Today the January 6 select committee is holding what is likely to be the last hearing on the insurrection. The hearings are scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Eastern, and will be broadcast on all the major networks. A final report is set to be made public by the end of the year.
The Washington Post's Aaron Blake has a summary of the committee's unfinished business, much of which may be covered today. Here are edited snippets:
1. More detail on Trump’s early knowledge of violence
The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Secret Service records are likely to be a significant focus for the committee Thursday.
Carol D. Leonnig and Jacqueline Alemany reported that the committee will cite newly obtained records to show “how President Donald Trump was repeatedly alerted to brewing violence that day, and he still sought to stoke the conflict”...
2. The other Secret Service issuesAfter Hutchinson’s testimony, some anonymous sources close to the Secret Service called into question some of her claims. Specifically, it was her secondhand testimony about an altercation in the presidential vehicle after Trump’s speech on the Ellipse. We were told key figures would testify. [snip]
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said recently that the committee has obtained 800,000 pages of material from the Secret Service, while emphasizing that the missing texts were still a significant hole.
Separately, NBC News reported recently that the Secret Service handed over the cellphones of 24 agents to the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general, who is probing the missing texts.
3. New witnesses?The committee’s previous hearings were perhaps most notable for things that we learned from two star witnesses: Hutchinson and Cipollone. The facets of the insurrection they spoke to — Trump’s prior knowledge that events could turn violent, and the concerted but failing efforts to get him to call off the dogs when they did — will be key to whatever results from the committee’s work.
Cipollone’s further testimony to the committee also came after Hutchinson seemed to grease the skids for other witnesses to step forward and be more forthcoming. On Thursday, we could learn whether anybody else has emerged with more to say...
4. What Roger Stone knew — and didOne person who should feature prominently at Thursday’s hearing is longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone. The Post reported that Danish documentary filmmakers following Stone for the past three years have turned over footage to the committee, which aides intend to use at the hearing.
The footage is expected to show Stone predicting violent clashes and alluding very early on to the idea that Trump would try to remain in power using armed guards and loyal judges. The committee will reportedly argue that this shows the plot to overturn the election on false pretenses was launched very early — even before the election was held...
5. ‘The cash and the potential coverup’One issue on which the committee will presumably want to close the loop is Trump’s “Stop the Steal” fundraising.
At the tail end of one of its June hearings, the committee played video of a Jan. 6 committee staff member saying Trump misled donors who contributed $250 million to an “Official Election Defense Fund.” But the fund didn’t technically exist, according to Trump aides, and the vast majority of the money went to Trump’s super PAC and wasn’t used to contest the election results.
[Rep. Zoe] Lofgren said of the effort that “it’s clear that he intentionally misled his donors, asked them to donate to a fund that didn’t exist and used the money raised for something other than what it said.”...
Another topic for the committee to address is the active role of certain members of the Malignant Loser's cult in Congress in foreknowledge of and abetting the insurrection and the blatant attempt to foil the electoral count. You know who they are.
We haven't been disappointed yet in the committee's rigorous work and riveting presentations. This should be a blockbuster finale.
