A series of televised congressional investigations by the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack about events related to the January 6 United States Capitol attack ran from 2021 to January 2023.
In July 2021, the held a preliminary public hearing about the law enforcement experience during the mob violence on that day.
In 2022, the Committee held ten live televised public hearings that presented evidence of Trump's seven-part plan to overturn the 2020 elections; this included live interviews under oath (of many Republicans and some Trump loyalists), as well as recorded sworn deposition testimony and video footage from other sources. An Executive Summary of the committee's findings was published on December 19, 2022; a Final Report was published on December 22, 2022.
During the first hearing on June 9, 2022, committee chair Bennie Thompson and vice-chair Liz Cheney said that President Donald Trump tried to stay in power even though he lost the 2020 presidential election. Thompson called it a "coup". The committee shared footage of the attack, discussed the involvement of the Proud Boys, and included testimony from a documentary filmmaker and a member of the Capitol Police.
The second hearing on June 13, 2022, focused on evidence showing that Trump knew he lost and that most of his inner circle knew claims of fraud did not have merit. William Barr testified that Trump had "become detached from reality" because he continued to promote conspiracy theories and pushed the stolen election myth without "interest in what the actual facts were."
The third hearing on June 16, 2022, examined how Trump and others pressured Vice President Mike Pence to selectively discount electoral votes and overturn the election by unconstitutional means, using John Eastman's fringe legal theories as justification.
The fourth hearing on June 21, 2022, included appearances by election officials from Arizona and Georgia who testified they were pressured to "find votes" for Trump and change results in their jurisdictions. The committee revealed attempts to organize fake slates of alternate electors and established that "Trump had a direct and personal role in this effort."
The fifth hearing on June 23, 2022, focused on Trump's pressure campaign on the Justice Department to rubber stamp his narrative of a stolen election, the insistence on numerous debunked election fraud conspiracy theories, requests to seize voting machines, and Trump's effort to install Jeffrey Clark as acting attorney general.
The exclusive witness of the sixth hearing on June 28, 2022, was Cassidy Hutchinson, top aide to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. She testified that White House officials anticipated violence days in advance of January 6; that Trump knew supporters at the Ellipse rally were armed with weapons including AR-15s yet asked to relax security checks at his speech; and that Trump planned to join the crowd at the Capitol and became irate when the Secret Service refused his request. Closing the hearing, Cheney presented evidence of witness tampering.
The seventh hearing on July 12, 2022, showed how Roger Stone and Michael Flynn connected Trump to domestic militias like the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys that helped coordinate the attack.
The eighth hearing on July 21, 2022, presented evidence and details of Trump's refusal to call off the attack on the Capitol, despite hours of pleas from officials and insiders. According to the New York Times, the committee delivered two significant public messages: Rep. Liz Cheney made the case that Trump could never "be trusted with any position of authority in our great nation again", while Rep. Bennie Thompson called for legal "accountability" and "stiff consequences" to "overcome the ongoing threat to our democracy."
The ninth hearing on October 13, 2022, presented video of Roger Stone and evidence that some Trump associates planned to claim victory in the 2020 election regardless of the official results. The committee voted unanimously to subpoena Trump for documents and testimony, and a subpoena was issued one week later. Trump refused to comply.
The tenth hearing on December 19, 2022, convened to present a final overview of their investigative work to date, and the committee recommended that former President Donald Trump, John Eastman, and others be referred for legal charges. The committee also recommended that the House Ethics Committee follow up on Rep. Kevin McCarthy (CA), Rep. Jim Jordan (OH), Scott Perry (PA), and Andy Biggs (AZ) refusing to answer subpoenas. The votes were unanimous. Immediately after the hearing, the committee released a 154-page executive summary of its findings. </onlyinclude>
Schedule Early in the investigation, the committee held a preliminary hearing in 2021. It was only carried by C-SPAN and not widely covered on broadcast television. In June 2022, the committee held highly publicized hearings intended for live broadcast. As used by the committee, labels such as "first hearing", "second hearing", et cetera refers to this series of televised hearings.
The committee publicly voted on December 19, 2022, to make criminal referrals for Donald Trump and John Eastman to the DOJ, and ethics referrals for four members of Congress (Representatives McCarthy, Jordan, Biggs, and Perry) to the House Ethics Committee. (The news had previously identified Mark Meadows, Jeffrey Clark, and Rudy Giuliani as likely to be referred.) The committee released its final report on December 22, which became a bestseller. + Hearing schedule TV series number Date Day Time (ET) Video TranscriptUntelevisedJuly 27, 2021Tuesday9:30 A.M. NPRPDFsFirstJune 9, 2022Thursday8 P.M. Thompson presentation at 14:17 Cheney presentation at 28:00 January 6 video at 1:02:35 Witness testimony at 1:24:15NPRSecondJune 13, 2022Monday10 A.M. NPRThirdJune 16, 2022Thursday1 P.M. NPRFourthJune 21, 2022Tuesday1 P.M. NPRFifthJune 23, 2022Thursday3 P.M. NPRSixthJune 28, 2022Tuesday1 P.M. NPRSeventhJuly 12, 2022Tuesday1 P.M. NPREighthJuly 21, 2022Thursday8 P.M. NPRNinthNinth hearing – October 13, 2022Thursday1 P.M. NPRTenthTenth hearing – December 19, 2022Monday1 P.M. REV
Background On January 6, 2021, Donald Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election culminated in a mob of Trump's supporters attacking the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The House of Representatives passed a bill to create a bipartisan independent commission to investigate the attack, modeled after the 9/11 Commission, but it failed due to a filibuster by Republicans in the Senate. The House then formed a select committee led by seven Democrats and two Republicans. The hearings are part of the select committee's investigation.
