The committee of the House investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol is preparing for a crucial week as it prepares to finally share with the public the fruits of its months-long investigation into riots at prime time on Thursday.
The 8 p.m. hearing that kicked off a series of meetings shows that the committee is eager to reach out to a wide segment of Americans and convey the extent to which democracy itself was at stake that day.
“The goal here is to build that narrative,” said Molly Reynolds, a senior researcher in Brookings government studies.
“What they want to do is review the countless depositions they have taken and other evidence they have gathered and find a way to try to convey a story to the public.”
The challenge is to make a captivating case for a wide audience, especially those who feel they already know what happened that day or are ready to come out of the attack.
According to the University of Massachusetts Amherst survey, the country is divided almost equally on how much it wants to reflect on the day.
While 52% said it was important to learn more about what happened, 48% said it was “time to move on.” The division is almost entirely partisan.
“I think the committee will have a hard time communicating messages because of the kind of segregated information environment in which much of the American public is,” said Ryan Goodman, co-director of the Reiss Center on Law and Security at New University. York. Law School, he told The Hill.
“That said, I think the viewing of a solemn public hearing and a live testimony as well as, in all likelihood, the video material, could focus attention in some way. [for] members of the American public do not think about these problems. ”
Putting the hearing on prime time shows that the committee does not want to reach only those who already see the attack as a serious assault on democracy. He wants to reach out to independents and even conservatives who have heard Republican leaders call the party witch hunt panel partisan.
Jesse Rhodes, a political science professor who helped draft the UMass poll, said that even with the strong partisan division, there are those who do not have strong feelings about the attack.
“In the poll we find that about 19 percent of people are purely independent. And then there’s another 9 percent Democrat and another 8 percent Republican. So there’s a bit of a dock. in the middle. And those people can potentially change, “he said, noting that only a third of Americans identify strongly as conservatives.
“If there is really damning evidence of long-term planning, the conniving involvement of the president or his top advisers … that does have the potential to move some people.”
Rhodes and others have warned that the committee must be careful how it frames these messages.
“It simply came to our notice then [thing] it could be that this is not perceived as a Trump versus Biden framework, which was practically the first impeachment hearing, but rather imparts a Trump framework against Pence. I think a lot of people are concerned about the direct threat to Mike Pence that occurred on January 6, “Goodman said.
“I think this draws attention in a very different way. It’s not so political or partisan.”
There are indications that the committee may be leaning in that direction. Several outlets reported that the panel has been in discussions about inviting Pence’s legal advisers and chief of staff to testify.
“As soon as it is perceived or seen as a strictly partisan affair and an attack on the Republican Party as an institution, then you will have a lot of resistance or skepticism,” Rhodes said.
“To the extent that the messages can be about the maintenance and upkeep of institutions and values that benefit the people, regardless of the party, you will at least be willing to listen to some of those concerns.”
Panel makeup could help.
Republicans in the House opposed during the two-committee impeachment proceedings on Trump, but the two Republicans on the Jan. 6 panel agree on their goals.
“Every audition will be different from what I think a lot of what we’re used to seeing because everyone is rowing in the same direction. So you have the Democrats and you have it. [Rep. Liz] Cheney (R-Wyo.) I [Rep. Adam] Kinzinger (R-Ill.), So the committee is bipartisan, but they all pursue a shared goal in a way that is not true in other recent high-profile investigations, whether it’s Trump’s impeachment or Benghazi. ” Reynolds said.
“This will make a serious statement of the facts that will seem different from what we are used to.”
Goodman said the absence of Republicans opposed to the committee’s mission will not only change the tone but even the way the information is presented.
“I don’t think audiences will look like the circus that has existed in audiences – and impeachment hearings – in that past when some members of Congress were just playing with some kind of right-wing media. And so it will be another audience. solemn that will be the search for the truth, [that’s] the way I see it. And I don’t think audiences are a source of misinformation. I think they will be a source of information, “he said.
The committee has not yet announced who will testify at first sight, but has promised to post unseen images from January 6.
“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 prevent a transfer of power, “he said in a statement on Thursday.
It is unclear what kind of footage the commission plans to present to the audience.
Although in the past it was based on visceral images, including an officer shattered by rioters at a door and Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah) barely escaped as the crowd closed in the Senate chamber, until and everything may look like new images of the attack. repetitive for those who saw it unfold live on television.
But Goodman said the video recordings of some of the committee’s more than 1,000 statements could be captivating to the public.
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Rhodes also said the new information will be key, especially to move forward in an unusually busy summer news cycle.
“It can be a challenge to get people back to the events that happened in the past, especially when there is a big disagreement between Democrats and Republicans over what happened and who was involved with what guilt.” to say. “I think it’s a real challenge, although it looks like the committee will have a lot of very juicy and damning information to share.”
“They may be able to get attention, especially if they come up with some really shocking new revelations, but it will be a challenge to break with everything that is happening now.”