- The January 6 committee's primetime hearings begin on Thursday, June 9 at 8pm ET.
- The committee plans to publicly present their findings about the January 6 Capitol attack.
- Here's an overview of who's been interviewed, subpoenaed, and invited to testify so far.
After interviewing hundreds of people, sifting through thousands of documents and issuing dozens of subpoenas, the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol will make their findings public during six hearings in June.
The committee hopes to present the most comprehensive account yet of the deadly assault on Congress, and lay out the forces, decisions, and people who fueled the riot in early 2021. They seek to prove the unprecedented threat that the mob, which was trying stop the official certification of the 2020 election results, posed for American democracy.
The first hearing is scheduled for this Thursday, June 9th at 8 p.m. ET. The second one is expected to be held on June 13, at 10 a.m. ET. Here's how to watch the January 6 committee hearings via TV and streaming.
Insider has reported that the committee is expected to air previously unseen footage from the day of the insurrection and pre-taped interviews the committee conducted during its exhaustive 10-month-investigation that aims to deepen Americans' understanding of the events that day and the risks it posed to the peaceful transfer of power. Axios also reported that they will showcase official White House photographs from the insurrection that has not been disclosed publicly.
In May, the Department of Justice began requesting documents from the January 6 committee as part of their investigation into the insurrection, and those who instigated it.
The panel is composed of seven Democrats, and two Republicans — Vice Chair Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois. Chairman Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi, told Insider in a recent interview that "our democracy…stands to lose if we don't get it right."
Here's what you need to know about how to watch, and what to expect from lawmakers and witnesses, the committee, and its Republican opponents.
Who is expected to testify?
Details are trickling out about key witnesses who may appear during the first hearing. The committee has struggled to get top Republican politicians, like former Vice President Mike Pence, to appear. Here's who we know will provide live testimony:
- Nick Quested, a documentary filmmaker who followed members of the far-right group the Proud Boys on January 6, will testify on June 9, according to the New York Times.
- Caroline Edwards, a Capitol Police officer who was injured in the attack, will also appear on June 9, according to the Times.
NBC News reported that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who resisted Trump's pressure to "find" enough votes to declare him the state's victor in 202o, will also publicly testify sometime in June.
CNN reported that the committee invited top Pence aides Greg Jacob and Marc Short to testify, but it's not clear if they will appear. The committee also reached out to former federal Judge J. Michael Luttig, CNN reported. A top aide to the White House chief of staff at the time of the Capitol breach, Cassidy Hutchinson, contributed to the panel's investigation and is expected to deliver key testimony, the Washington Post reported.
Who has the committee interviewed so far?
The committee has conducted over 900 interviews during its investigation — with notable figures like Ivanka Trump, the daughter of former president Donald Trump.
Chairman Bennie Thompson told CNN that Ivanka Trump talked with the committee about her activities at the White House on the day of the insurrection.
He also told CNN that her husband Jared Kushner, who was also a White House adviser during the Trump administration, was also interviewed.
"There were questions asked about what she was doing at the time that the insurrection was occurring at the Capitol, and she told us," he told the outlet.
Last week, William Barr, who served as the attorney general under the Trump administration, met with committee investigators. He was seen entering the US capitol building Friday afternoon. Barr stepped down in the aftermath of Trump's election loss and in a recent book criticized Trump for listening to "whack jobs" peddling conspiracy theories about election fraud.
Media outlets have reported that the House select committee has interviewed other individuals such as Alyssa Farah, a former communications director and several of Mike Pence's aides including his national security adviser, Keith Kellogg.
It has also been reported that former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, the architect of Trump's tough line immigration policies, also met with the committee.
What has the committee looked into?
The January 6 committee has focused on a number of areas, including the law enforcement and government response to the attack, and the communications between conservative lawmakers and the White House in the days leading up to the riot and on the day of the attack itself.
They will also likely zero in on plans by Trump's allies to install fake "alternate electors" in states that the former president stood to lose in the 2020 election. These individuals planned to go against the voters' wishes and cast electoral votes for Trump, rather than Biden, even if Trump lost the state.
Who has been subpoenaed?
The committee issued subpoenas to several Republicans requesting for them to cooperate in its investigation. Some of these Republicans include Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Mo Brooks of Alabama and Ronny Jackson of Texas.
The committee has also requested for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Republican Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania to cooperate with their investigation.
The vast majority of these Republican lawmakers have refused to cooperate in the House select committee's investigation. Trump advisers Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro both face criminal contempt charges, with Navarro indicted on Friday.
Brooks told FOX News that he would refuse to testify before the committee if it is in private or before his Senate primary runoff election on June 21.
"I don't want this witch hunt committee and Nancy Pelosi trying to interfere with a Republican primary election for the United States Senate in Alabama," he said.
What can we expect from Republicans?
The January 6 hearings will scrutinize Trump and his top advisers, and the Republican Party is planning to mount an aggressive defense. The party plans to cast the hearings as "illegitimate," "rigged," and hyper-partisan, Vox and Axios reported.
The Republican National Committee plans to paint "Democrats as the real election deniers" and "remind voters that law enforcement investigations have taken place," according to a memo obtained by Vox.
House Republican leadership, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Rep. Elise Stefanik, will likely play a crucial role in defending Trump from any fallout from the January 6 hearings, Axios reported.
Stefanik is already attempting to get ahead of the hearings, calling the events "Nancy Pelosi's partisan, political witch hunt" in a tweet on June 4.
Meanwhile, conservative and pro-Trump media will play a role in hammering home the party's message, according to Axios.