In advance of the hearings, congressional Republicans, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, began to organize themselves to defend Trump. This messaging presented a challenge for them, in part because they did not know in advance what information the committee would reveal at the hearings. McCarthy spoke to donors on the morning of the second hearing, advising Republicans to ignore the proceedings, refuse public comment and avoid the topic. He suggested their party should instead discuss election issues that could garner more votes, such as focusing on rising inflation or fuel prices. Insiders have said former president Trump was not necessarily pleased with this strategy and felt there was "no one to defend" him.
Preliminary hearing – July 27, 2021
Participants Select Committee members Witnesses On pre-recorded testimony On audio-visual exhibit Bennie Thompson – Chairman, Representative (D-MS 2nd district) Liz Cheney – Vice Chair, Representative (R-WY) Zoe Lofgren – Committee member, Representative (D-CA 19th district) Adam Kinzinger – Committee Member, Representative (R-IL 16th district) Adam Schiff – Committee Member, Representative (D-CA 28th district) Pete Aguilar – Committee member, Representative (D-CA 31st district) (D-MD 8th district) Stephanie Murphy – Committee Member, Representative (D-FL 7th district) Jamie Raskin – Committee Member, Representative (D-MD 8th district) Elaine Luria – Committee member (D-Va 2nd district) Officer Harry Dunn – United States Capitol Police, Washington, DC Officer Michael Fanone – Metropolitan Police Department, Washington, DC Sergeant Aquilino Gonell – United States Capitol Police, Washington, DC Officer Daniel Hodges – Metropolitan Police Department, Washington, DC– Unnamed January 6 rioters
Synopsis of preliminary hearing On July 27, 2021, the committee held a hearing titled "The Law Enforcement Experience on January 6th ".
According to C-SPAN, "January 6 Committee Meeting with Capitol and D.C. Police: Capitol and District of Columbia police testified at the first hearing of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. Witnesses described their experiences on that day and efforts to protect the Capitol and elected officials. Throughout the hearing, graphic video footage captured during the attack was shown."
The four officers—Dunn, Fanone, Gonell, and Hodges—were given a front-row seat to all of the committee's public hearings in 2022. All four, along with others, received the Presidential Citizens Medal from Joe Biden on January 6, 2023.
First hearing – June 9, 2022 – Primetime
Participants Select Committee members Witnesses On pre-recorded testimony On audio-visual exhibit Bennie Thompson – Chairman, Representative (D-MS 2nd district) Liz Cheney – Vice Chair, Representative (R-WY) Caroline Edwards – police officer, Capitol Police Nick Quested – documentary filmmaker Marcus Childress – investigative counsel for the Select Committee Candyce Phoenix – senior investigative counsel for the Select Committee William Barr – former Attorney General of the United States Jason Miller – senior Trump campaign spokesman Alex Cannon – Trump campaign lawyer Ivanka Trump Jared Kushner Richard Donoghue – former Acting Deputy Attorney General of the United States Marc Short – Chief of Staff to Vice President Pence Mark Milley – General, Chairman Of The Joint Chiefs Of Staff Jeremy Bertino Enrique Tarrio – former Chairman of the Proud Boys Stewart Rhodes – founder, Oath Keepers Donald Trump Mike Pence Steve Bannon Jim McGovern – Representative (D-MA 2nd district) January 6 arrestees Robert Schornack Eric Barber John Wright George Meza – member, Proud Boys Daniel Herendeen Matthew Walter Unnamed January 6 rioters
Synopsis of first hearing
This was the first of the hearings for broadcast on live television and was held during prime time. The committee showed never-before-seen footage of the Capitol attack to provide an accessible and compelling narrative of events for the public.
Opening statements by the panel members The committee panel observed that Donald Trump attempted to overturn a free and fair democratic election by promoting a seven-part conspiracy. According to Bennie Thompson, chairman of the committee, "Jan. 6 was the culmination of an attempted coup, a brazen attempt, as one rioter put it shortly after Jan. 6, to overthrow the government ... The violence was no accident. It represents Trump's last stand, most desperate chance to halt the transfer of power." According to the committee, Trump "lied to the American people, ignored all evidence refuting his false fraud claims, pressured state and federal officials to throw out election results favoring his challenger, encouraged a violent mob to storm the Capitol and even signaled support for the execution of his own vice president."
Panel members made reference to a federal district court opinion in which the Judge David O. Carter said Trump had "likely" violated two federal statutes and staged a "coup in search of a legal theory". Rep Liz Cheney read part of the opinion, in which the court said: