The House Jan. 6 panel has interviewed more than 1,000 people who were directly or indirectly involved in the U.S. Capitol insurrection as it’s probed the violent attack and former President Donald Trump’s unprecedented efforts to overturn his election defeat.
Some of the interviews conducted by the panel were with well-known figures, among them members of Trump's family and top White House aides. Others were with lower-level staffers or government officials who attended key meetings or had knowledge of specific developments. The committee has talked to police officers, campaign aides and some of the rioters themselves.
The panel also interviewed Kashyap Patel, a White House national security aide who moved to the Pentagon in the weeks after Trump lost the election and was in communication with the White House as Trump's supporters pushed into the Capitol. The panel's probe has attempted to dissect what the Trump was doing as the rioters stormed in.
How will Jan. 6, 2021, go down in history? It could be a turning point toward a more fractured nation or a wake-up call to rededicate to principles of American democracy, says University of Pennsylvania historian Brian Rosenwald.