The eighth hearing of the select committee investigating the attack on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021 has closed.
So far we’ve heard from elected officials, White House staff, poll workers, law enforcement officials, and even people who participated in the riots.
This could be the last sight of this phase of the investigation, but if any witnesses agree to testify at the last minute, that could change.
Here’s what to expect from the next installment:
When is the next hearing?
It has been confirmed at 20:00 on Thursday 21 July, local time. It’s 10am on Friday AEST.
It will be a return to prime time for American viewers in “an effort to maximize viewership and attention,” according to CNN.
This view will be the second held in this time slot. The other was the first session in early June, which was seen by about 20 million people.
A Capitol rioter testified during the latest hearing that he was “hanging on every word,” Donald Trump said. (Reuters: Leah Millis)
What will the session focus on?
We expect to hear more about what then-President Donald Trump was doing between the time the rioters descended on the Capitol and his first public comments three hours later.
House committee member Adam Kinzinger told Face The Nation on CBS that investigators had “filled in the blanks” on where Trump was.
“This is going to open people’s eyes in a big way,” he told the show.
“The reality is, and I’ll give you this advance, the president didn’t do much, but he happily watched television during that period of time.”
Kinzinger says Trump “did nothing” to protect the Capitol and the people inside it, and instead urged his Republican colleagues to “look at it with an open mind.”
Congressman Adam Kinzinger says there has been a “rapid” acceleration of the evidence being given to the committee. (AP: Jacquelyn Martin)
Who will we hear from?
Two former White House aides are understood to testify at the upcoming hearing.
Citing a source who asked to remain anonymous, the Associated Press reported that former deputy national security adviser Matthew Pottinger and former press aide Sarah Matthews, who both resigned immediately after the Capitol riots, are appearing before the committee on Friday.
The committee has not yet confirmed the testimony schedule for this week’s hearing.
It’s also not confirmed if we’ll hear from anyone from the US Secret Service, after a subpoena was issued last week for text message records from the era of the riots that were deleted.
The deadline for these documents was set for Tuesday local time, so we can know the outcome before the hearing.
Who won’t be there?
Chairman Bennie Thompson has told the committee he will proceed in his absence. (AP: J Scott Applewhite)
The chairman of the committee, Bennie Thompson, is one of the best-known faces in the inquiry, but we will not see him on the panel at the next hearing.
The Mississippi congressman has tested positive for COVID-19 and says he will be isolating at home for the next few days.
It is not clear at this stage whether the 74-year-old will take part in the hearing virtually or sit out altogether.
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Will this be the last hearing?
There is a good chance that this will be the last hearing for now; however, the Jan. 6 committee has had “surprise” public hearings before, so it can’t be ruled out that there are more to come.
There are many key voices we haven’t heard from directly as part of the committee hearings: two of the most important are former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence.
Kinzinger says the possibility of Trump testifying is a “big question” the committee is still dealing with, but not imperative at this stage.
“Donald Trump has made it clear that he doesn’t mind not telling the truth, let’s put it mildly,” he said.
“He lies all the time, he wouldn’t even go through with lying under oath, so I’m not sure what the value is.
“The thing to keep in mind is that this investigation is not over. We may be nearing the end of this stretch of hearings, we may have more hearings in the future. The investigation is still ongoing.”
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Kinzinger told Margaret Brennan in her CBS interview that while he was eager to speak with Mike Pence, he is undecided whether that would require a subpoena or not.
“I think it would be important to hear everything he has to say,” he said.
“That said, I’m not sure we’re going to get a ton more out of it than what his staff has already told us.”
ABC / Cables