After nearly a year of investigation, the U.S. House of Representatives Selection Committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack enters a new phase on Thursday with a prime-time hearing that will include videotaped testimonies from senior Trump White House officials and executives. of the campaign, said committee assistants. . The hearing is scheduled for 8 p.m. EDT (24:00 GMT). Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “January 6 and the lies that led to the uprising jeopardized two and a half centuries of constitutional democracy,” said Democratic Rep. Benny Thompson, chairman of the committee, in an opening remarks before the hearing. “The conspiracy to overthrow the will of the people is not over,” Thompson added. “There are those in this country who thirst for power but have no love or respect for what makes America great: commitment to the Constitution, faith in the rule of law, our common journey to build a more perfect union.” Since stepping down last year, Trump has continued to falsely claim that his defeat in the 2020 election by Democratic President Joe Biden was the result of widespread fraud, a claim that has been rejected by many courts, state election officials and members of his own. of its administration. Trump’s close associates who have spoken to the committee include Donald Jr., son of Ivanka, Ivanka’s daughter and son-in-law Jared Kouchner, former Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, former Attorney General William Barrow, and former Vice President Maud Anthony Barr. Trump, who is publicly flirting with another White House nominee in 2024, dismissed the commission in a statement Thursday as “political thugs.” The hearing will be attended by two eyewitnesses, U.S. Capitol Officer Caroline Edwards, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in the attack, and Nick Quested, a director who recorded footage of the far-right Proud Boys group accused of plotting the murder. attack. read more A total of six hearings are expected this month as the Democratic-led committee seeks to reverse Republican efforts to downplay or deny the violence of the attack, with five months left until the Nov. 8 midterm elections to determine which party controls both Parliament and Senate for the next two years. read more The pro-Trump mob tried to prevent Congress from certifying Biden’s victory, attacking police and causing millions of dollars in damage. Four people were killed on the day of the attack, one was fatally shot by police and the others by natural causes. More than 100 police officers were injured and one died the next day. Four officers later committed suicide. The commission wants to make the assumption not only that January 6 was planned in collaboration with members of Trump’s inner circle, but that there is a continuing threat to US democracy. “As I said, when it happened and then, I think it was a clear, blatant violation of the Constitution,” Biden told reporters Thursday. “I think these guys and women violated the law, tried to overturn the election result.
VIEW FROM PARTIZAN LENSES
A Reuters / Ipsos poll published on Thursday highlighted the partisan lens through which many Americans see the attack. About 55 percent of Republicans believe the false claim that left-wing protesters led the attack, and 58 percent said they believed most of the protesters were obeying the law. A Republican candidate for governor of Michigan was arrested on Thursday on misdemeanor charges related to his involvement in the Jan. 6 uprising. read more Two Republican election officials in Georgia that Trump tried to push to “find” votes that would reverse his election defeat will testify later this month, a well-known source said. read more The major television networks NBC, CBS and ABC plan to broadcast the audition live, but Fox News, a favorite of Trump supporters, will not broadcast it on its main channel. There are two Republican members on the committee, representatives Liz Cheney, its vice president, and Adam Kinzinger. Some Republicans in Congress condemned Trump in the first days after the attack, but since then almost everyone has changed their tone. Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy called the committee a “smokescreen” for Democrats to push for dramatic changes to electoral laws. “It’s the most political and least legitimate committee in American history,” he said. When Republicans took control of Congress, there were at least 10 investigations into the 2012 attack on US diplomatic facilities in Benghazi, Libya, in which four people were killed. The inquiries and hearings lasted for most of the next four years and were used as a political embrace against then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as it was an unsuccessful presidential nomination against Trump. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Patricia Zengerle and Richard Cowan. Additional references by Linda So, Trevor Hunnicutt Kanishka Singh and Jason Lange. Editing by Will Dunham, Scott Malone, Andy Sullivan and Alistair Bell Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
