Jan. 6 panel to hold surprise hearing, present new evidence

WASHINGTON — The Home panel investigating the U.S. Capitol revolt is holding a shock listening to on Tuesday with an unidentified witness, cloaking the last-minute proceedings in extraordinary secrecy and elevating expectations for brand spanking new bombshells within the sweeping investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, assault.

The surprising listening to, scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday, was introduced with 24 hours’ discover whereas lawmakers are away from Washington on a two-week recess. The committee had stated final week that there could be no extra hearings till July.

The topic of the listening to is to this point unclear, however the panel’s announcement on Monday stated it will be “to current not too long ago obtained proof and obtain witness testimony.” A spokesman for the panel declined to elaborate.

The committee’s investigation has been ongoing through the hearings, which began three weeks in the past, and the nine-member panel has continued to probe the assault by supporters of then-President Donald Trump. Amongst different investigative proof, the committee not too long ago obtained new footage of Trump and his interior circle taken each earlier than and after Jan. 6 from British filmmaker Alex Holder.

Holder stated final week that he had complied with a congressional subpoena to show over all of the footage he shot within the ultimate weeks of Trump’s 2020 reelection marketing campaign, together with unique interviews with Trump, his kids and then-Vice President Mike Pence. The footage consists of materials from earlier than the revolt and afterward.

It’s unsure if Holder’s footage might be proven on the listening to Tuesday. Russell Smith, a lawyer for Holder, declined to remark.

Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the panel’s Democratic chairman, instructed reporters final week that the committee was in possession of the footage and wanted extra time to undergo the hours of video.

The panel has held 5 hearings to this point, largely laying out Trump’s strain marketing campaign on numerous establishments of energy within the weeks main as much as the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress, when a whole bunch of the Republican’s supporters violently pushed previous police, broke into the constructing and interrupted the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential election victory.

The committee has used the hearings to element the strain from Trump and his allies on Pence, on the states that had been certifying Biden’s win, and on the Justice Division. The panel has used dwell interviews, video testimony of its non-public witness interviews and photographs of the assault to element what it has realized.

Lawmakers stated final week that the 2 July hearings would give attention to home extremists who breached the Capitol that day and on what Trump was doing because the violence unfolded.