads guilty to seditious conspiracy in Jan. 6 Capitol attack
Who has testified since the last hearing?
Members of the committee interviewed additional witnesses since the last public hearing in July.
The committee heard from Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, on Sept. 29. She voluntarily agreed to appear before the committee and repeated claims the 2020 election was stolen during her testimony.
Thomas’s lawyer said she voiced concerns over election fraud, condemned the violence on Jan. 6 and answered the committee’s questions.
The committee also heard from Kelli Ward, the head of Arizona’s Republican Party, who declined to answer questions during her subpoenaed testimony, according to a government attorney. Ward was part of a group that cast fake electoral votes for Trump after he lost the state.
The Jan. 6 committee sought a log of her phone calls and text messages. A federal judge decided the committee was within its rights to subpoena Ward for the cell phone records.
What time is Thursday’s Jan. 6 hearing?
The hearing will be at 1 p.m. ET.
Where to watch the Jan. 6 hearing
USA TODAY will air it on its YouTube channel. C-SPAN will also air it, as well as TV networks such as CNN, CBS and MSNBC.
Hearing witness:Stephen Ayres, Capitol rioter who testified at Jan. 6 hearing, gets 2 years probation
Will this be the last hearing?
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said maybe so when interviewed on “Meet the Press” on Sept. 25.
“It, it may be the last investigative public hearing where we’re going to try to round out the factual narrative,” he said, but held out hope there would be an additional hearing “that lays out all of our legislative recommendations about how to prevent coups, insurrections, political violence and electoral sabotage in the future because this is a clear and present danger that’s continuing up right to this day.”
Cheney suggested at the Texas Tribune Festival Sept. 24 that it is unlikely the upcoming hearing will be the last.
