WASHINGTON — Six more public hearings will be held by the House committee that is investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol. These hearings will include evidence that Trump ordered the mob march on the Capitol, as well as live testimony from White House staff members, Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said.
Cheney and Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) described Thursday night how they intend to organize the other hearings of the committee that they plan on packing into June.
Thompson stated that the second hearing, scheduled for Monday, June 13, “examines the lies” which led to people storming the Capitol “to stop the transfer of power.”
Others hearings will focus on Trump’s pressure campaign against states to alter the election results, and Trump’s attempt to remove the acting attorney general to use the Department of Justice for his claims of a stolen electoral election.
Cheney stated that lawmakers would present evidence at future hearings to show what motivated violence, including directly from the perpetrators. She stated that the panel would share videos, social media posts, and their statements in federal court.
The second hearing is set for Monday, 10 a.m. ET. Chris Stirewalt is expected to testify, having previously been Fox News’ political editor.
Stirewalt has been harshly critical of his Fox colleagues’ coverage and Trump’s lies afterward. Trump and his allies repeatedly attacked Fox for calling Arizona home for Joe Biden.
Cheney stated that the hearing will focus on Trump’s efforts to convince large portions of the U.S. populace that fraud stole the election from them, despite having been told by numerous advisors that he had lost.
For example, former Attorney General Bill Barr said that he told Trump repeatedly that the Department of Justice had not seen any evidence of fraud that could have affected the election. He claimed that he told Trump his claims regarding Dominion voting systems were “crazy stuff.”
Ivanka Trump stated to the committee that she had “accepted” Barr’s statement and that it affected her view about the election.
The third hearing will be held by the committee on Wednesday, June 15 at 10 a.m. ET. No witnesses have yet been reported.
According to Cheney, this hearing will provide evidence regarding Trump’s failed plan to replace Jeffrey Rosen, acting Attorney General, with Jeffrey Clark, a DOJ official more supportive of Trump’s fraud claims. Clark wrote a letter to states in which he stated that the department had “identified significant concerns that could have affected the outcome of this election.”
Cheney stated Thursday that “In our hearings you will hear firsthand how the White House Counsel threatened resignation, how senior leaders of the department threatened resignation, and how they confronted Donald Trump in the Oval Office.”
Cheney stated that Rosen and Richard Donoghue, acting Deputy Attorney General, will be available to the public during the hearings. However, it is not clear if they will make an appearance at this one.
According to Cheney, this hearing has not been scheduled yet and will focus on Trump’s attempts to press Pence to “refuse to count certain electoral votes Jan. 6”.
Cheney stated that the committee would present testimony from Greg Jacob, Pence’s former chief counsel. He said that Trump’s demands for Pence were not only wrong but also illegal and unconstitutional.
She said Thursday, as she viewed the hearings.
She said that the committee would show how Trump pressured Pence in private and public. They will also present evidence from multiple witnesses, both live and recorded.
At the fifth hearing, evidence will be presented about Trump’s plan for influencing state legislators to alter election results.
This includes Trump’s call to Brad Raffensperger (Republican Secretary of State), asking him to “find 11780 votes” that weren’t there. Also, Trump’s attempts to get states to cancel certified electoral lists without any basis, Cheney stated.
She said, “You will hear more details about the Trump campaign, and other Trump associates’ efforts to instruct Republicans, in multiple states, to create intentionally false electoral lists, and transmit those to Congress and National Archives, falsely attesting that Trump won the states he actually lost.”
Cheney stated that the committee would examine the actions of Trump, who summoned a mob and ordered them to march illegally on the U.S. Capitol.
She stated that a pivotal moment occurred on December 18, 2020 when Trump sent a tweet encouraging people to visit Washington on January 6, 2020. He said it would be “wild!” This tweet was sent shortly after Trump met with Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, former Gen. Michael Flynn and other fraud victims, and lasted well into the night.
Cheney stated that Trump also met with the group in private for a time before White House lawyers discovered the group was present and rushed to intervene.
She said that the final hearing will “report the moment-by-moment attack by more than half a dozen White House staff members over an hour, both live in the hearing area and via videotaped testimony.”
Trump refused to listen to his allies or aides in order stop the attack.
“He didn’t talk to his attorney General. He didn’t speak to the Department of Homeland Security. Trump did not give an order to deploy the National Guard on that day, and he didn’t try to cooperate with the Department of Justice in coordination and deployment of law enforcement assets. Cheney stated that Mike Pence did all of these things.
