Members of the committee attend a public hearing of the US House Select Committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol on Capitol Hill on June 9, 2022 in Washington, US.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
Members of the House Select Committee probing the January 6 Capitol riots remained silent about what to expect at this week’s public hearing, giving few details. beyond their road map To prove that former President Donald Trump has been blamed for attempts to reverse the 2020 election results.
first public hearing Organized by the nine-member committee took place on Thursday evening, and three more days of hearings have been officially scheduled for Monday, Wednesday and Thursday this week.
Among the revelations at the first hearing was that several Republican congressmen apologized to the president. Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the committee’s vice chairman, and one of its two Republican members, Representative Scott Perry, R-Pa., were named as one such delegate. Perry has denied the claim, calling it a “shameless” and “brutal” lie.
The identities of the other congressmen who apologized are unknown, but several members of the committee said during Sunday’s televised performance that they believed those requests showed they knew they were doing something illegal.
“To me, I think that is some of the most compelling evidence of guilt consciousness. Why would members do this if they felt their involvement in this conspiracy to reverse the election was somehow justified?” California Representative Adam Schiff said on ABC’s “This Week.”
Illinois Representative Adam Kizinger, the other Republican representative on the January 6 committee, echoed that view in an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
“In general, if someone apologizes, it’s because they have a genuine concern that they’ve done something illegal. I’ll leave it there, but I’d say more information is coming,” he said.
New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is not on the committee, said the same day on CNN’s “State of the Union” that every member of Congress should be able to respond if she requested a pardon.
“When you don’t know which of your allies were part of a possible conspiracy, we need to find out,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “I believe that the Committee will never make such a serious allegation without very significant evidence to present to the American public.”
Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Ruskin, who sits on the selection committee, said the investigation is not just for the public.
“I think our entire investigation is a referral of crimes to both the Justice Department and the American people, because it is a major attack on the machinery of American democracy,” he said during an appearance on “State of the Union.”
But he missed the point that the Justice Department should impeach Trump, saying he was respecting the freedoms of law enforcement. Schiff, for his part, told ABC’s Martha Raddatz that he wants the DOJ to investigate.
“I want the Justice Department to investigate any credible allegation of criminal activity by Donald Trump or anyone else. The rule of law should apply equally to all,” Schiff said.
Monday’s hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. ET. The committee is expected to focus on Trump’s misinformation campaign and the lack of evidence supporting the allegations of election fraud.
