Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), who is scheduled to lead the hearing Thursday, said the session will “open people’s eyes in a big way” as they scrutinize Trump’s actions during the hours on Capitol Hill was overwhelmed by a mob trying to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s electoral college victory. “We filled in the blanks,” Kinzinger told CBS’ Face the Nation on Sunday. Trump “didn’t do much but happily watch TV during that time frame.” Kinzinger, one of two GOP members of the bipartisan panel regularly attacked by Trump for his role on the committee, implored his fellow Republicans to attend the next hearing with an open mind and ask themselves: “Is this kind of powerful ; leader do you really think you deserve it?’ Late Friday, the committee took the unusual step of subpoenaing the Secret Service after reports that the agency deleted text messages from Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, 2021, after the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General requested them. Committee members said they expect to receive the text messages by Tuesday. “An agency that was such a key part of a critical event in our history, one would assume that it would have done everything possible to preserve these records,” Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) said on the show ” State of the Union” by CNN. “When it comes to digital files and text messages, I’m not an IT expert, but I understand that there’s a lot that can be done, a lot of forensic analysis and data recovery.” The Secret Service was called for deleted texts Earlier hearings focused on Trump’s efforts to pressure the Justice Department, state officials and his vice president to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Trump’s own anger at being prevented from traveling to the Capitol with supporters that day . and the ties between the Trump White House and violent extremist groups involved in the attack. But so far, the committee has released little about what Trump did during the riot on Capitol Hill after he returned to the White House. Thursday’s hearing will be the last of the first series, but committee members said there may be more hearings later in the year. “If we get information that the American people need to know, we may end up bringing more hearings at that time,” Kinzinger said. Committee members said Sunday that Trump did not intervene in the 187 minutes from the time he left the “Stop the Steal” rally at the Ellipse that day until he finally posted a video on Twitter at 4:17 p.m. m. telling his supporters to leave the Capitol. “It’s very simple: He did nothing to actually stop the insurgency,” Luria said. “We’re going to go almost minute-by-minute during that time frame, from the time he left the stage at the Ellipse, came back to the White House, and actually sat in the White House, in the dining room, with his advisers urging him to constantly take over action, to take more action,” Luria added. The January 6, 2021 House committee held its final public hearing on July 12, focusing on how President Donald Trump invited far-right militant groups to DC (Video: Mahlia Posey/The Washington Post, Photo: Demetrius Freeman/The Washington post) Luria also referenced the now infamous tweet sent at 2:24 p.m. that day and accused Vice President Mike Pence of not having “the courage to do what needed to be done,” further inflaming the situation. Asked if Trump’s inaction would constitute a crime, Luria said Trump should have understood what it looked like to act in a time of crisis as the nation’s commander-in-chief. “He is the only person in the Constitution whose duty is expressly set forth to ensure that the laws are faithfully executed,” said Luria, a military veteran. “I see it as a dereliction of duty.” Both Luria and Kinzinger said the committee continues to seek and receive new information daily about the Jan. 6 attack. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) told ABC’s “This Week” that the committee plans to release a final report later this year. “This investigation is very much ongoing. The fact that the series of hearings is set to conclude this Thursday does not mean that our investigation is over,” Lofgren said. “Frankly, if the president’s supporters hadn’t engaged in frivolous litigation for months on end, we’d be further along than we are,” Lofgren said. Before the committee’s next hearing on Jan. 6, members asked the Secret Service to turn over the allegedly deleted text messages from the Capitol attack. (Video: The Washington Post) Kinzinger once again defended Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, who testified last month that she was told that Trump became angry with his Secret Service detail while in the presidential limousine for not they were going to the capitol. Anonymous sources have since disputed her testimony, but Kinzinger said the committee was still working to speak with those who were in the presidential limousine at the time and that any statements would have to be made under oath. “We have every reason to believe that what Cassidy Hutchinson said, at least from what she said she heard, because she wasn’t in the limo — she never said she was,” Kinzinger said. “She was told that. We fully believe she is a credible witness and her allegations are quite explosive.” Joanna Slater and Ariana Eunjung Cha contributed to this report.
The uprising of January 6
The House select committee investigating the 6 January 2021 riot held a series of high-profile hearings throughout the summer. Read the final recap of the hearing. Congressional Hearings: The House committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol held a series of hearings to share its findings with the US public. The sixth hearing included explosive testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide. Will there be charges? The committee could bring criminal charges against former President Donald Trump for his role in the attack, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said in an interview. What we know about what Trump did on January 6th: New details emerged when Hutchinson testified before the commission and shared what she saw and heard on Jan. 6. The Riot: On January 6, 2021, a pro-Trump mob stormed the US Capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 election results. Five people died that day or soon after, and 140 police officers were attacked. Inside the siege: During the rampage, rioters came perilously close to breaking into the building’s inner sanctums while lawmakers were still there, including former Vice President Mike Pence. The Washington Post reviewed text messages, photos and videos to create a video timeline of what happened on January 6.
