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The Jan. 6 Select Committee’s fifth public hearing will focus on former President Donald Trump’s efforts to use the Department of Justice to overturn the 2020 election results.
“On Thursday, we hear about another part of that scheme. [Trump’s] attempt to corrupt the country’s top law enforcement body, the Justice Department, to support his attempt to overturn the election,” Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said at the conclusion of Tuesday’s committee hearing.
The hearing is expected to feature one panel of witnesses, all former Trump DOJ officials — former Acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen, former Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue and former Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel Steven Engel.
Thursday’s hearing is the last expected in June, a select committee aide told Fox News.
From left to right, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., listen during a hearing of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S.
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
“The Select Committee continues to receive additional evidence relevant to our investigation into the violence of Jan. 6 and its causes. Following tomorrow’s hearing, we will be holding additional hearings in the coming weeks. We will announce dates and times for those hearings soon,” the aide said.
The committee focused earlier this week on Trump’s pressure campaign on state officials, including threats and harassment, in an attempt to force them to overturn President Joe Biden’s lawful win in the weeks following the 2020 presidential election.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said that Trump’s supporters issued “sexualized threats” to his wife and that he got a barrage of texts and emails after refusing to overturn the state’s election results. Former election worker Shaye Moss testified about the “racist” and “hateful” death threats she and her mother received after Trump and Rudy Giuliani falsely accused them of smuggling ballots out of a Georgia voting center.
All the officials who testified also rebutted Trump’s unfounded claims the 2020 election was stolen and said there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud.
Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., gives her opening remarks as Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., left, looks on, during a first hearing of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Last week’s two public hearings focused on the role Trump attorney John Eastman and others had in attempting to pressure former Vice President Mike Pence to overturn electoral college results. The other hearing featured testimony from Trump 2020 campaign aides and lawyers who said the president ignored their advice on Election Day and proceeded to push election fraud conspiracies that had no factual basis.
During the first public hearing, held June 9 during primetime, the lawmakers focused on Trump’s role in inciting the mob that attacked the Capitol.
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who serves as vice chair, mentioned this week that the committee’s overall investigation is still active and encouraged former Trump counsel Pat Cipollone to testify publicly.
“The American people in our hearings have heard from Bill Barr, Jeff Rosen, Richard Donohue and many others who stood up and did what is right. And they will hear more of that testimony soon. But the American people have not yet heard from Mr. Trump’s former White House counsel, Pat Cipollone. Our committee is certain that Donald Trump does not want Mr. Cipollone to testify here,” she said at the end of Tuesday’s hearing, saying the committee is working on securing his testimony.
The Jan. 6 Committee includes Republicans Liz Cheney and Adam Kingzinger.
(Andrew Harnik/Pool via REUTERS)
Cipollone has yet to agree to appear publicly before the committee.
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Cheney’s comments come as the committee considers just how far it will go in possibly referring Trump or others in his orbit to President Biden’s DOJ for prosecution.
Cheney said Tuesday about Trump’s campaign of pressure on Pence and the state officials: “Each of these efforts to overturn the election is independently serious. Each deserves attention both by Congress and by our Department of Justice.”
