Committee intends to reveal previously secret White House records, photos and videos to prove how Trump broke the law
The House select committee investigating the Capitol attack will unveil new evidence at Watergate-style public hearings next week showingand top aides acted with corrupt intent to stop Joe Biden’s certification, according to sources close to the inquiry.
In order to tell that story, the sources said, the select committee intends to have its senior investigative counsels reveal previously secret White House records, photos and videos that will be presented, in real time, to starkly illustrate the live witness testimony. House investigators are also likely to focus on how Trump directly pivoted to the 6 January congressional certification – and not the December deadlines for states to certify their electors – as an inflection point, and how his actions led straight to militia and far-right groups’ covert maneuverings.
From a legal perspective, the panel has already alleged in court filings that Trump and his external legal advisor, John Eastman,to overturn the 2020 election outcome, including obstruction of Congress and defrauding the United States. But that quest will come with its own challenges, and the panel’s greatest difficulty is perhaps not so much whether they can show wrongdoing by Trump and his top advisers, but whether it can get Republican and independent voters to care.
But the consequence of the decision to delay the start of public hearings, and the constant drip of news from the investigation, is that it might have driven some “6 January fatigue” – which Trump’s allies on Capitol Hill are intent on weaponising to defend Trump.