On Thursday afternoon, the House Select Committee’s investigation into the assault on January 6 will begin what may be its last hearing.
According to committee officials, it’s anticipated that a significant portion of the discussion would center on Donald Trump’s “state of mind” when his supporters stormed the US Capitol last year.
Notably, there won’t be any live witness testimony throughout the anticipated 2.5 hour session.
In-person testimonies from individuals like former White House assistant Cassidy Hutchinson and Georgia election worker Shaye Moss had produced some of the proceedings’ most moving and resonant moments.
The United States Secret Service was subpoenaed by the committee in July, and some of “the hundreds of thousands of pages that it has supplied” are anticipated to be made public on Thursday.
When 25-year-old Hutchinson testified about being informed that Trump physically beat an agent who refused to transport him to the US Capitol with his supporters, the Secret Service was thrust into the focus of the committee’s months-long inquiry.
Live witnesses are not expected to be up, but Roger Stone, a longtime Trump supporter and GOP insider, may be presented in a new video, according to Punchbowl News.
During a call with reporters on Wednesday, aides declined to provide specifics of the witnesses or evidence that will be presented during the hearing.
There will be some discussion of the activities that occurred before election day. A committee aide said, “There will be some examination of the events that occurred after January 6 with an emphasis – particularly attention – on the former president’s state of mind and his role in these events as they developed.”
“What you’re going to see is a combination of some data we’ve previously shown, with that fresh, never-before-seen material to highlight Donald Trump’s centrality from the period leading up to the election,” the author said.
When asked whether Ginni Thomas’ recent deposition of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas would have any impact, aides said that they were “simply not able to go into specifics either about how we do interviews with witnesses or what we’re going to see tomorrow.”
Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) earlier told reporters that this hearing may be the last before a final report is produced; but, aides were cautious to label it as the panel’s “closing argument.” A final report is anticipated before the end of the year.
Due to Hurricane Ian, the hearing that was originally scheduled on September 28 had to be postponed.
An assistant remarked on Wednesday, “I’m hesitant to kind of categorize this as a closing argument.”
“Since the inquiry is continuing, it is impossible to determine with certainty what the select committee’s timeline will be moving ahead.”
The aide said that “continuing dangers to our democracy still exist today.”
On Thursday, all nine committee members are anticipated to testify, in contrast to previous sessions, which were co-led by two different members of the panel each time.
The January 6 committee presented explosive evidence from those in Trump’s inner circle as well as those who took part in the uprising, including members of far-right militia organizations, throughout the summer.
The president was portrayed by lawmakers as having been persuaded by sympathizers outside the White House to retain power despite official staff and experts saying that there was no legal mechanism to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election.
At one of the initial hearings, Vice Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) argued that the assault on the US Capitol last year was not a spontaneous outbreak of violence but rather Trump and his supporters’ “final stand” in a months-long scheme to overthrow American democracy.
Trump, for his part, continues to claim that extensive voting fraud was used to rig the 2020 election.
He has disparaged the group of legislators as a partisan political tool, calling them various names like “the unselect committee,” among others.