The House committee investigating the events of the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol is set to reconvene for its ninth, and possibly last, public hearing on Thursday as lawmakers seek to continue their arguments that former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election led to the violence on that day.
The panel is scheduled to hold its hearing at 1 p.m. EDT on Thursday, which is anticipated to be the committee’s final hearing before the midterm elections in November. Lawmakers are expected to hammer home its message that Trump remains a “clear and present danger” to democracy and serve as a warning for a potential 2024 run, according to CNN.
The much-anticipated hearing will be the panel’s last before lawmakers release their final report later this year. The hearing was originally scheduled to take place on Sept. 28 but was postponed due to Hurricane Ian making landfall in Florida and traveling up the East Coast.
Here are four things to watch during the hearing:
JAN. 6 COMMITTEE ANNOUNCES NINTH, AND POSSIBLY LAST, HEARING WILL BE NEXT WEEK
The committee reconvenes after a three-month break, and a lot has changed
Thursday will be the first time the committee will reconvene for a public hearing since its last meeting in late July — and the political landscape has changed dramatically since then.
Committee Vice-Chairwoman Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) has been a strong voice throughout all eight of the panel’s meetings thus far, and it’s likely the Wyoming Republican will come out swinging as part of a last-ditch effort to warn voters about doubting the results of the 2020 election before she leaves office next year. Thursday’s hearing is the first meeting since Cheney lost her reelection bid in August, falling to Trump-backed challenger Harriet Hageman in the GOP primary.
The hearing is also the first public meeting since the FBI raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in August, although it’s unclear whether that search provided any new evidence for the committee’s investigation.
Lawmakers to recap findings with each committee member expected to chime in
Lawmakers are expected to recap their findings from over the summer during its ninth hearing on Thursday as it has been nearly three months since the committee has convened.
It’s not yet clear whether the hearing will have a specific theme similar to the other hearings, but it’s likely to continue attempting to tie Trump’s actions in the weeks after the election to the Capitol riot.
Each of the eight previous hearings was led by one or two different committee members, meaning none of the meetings featured speeches from all lawmakers on any given day. However, Thursday’s hearing is expected to break that mold and give all nine members a speaking opportunity to present different findings.
Hearing will not feature live witnesses but will unearth new evidence
Unlike other hearings, the meeting on Thursday will not feature any live witnesses. However, lawmakers are expected to unearth new evidence through video testimony and documentary footage that has not yet been seen.
Some of this evidence is likely to have been discovered in the last few months after the committee scored interviews with several high-profile members of Trump’s inner circle, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, and former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
The panel is also expected to feature testimony from Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas who met with the committee in late September. Lawmakers sought Ginni Thomas’s testimony after she pushed Trump’s claims of election fraud and was involved with important Trump administration figures after his presidential election defeat in November 2020.
The hearing may also delve into new evidence provided by the Secret Service after the agency handed over “thousands” of communication records sent on Jan. 5 and Jan. 6. The transfer of documents came in response to a subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee in July that sought information about text messages that were deleted by the agency.
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Lawmakers expected to release report before end of year but say investigation continues
The hearing on Thursday is expected to be the panel’s last meeting before it releases a final report later this year. It’s not yet clear when that report will be released or what it will entail, and committee aides have noted the investigation is underway, according to CNN.
If Republicans recapture the House in the midterm elections, they are expected to seek revenge against the Jan. 6 committee, giving its members a fast-approaching deadline to complete their work. Thompson said his panel might release some interim information before the November elections, but a final report would come after those contests.
