WASHINGTON — Nearly a year since its inception, the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol is going public as lawmakers hope to show the American public how democracy came to the brink of disaster.
The next round of hearings won’t take place in prime time like the debut on Thursday, but lawmakers will go into greater detail about specific aspects of the insurrection.
What you need to know ahead of the hearing:
WHO IS EXPECTED TO TESTIFY?
The committee announced that former President Donald Trump’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien, is among the witnesses scheduled to testify at a hearing Monday that focuses on Trump’s effort to spread his lies about a stolen election. Stepien was subpoenaed for his public testimony.
Monday’s witness list also includes BJay Pak, the top federal prosecutor in Atlanta who left his position on Jan. 4, 2021, a day after an audio recording was made public in which Trump called him a “never-Trumper”; Chris Stirewalt, the former political editor for Fox News; noted Washington elections attorney Benjamin Ginsberg; and Al Schmidt, a former city commissioner in Philadelphia.
WHAT EVIDENCE IS EXPECTED ON MONDAY?
Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the Republican vice chair of the committee, said lawmakers will present evidence Monday showing that Trump “engaged in a massive effort to spread false and fraudulent information” that the election had been stolen — even though advisers and allies told him repeatedly he had lost.
The panel's probe has so far been divided into a series of focus areas, including the efforts by former President Trump and his allies to cast doubt on the election and halt the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory; the financing and organizing of rallies in Washington that took place before the attack; security failures by Capitol Police and federal agencies; and the actions of the rioters themselves.
HOW MANY PEOPLE WATCHED THE FIRST HEARING?
The prime-time hearing was watched by an estimated 20 million people on the TV networks, almost double the number who tuned in to the opening of Trump’s two impeachment trials.
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