The House Select Committee will hold its first public hearing this week, June 9 at 8pm ET. Sources told CNN that this hearing will be a broad overview of the panel’s 10-month investigation and will set the stage for subsequent hearings, which are expected to cover certain topics or topics.
Although the set-up of the hearings has been a work in progress and evolving, the sources point out, the presentations are likely to include video clips from January 6, as well as some of the committee’s approximately 1,000 closed-door interviews. .
New information about the insurgency has also emerged in recent days. The New York Times reported Friday that former Pence chief of staff Marc Short warned Pence’s top Secret Service agent the day before the attack that there could be a threat to the then vice president. A source familiar with the matter confirmed to CNN that the account of the New York Times conversation was correct.
In the meantime, this is what we expect from the commission’s hearings.
Will there be new information?
Yes, at least according to a committee advice published last week.
“The committee will present previously unseen material documented on January 6, receive testimony from witnesses, preview additional hearings, and provide the American people with a summary of its findings on the coordinated effort and several steps to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and avoid transfer of power, “the panel said.
What can people expect?
Committee members have said the hearings could focus on the direct role of former President Donald Trump in undermining election results.
Broadly speaking, the panel has been working on a thesis that states that Trump’s obsession with losing the election and his trafficking of false claims about the results is what laid the groundwork for the violent and deadly riot. at the Capitol.
Prior to the hearing, MP Liz Cheney, one of the committee’s two Republicans, said the attack was part of an “extremely well-organized” conspiracy. It is extremely wide. It is very well organized. It’s really creepy. Cheney told CBS Sunday Morning when asked if the attack was a conspiracy, adding, “I haven’t learned anything that has bothered me less.”
Democrat David Cicilline told CNN on Saturday that new “disturbing” evidence will be presented at upcoming hearings, stressing the importance of the process.
“I think there will be substantial evidence that really demonstrates coordination, planning and effort, even though they understood that Donald Trump lost the election and even once the insurgency started and the violence started, there were efforts in progress for persuading the former president to stop the violence and ask people to go home, and he refused to do so, “Cicilline told CNN.
The legislator added: “I think the American people will learn facts about planning and executing this that will be very disturbing.”
Former Virginia MP Denver Riggleman, who worked as a technical adviser to the House select committee, said Sunday that people will be “absolutely amazed” by what he will present.
What witnesses could appear?
CNN has learned that two people directly linked to former Vice President Mike Pence are among those who have received invitations to appear. Former Pence chief lawyer Greg Jacob and former federal judge J. Michael Luttig have received information from the committee about his possible testimony.
In addition to Luttig and Jacob, CNN has learned that Short will be called to testify.
The three men have already been interviewed in private by committee investigators. In some cases, his testimony has already been used by the committee as part of court records and requests for subpoenaing of other potential witnesses in his investigation.
How will hearings be compared to Trump’s impeachment proceedings?
A source close to the committee told CNN that the panel was based on the experiences of Trump’s two impeachment proceedings. These audiences have served as role models for both what needs to be done and what needs not to be done.
A key difference from typical committee procedures is that January 6 hearings will not feature the voices of prominent Trump supporters in Congress.
The only two Republican panel members, Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, are both open critics of Trump.
How is Trump preparing?
The former president has made it clear that he seeks coverage from his closest allies around the upcoming public hearings.
Read this report by CNN’s Melanie Zanona, Zachary Cohen and Ryan Nobles. Trump’s team has told some of its most loyal acolytes on Capitol Hill that the former president wants people to defend him vigorously and push back on the select committee as public hearings unfold, according to GOP sources familiar with the matter. · Licitud.
But part of the challenge for Republicans, especially after deciding to boycott the select committee, is that they have little vision of what the investigation has uncovered and what could be revealed to public hearings, making it difficult for them to reach a precise agreement. strategy.
How should Americans approach these audiences?
With the least possible excitement, journalist Bob Woodward told CNN.
“I think we need to say,‘ That’s what we know. That’s what we don’t know. ”Be very, very careful and be the most impatient, frankly, it’s hard, but be as calm as possible here,” he said.
CNN’s Melanie Zanona, Zachary Cohen and Ryan Nobles contributed to this report.