WASHINGTON ( Associated Press) – The House’s committee of January 6 plans to continue its public hearings in July as its investigation into the Capitol riot deepens.
The chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson told reporters on Wednesday that the committee was receiving “a lot of information” – including new documentary footage from Trump’s last months in office – as his years-long investigation intensified with hearings on the January 6 attack. 2021, and Donald Trump’s efforts to overthrow Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
Thompson, D-Miss, said the committee’s Thursday hearing, which will draw attention to former Justice Department officials testifying about Trump’s proposals to reject the election results, will conclude this month’s work. The committee would start again in July.
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“We have a new documentary of a person we’re talking to, and we need to look through all his information,” Thompson said, referring to the British filmmaker whose interviews had never been seen before with the former president and his inner circle. was handed over to the committee this week. The footage was taken before and after the uprising.
The committee has been investigating the violence at the Capitol and its causes over the past year and has interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses and provided some 140,000 documents. Nine people were killed in the attack and its aftermath.
The committee was scheduled to complete this first round of public hearings in June. But additional information has come to the committee’s attention, and Congress is going to rest for two weeks of remote and district work in the Fourth of July holiday.
The revelation about the film came to light on Tuesday when British filmmaker Alex Holder revealed he had heard a congressional summons to hand over all the footage he had shot in the last weeks of Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., Indicated Tuesday that the investigation’s schedule may change.
“I would just say the original trials would have ended in June, but we are picking up new evidence daily at tremendous speed,” Raskin said. “And that’s why we’re constantly working on the new information that comes out and includes it.”
He added: “But the trials will definitely end before the end of the summer.”
The television hearings launched a rush-hour session this month, and lawmakers said they continue to uncover new tips and information.
Associated Press Congress correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
