The third public hearing of the House select committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 is set for Wednesday morning, following an explosive opening primetime event hosted by the panel on Thursday and an enthralling second instalment on Monday morning.
With more than 20 million people watching the committee’s first presentation, the audience size is expected to drop for the subsequent midweek hearings, mainly due to their early start time of 10am ET when most of the American public is at work.
But the revelations heard so far about the efforts of ex-US president Donald Trump’s allies to overturn the 2020 election are expected to continue, while more footage from the attack itself will be played as well.
Wednesday’s hearing is expected to focus on President Trump’s team’s efforts to pressure the US Justice Department into investigating its false claims of election fraud, which the incumbent insisted without evidence had been widespread and part of an elaborate Democrat-led conspiracy to secure the White House for Joe Biden by rigging voting machines and losing ballot papers.
The hearing is expected to be shown across the major TV networks, including CNN and MSNBC, as well as on numerous news websites and YouTube channels, including The Independent. The hearings will also be shown live on C-SPAN.
Witnesses for the third hearing are expected to be former acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen, who replaced Bill Barr in office after the latter refused to endorse Mr Trump’s conspiracy theory (Mr Barr told the committee that he had advised the president his beliefs where “bulls***” in a recorded deposition played during Thursday’s opening night).
Alongside Mr Rosen, two other top Justice Department officials are appearing: former acting deputy attorney general Richard Donoghue and former assistant attorney general for the office of legal counsel Steve Engel.
Mr Donoghue was previously interviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, which looked into Mr Trump’s efforts to overturn the election.
The morning hearings have a little more freedom than the first and last prime time broadcasts and are able to run slightly longer: from two to two-and-a-half hours.
One of the committee’s members will lead each session but attorneys who know the sensitive material well will conduct most of the actual questioning of witnesses.
Most of those appearing to offer testimony have been subpoenaed to do so.
Attorneys will also show texts, photos and videos to support their case and illustrate the facts.
“We want to paint a picture as clear as possible as to what occurred,” committee chairman Bennie Thompson told reporters last month of his goals in conducting these sessions.
“The public needs to know what to think. We just have to show clearly what happened on January 6.”
