'A plot against democracy': J6 Committee members explain why more hearings on Trump's election threat are needed

The House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on Congress and the attempt to overthrow the election held its eighth hearing Thursday evening, in what some have described as a kind of "season finale, not a series finale."

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) told Raw Story that there will likely be more coming from the committee after the August recess and that there are "a variety of people" whom she wants to hear from as more evidence is turned over to the committee. She noted that there are some things that the committee hasn't even been able to focus on.

According to Lofgren, after each of the public hearings, more witnesses came forward with statements and evidence based on what was being said or relevant information they realized they had. She went on to say it necessitates future hearings.

"We can't just sit on that," she told Raw Story.

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Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA), who was the lead on the hearings Thursday with Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), told Raw Story that it's clear others coming forward have seen how courageous the witnesses are as they've come forward because "they believe it's the right thing to do" and "they care about our country."

Kinzinger told reporters after the hearing had finished that he's not a Justice Department attorney but he is convinced that Donald Trump committed criminal behavior.

"I think if you look at what we presented tonight and between all of these hearings — this cannot be acceptable from the President of the United States," Kinzinger said. "Like the worst thing we can do is put out something that says the president is above the law, he can do this again, because I guarantee you it will happen again."

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) brought up the Senate's bill reforming the Electoral Count Act, and noted that it isn't a sufficient solution to what happened after the 2020 election. He doesn't think the committee will have been successful if people come out of the hearings thinking that all Donald Trump did was try and nullify the Electoral College vote count.

"There is a lot more to do because there has been a plot against democracy, not just on the Jan. 6 session of Congress, but we saw it take place at the state level, we saw attacks on voters' rights, we've seen it in efforts to overthrow the decisions of election boards and now we see the effort to impose political decisions of election boards, so there's a lot going on," Raskin explained. "And it's a moment when we have to be very serious about what can happen in our democracy."

He went on to cite the reports that Trump is still making calls to Wisconsin election officials trying to change the 2020 election.

"The president still wants Wisconsin to say that the election is not over and he's looking for a way to reopen it," Raskin continued. "To this day he has not accepted the outcome of the election and he's trying to make that fiction a litmus test for participation in the Republican Party. He wants everyone to accept the 'big lie.' I hope that these hearings completely and once and for all demolish the 'big lie.'"

He noted that he's not sure about the next steps after hearing that Trump called members of the U.S. Senate in the middle of the attack. The committee could subpoena them or their phone records, but Raskin said he wasn't certain if the committee was willing to take those steps because it "poses difficult questions about bicameralism."

"We obviously encourage everyone to come forward," Raskin also reiterated.

While other members have indicated there might be hearings in September, Raskin made it clear they haven't announced anything, but that the investigations and interviews with witnesses will continue through August.