Panel probing January 6 Capitol Hill attack to hold first televised hearing today
Jun 09, 2022
Washington [US], June 10 : The House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol Hill insurrection will use its first prime-time public hearing on Thursday at 8 pm (local time) to make the case that former President Donald Trump was at the centre of a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election and prevent the transition of power.
The committee, comprising seven Democrats and two Republicans, is expected to show live testimony to the comprehensive account of the day's events, using evidence it has gathered so far in its nearly yearlong investigation.
As per CNN, the hearing could lead to prosecutions and new laws to strengthen election security going forward as the panel will reveal new evidence that will help "connect the dots" between Trump's election lies, his attempts to overturn Joe Biden's 2020 election win and the violence that unfolded on January 6, 2021, when rioters stormed the US Capitol in an effort to stop the counting of electoral votes.
Moreover, the committee plans to show previously unseen video of testimony collected during closed depositions that includes interviews with Trump White House aides, and campaign officials which will further be supplemented by live witness testimony from two witnesses who had an up-close view of the rioters.
US Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards, who was among the first injured by rioters on January 6, and documentarian Nick Quested, who had unique access to members of militia groups who took part in the attack.
The committee will seek to use that evidence to draw a direct line between Trump and the groups who perpetrated the violence on January 6, CNN reported.
Committee aides also signalled that Thursday's hearing will include a new video of the violent attack on the Capitol itself. Video of the riot created some of the most dramatic moments of the 2021 Senate impeachment trial, and the aides say most of the video the committee plans to show at the hearings has not been seen previously.
While Thursday's January 6 committee hearing will have all the trappings of a typical congressional hearing, aides said Thompson, a Democrat, and Cheney, a Republican, will do most of the talking during Thursday's opening hearing, showcasing how the committee is the product of a bipartisan effort and that Trump was at the centre of the attack on the Capitol.
Thursday's hearing is the first in a series of six hearings planned this month to illustrate what the panel's months-long investigation into January 6 has uncovered.
Over a year ago, a group of Trump supporters entered the US Capitol to protest the certification of the 2020 presidential election results from several US states that Trump claimed were fraudulent. US authorities have arrested more than 725 individuals in nearly all 50 states for criminal offences relating to the riot.
