Jan. 6 committee members cagey on details of upcoming hearing — but promise info will be new

WASHINGTON — Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said Wednesday that the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol will meet again before the election and said that there is a lot of new information to reveal to the public.

Speaking to Raw Story and other reporters outside of the Capitol on Wednesday, Raskin said that they also have to work through the final report, though he didn't indicate when to expect that to be released. If Republicans take over Congress in November, the Jan. 6 committee is likely to be finalized quickly. Committee Chairman Benny Thompson (D-MS) called the committee a work in progress and said that there is still a lot that needs to be done before finalizing it.

Thompson made it clear that the committee would produce a report and acknowledged it might come before some of the answers are discovered. Congress is set to vote on the Electoral Count Act crafted by Reps. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), both Jan. 6 committee members. That doesn't necessarily mean that it will be the only piece of legislation to come out of the committee, but there will be recommendations.

"It's always a work in progress," he reiterated. "Hope springs eternal."

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Raskin also noted that he didn't have any further details on the subpoenas of fellow members of Congress associated with some of the insurrectionists. The committee hasn't let that stop them, he explained. They're continuing to move forward with every detail they can follow.

The committee's chair hinted at the possibility of witnesses being part of the hearing next week (Sept. 28). He said the theme of the hearing would be revealed in the coming days. One of the topics has yet to be discussed is the evidence from Secret Service agents.

At the same time, the former Trump detail leader Bobby Engle and agent turned staffer Tony Ornato are supposed to testify to the committee again after revelations that Ornato was behind a campaign to discredit the testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson behind the scenes. According to Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Ornato is said to have done this from the office of the Secret Service prior to his resignation.

Another potential topic is the path of funding to organizers and vendors for the Jan. 6 event from the Trump campaign. There were other funders from various state and local Republican Party groups and individual donors that funded busses of people sent to Washington for the Jan. 6 event.

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Thompson told Raw Story that they are also still in talks with the lawyers for former Vice President Mike Pence, who was the target of an assassination plot from the mob while he and his family were in the U.S. Capitol. Pence, like Republican members of Congress, may simply try to run out the clock until a new Congress can be sworn in. Still, Thompson told reporters that he is optimistic Pence will speak.

"He was central to what occurred," Thomson said of Pence, noting that it's important to hear from him.

One of the pieces in the Electoral Count Act is clarifying whether the vice president has the power to stop the count. The Constitution outlines the role, but the new legislation reinforces it so there is no wiggle room, Thomson explained.

"You have to clear that up," said Thompson. "That became the main focus when the court failed, and recounts failed, then it fell to the pressure on the vice president to change the outcome of the electoral count. To his credit, he didn't do it."