- Former President Donald Trump is expected to watch, so is President Joe Biden.
- Two witnesses will testify tonight, including Caroline Edwards, an injured Capitol Police officer.
- British documentarian Nick Quested, who filmed around the Capitol during the attack, will testify.
- House Republicans criticize the investigation as illegitimate and partisan.
WASHINGTON–The nine House members investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack begin to unveil what they’ve learned Thursday in a primetime hearing, the wind-up to a year-long effort to uncover every detail of that dayincluding what former President Donald Trump did or did not do as the violence intensified and what can be done to prevent a repeat.
- ⏳ What got us here?: A mob of Trump supporters, in an attempt to stop the certification of President Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 election, overwhelmed police, broke into the Capitol and ransacked the building in a deadly riot Jan. 6, 2021. This committee was formed to investigate the attack and produces a report, which is expected in the fall.
- 🖊️What is about to happen?: At 8 p.m. ET during a live hearing from the Capitol, Jan. 6 committee members promise to weave a tapestry of cooperating witness testimony, text messages and emails, pictures and video to chronicle for the American public what happened and why.
- 📜What’s at stake?: The committee hopes to provide the most comprehensive account yet of the riot, the worst attack on the Capitol in 200 years, and recommend ways to prevent another threat to the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to another. The hearings come months before the midterm electionswhen Republicans seek to retake control of Congress.
First 2 witnesses are injured Capitol Police officer, documentary
Two witnesses are expected at the first hearing. One is Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards, who suffered a traumatic brain injury when the mob pushed her to the ground after breaking through a fence of bicycle racks outside the Capitol.
She was the first of 140 officers injured that day, according to the committee. Other officers have recalled hearing her pleas de ella for help.
More:Who invaded the US Capitol on Jan. 6? Criminal cases shed light on offenses
The other witness is an acclaimed British documentarian, Nick Quested, who filmed around the Capitol during the attack. The day before the riot, Quested also filmed the leaders of two far-right groups – Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who are each charged with seditious conspiracy – meeting in a parking garage near the Capitol, according to the New York Times.
What Republicans are saying: Some blast committee as illegitimate, partisan
House Republicans have blasted the committee as illegitimate, partisan and a sham because of how it was set up.
The heart of the complaint is that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., refused to seat GOP Reps. Jim Banks of Indiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio on the panel. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Then pulled his nominees from her rather than have her vet them. Pelosi then appointed nine members – including GOP Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois – rather than the 13 authorized.
Federal courts have upheld the panel’s authority repeatedly. But Republicans argue the one-sided appointments mean there will be no meaningful cross-examination of witnesses or alternate views presented during hearings.
What we don’t know about Jan. 6:What Trump’s family told the committee, whether attack was organized
Biden plans to watch hearings
President Joe Biden is expected to watch some of Thursday’s hearing despite hosting the Summit of the Americas in California, according to White House chief of staff Ron Klain.
Biden waived executive privilege to give the committee access to Trump administration documents as part of the investigation.
“These are important hearings,” Klain told MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House” on Wednesday. “He believes in executive privilege generally, but there is no executive privilege to overthrow the government of the United States. There is no executive privilege to protect plans on an insurrection.”
More:After Jan. 6, lawmakers want to clarify that vice presidents have ceremonial role in counting votes
More:Prosecutors charge former Proud Boys leader, 4 others with seditious conspiracy in Jan. 6 attack
More:Who has been subpoenaed so far by the Jan. 6 committee?
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism