Jan. 6 committee calls surprise hearing after obtaining new evidence – National

The Home Jan. 6 panel is looking a shock listening to this week to current proof it says it lately obtained, elevating expectations of latest bombshells within the sweeping investigation into the Capitol riot.

The listening to scheduled for 1 p.m. on Tuesday comes after Congress left Washington for a two-week recess. Lawmakers on the panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 riot mentioned final week that there could be no extra hearings till July.

The topic of the hearings is to this point unclear. A spokesman for the panel declined to touch upon its substance.

The committee’s investigation has been ongoing through the hearings that 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 lately obtained new footage of Trump and his inside circle taken each earlier than and after Jan. 6, 2021 from British filmmaker Alex Holder.

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

It’s unsure if Holder’s footage is the topic of the listening to on Tuesday, or if Holder himself shall be there. Russell Smith, a lawyer for Holder, declined to remark.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, 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 Holder had turned over. The British filmmaker got here in for a deposition Thursday that lasted two hours, Smith mentioned final week.

Smith mentioned then that it was Holder’s “civic responsibility” to come back ahead and that the footage had proven some inconsistencies with earlier testimony through the hearings.

The panel has held 5 hearings to this point, largely laying out Trump’s strain marketing campaign on varied establishments of energy within the weeks main as much as the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress that finally licensed Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential victory.

The committee detailed the strain from Trump and his allies on Vice President Mike Pence, on the states that have 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 likewise footage of the assault to element what it has realized.

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