WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA) will take the lead in the House Select Committee hearing on Thursday where he will focus on the "pressure campaign" targeting former Vice President Mike Pence "both publicly and privately."
Aguilar spoke to Raw Story on Wednesday, saying that he's ready to "tell this next piece of the puzzle."
The first night of the public hearings earned 20 million television viewers. The number is akin to those who watch a major sports event. The first hearing happened in prime time when most Americans with 9-5 jobs were at home and able to watch.
Even the second day, which happened in the morning while most people were at work and the west coast was just waking up, was able to garner at least 10 million viewers who watched it live. As a comparison, Fox News host Tucker Carlson is the top-most viewed news program on cable and his viewership typically draws a little over 4 million viewers.
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Aguilar said that he expects "some theatrics" out of the GOP, "and if it's convenient for them to tell their constituents that they aren't watching then they aren't watching." He thinks that Republicans are watching, however, noting that "a lot of them are curious as to what's going on."
He went on to tell Raw Story that while Republicans might be presenting themselves as opponents to the hearing, "a lot of them were fact witnesses and were traumatized just like we were. Whether they want to acknowledge that is another thing. Some of them were in the same position that maybe we were in the immediate aftermath, right? And have since changed, i.e. Kevin McCarthy, for political purposes or convenient purposes. And, look, that's on them."
Aguilar explained that he and the committee are focused on telling the story and "I think history will judge the work."
With additional reporting from Matt Laslo.