After nearly a year of investigating the U.S. Capitol riots, the House committee is about to make public what it knows, holding rare hearings at prime time on Thursday night (10 a.m. Friday). AEST).
Several members of the committee have already promised that new and explosive information will come out, but it remains to be seen what exactly it entails.
That’s what we know so far and what we can expect to come out.
What are the public hearings of the January 6 commission?
On July 1, 2021, the select committee of the United States House on the January 6 attack was formed by a vote.
The committee was tasked with investigating the insurgency, focusing on areas such as funding, motivations and the involvement of former US President Donald Trump.
More than 1,000 people have been interviewed by the committee since then, with more than 125,000 documents reviewed.
The committee will now present its findings at a series of public hearings, and a series of unseen photos and exhibits are expected to be revealed.
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When is the first hearing?
The first hearing will begin at 10 a.m. Friday, which is 8 a.m. Thursday in the U.S., and will take place at the U.S. Capitol.
The rest of the hearings are expected to take place during the month of June.
A formal schedule has not yet been announced for the rest of the hearings, but according to The Washington Post, there could be up to eight hearings in June before a final hearing in September.
The hearings are expected to be comprehensive, but not the final word of the commission.
He plans to publish more reports on his findings, including recommendations on legislative reforms, ahead of the midterm elections.
How can I see it?
The committee will broadcast its hearings live, and while most major U.S. television news channels will broadcast them in their entirety, Fox News is the only one that has called for not doing so.
Fox News’s approach contrasts sharply with other major cable networks and news channels: it will air a two-hour special after the hearing led by Fox News’ chief legal officer Shannon Bream.
President Donald Trump’s supporters climbed the west wall of the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. (AP: Jose Luis Magana)
In a statement, Fox News said the channel would cover the first of a series of public hearings by the House Select Committee as “justified news”, otherwise it will leave its usual programming intact.
With Fox News out of the scheduled mix, aside from a post-audience special, the most-watched cable network won’t add weight to its coverage.
The corporate brothers, including Fox Business Network, will lead the audience, but their maximum audience is during the day and averages about 227,000 viewers.
In comparison, Fox News had an average of 2 million viewers in prime time last week and 1.3 million during the day.
What can we expect?
Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat on the committee, set high expectations in April.
“Audiences will tell a story that will really blow up the roof of the house,” he said.
“Because it’s a story of the most heinous and cowardly political offense a president and his followers and their entourage have ever organized in the history of the United States.”
We know that new witnesses are expected to testify at the hearings.
So far, only brief excerpts from the testimony of the 1,000 interviewees have been revealed to the public, most of them through court records.
According to Claire Leavitt, a visiting associate professor of political science and political studies at Grinnell College in the United States, the committee has not yet provided a list of witnesses.
However, here’s who says it’s likely to show up:
- Marc Short, the chief of staff to former Vice President Mike Pence
- Conservative lawyer and former advisor to Mr. Pence, J. Michael Luttig
- former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen
- Engraved testimonials from Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner can be shown.
Donald Trump was charged with “inciting insurrection” in connection with the attacks. (AP: Alex Brandon)
The panel also features thousands of texts from former U.S. President Donald Trump’s last chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and has spoken to two of the former president’s sons, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr., who were with his father on the day of the attack. .
Former network news executive James Goldston has joined the committee as an unannounced advisor, according to Axios.
Axios says the hearing will feature a mix of live testimonials and pre-produced videos with different angles of unseen surveillance photos, as well as committee statements.
What happened during the preparation?
To date, more than 800 people across the United States have been charged in connection with the January 6 riots, and federal authorities continue to make new arrests virtually every week.
Leaders and members of the far-right extremist group Proud Boys, as well as members of the anti-government militia group Oath Keepers, were charged with sedition on Monday in what federal prosecutors say was a coordinated attack on the US Capitol. to prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s election victory in 2020.
Enrique Tarrio (left) and Joe Biggs are members of the Proud Boys. (Reuters: Jim Urquhart)
Three Oath Keepers have already pleaded guilty to the misused indictment of the Civil War era that calls for up to 20 years in prison.
The indictment alleges that the Oath Keepers and their associates prepared during the weeks leading up to Jan. 6 as if they were going to war, discussing things such as weapons and training.
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