The public hearings kick off tonight as the House select committee investigating January 6 is zeroing in on former President Donald Trump. They plan to demonstrate he was responsible for grave abuses of power that nearly overturned U.S. democracy. Via CNN:
The committee’s central mission has been to uncover the full scope of Trump’s unprecedented attempt to stop the transfer of power to President Joe Biden. This includes Trump’s attempts to overturn his 2020 defeat by pressuring state and federal officials, and what committee members say was his “dereliction of duty” on January 6 while his supporters ransacked the US Capitol.
Lawmakers will try to convict Trump in the court of public opinion – which is all they can do, because it’s not within their powers to actually indict Trump. But they have an emerging legal foundation to claim that Trump broke the law, thanks to a landmark court ruling from a federal judge who said it was “more likely than not” that Trump committed crimes regarding January 6.
These highly choreographed hearings will be the panel’s first opportunity to show the public what they’ve learned from more than 1,000 witness interviews and 135,000 documents. An avalanche of new information about January 6 has come to light since Trump’s impeachment trial in February 2021, where he was acquitted of one count of “incitement of insurrection.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin said, “We are going to tell the story of a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election and block the transfer of power.” He said the committee “has found evidence of concerted planning and premeditated activity” related to the events of January 6.
