Photo by Mandel Ngan at AFP
Day two of the public hearings begin Monday morning for the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on Congress and the attempts to overthrow the election.
The committee has confirmed the witnesses for the hearing, which reveals that their focus will likely be on President Donald Trump's false allegations that the 2020 election was fraudulent. According to the witness list, they are all Republicans, and all but one of them publicly claimed that the election wasn't fake or fraudulent.
\u201cGiven this lineup of witnesses, tomorrow\u2019s J6 hearing promises to bring lots of revelations about Trump\u2019s crimes. Things are moving in the right direction, IMO.\u201d— Glenn Kirschner (@Glenn Kirschner) 1655062496
\u201cSupercut for two hundred seconds to tease Hearing Two tomorrow at 10am ET.\u201d— Jason Kint (@Jason Kint) 1655076878
Legal experts and political pundits gave their predictions and how they expect in the hearing on Monday. Others, however, debated what the committee has already shown and how it reflects on the Justice Department.
Some legal analysts claimed that the committee has already proven that Trump broke the law and asked why the Justice Department isn't jumping in right away. Others applied their experience to say that the DOJ should be working on its own investigation and not relying on Congress.
It has been mere weeks since the Justice Department asked the House Select Committee for the transcripts of their interviews. This could be because the DOJ is using the information to supplement their own probe, or it could be to fact-check witnesses they're questioning outside of the congressional investigation.
Political activists generally continued their call for prosecutions at the top. This weekend a group of militia members was arrested alleging they were about to carry out a terrorist plot at an LGBTQ+ pride march. The increase in domestic terrorism didn't begin with Jan. 6, 2021, but it's an attack that folks compare to those that have followed.
See some of the commentary below:
\u201cI get there are people\u2014good people\u2014who worry that prosecuting Trump will lead to civil unrest and violence. But not prosecuting him will hasten the demise of democracy. Prosecute the guilty.\u201d— Steven Beschloss (@Steven Beschloss) 1655048713
\u201cI agree with @danielsgoldman that proving Trump conspired to overturn the election poses no serious problems for DOJ\u2014while seditious conspiracy is less of a slam dunk. But even that gravest federal crime (short of treason)already looks provable to me. I\u2019m confident DOJ is on it.\u201d— Laurence Tribe (@Laurence Tribe) 1655059917
\u201cLook for more damning evidence against Trump from his own people tomorrow inc his campaign manager and his US attorney in Georgia, who was fired for not endorsing the big lie. Imagining the killer cross-examination if Trump or a surrogate ever were to assert the kool aid defense.\u201d— Harry Litman (@Harry Litman) 1655083490
\u201cSelect committee says Monday will feature significant records and deposition testimony, similar to Thursday's hearing, but now we'll be much more into the meat of the investigation.\u201d— Kyle Cheney (@Kyle Cheney) 1655069802
\u201cTrump frustrated with the traditional approach of his camp's legal strategy. It's aggressive but not alleging an outright stolen election. He wants more. Talks to Rudy. Rudy agrees. Trump gives his blessing to Giuliani to start poking around the campaign. Be his eyes and ears.\u201d— Robert Costa (@Robert Costa) 1655070014
\u201cThe Committee will likely show that the GOP knows the Big Lie IS a lie. On Face the Nation this morning, Adam Kinzinger said he doesn't know many in Congress that believe it. He added: \u201cIf Trump truly believes the election was stolen, he\u2019s not mentally competent to be President.\u201d\u201d— Duty To Warn \ud83d\udd09 (@Duty To Warn \ud83d\udd09) 1655048506
\u201cThe spotlight tomorrow is on the Big Lie. Trump will freak. (Yeah, I know. He always freaks. But this time, he'll turn his freak dial up to 11.)\u201d— Duty To Warn \ud83d\udd09 (@Duty To Warn \ud83d\udd09) 1655076180
\u201cRep Kinzinger (more): \u201cIf (Trump) truly believes the election was stolen, he\u2019s not mentally competent to be President\u201d\u201d— Scott MacFarlane (@Scott MacFarlane) 1655044641
\u201cI get where the Committee is going \u2014 they obviously do have a lot of evidence and they want Trump\u2019s criminal exposure to be clear to the public\u2026but DOJ should not be relying on Congress for this. They have either been doing a robust investigation on their own or\u2026we\u2019re screwed\u201d— Asha Rangappa (@Asha Rangappa) 1655089190
\u201c\u201cOne thing I wasn\u2019t aware of (until then) was how far along they were (with this plan) and were trying to go\u2026 I think in the end, in the Department of Justice, the people who uphold the law won out.\u201d https://t.co/fjF9rx71qJ\u201d— Ryan J. Reilly (@Ryan J. Reilly) 1655062247
\u201cIn my view, the criminal case is stronger against Trump for conspiring to impair the lawful function of govt \u2014 which focuses on the 7-part plan to overturn the election \u2014 than obstructing Congress or seditious conspiracy, both of which center on January 6. https://t.co/ele2ustSWL\u201d— Daniel Goldman (@Daniel Goldman) 1655037045
\u201c\ud83d\udca5MUST WATCH: tomorrow before the @January6thCmte: ex-Southern District of #Georgia US Attorney BJay Pak.\n\nPak was *forced out* by Trump for \u201crefusing to parrot baseless voter fraud claims in #Georgia.\u201d\n\nBut Lordy, there are TAPES.\ud83d\ude0e\n\n@KlasfeldReports \nhttps://t.co/vr2XEOLWPg\u201d— Dena Grayson, MD, PhD (@Dena Grayson, MD, PhD) 1655080465
\u201cWe still need to talk more about Roger Stone wrt January 6. Stone talked with Trump at Mar A Lago on December 27, the day told Trump told Acting AG Jeffrey Rosen in a group phone call, "Just say the election was corrupt [and] leave the rest to me.\u201d\u201d— Elizabeth de la Vega (@Elizabeth de la Vega) 1655066690
\u201cRoger Stone was pardoned and his sentence commuted by Trump in exchange for him using that freedom to plan and orchestrate the January 6 insurrection, pipe bombs, guns stashed away in Virginia until Trump called for martial law. Trump knew. He was fine with Pence being hanged.\u201d— Cheri Jacobus (@Cheri Jacobus) 1655075423
\u201cThe J6 hearings will bring the insurrection back to the front of American consciousness\u2026& while many @FoxNews viewers will dismiss what\u2019s found\u2026a small but crucial sliver will finally understand what took place. More w/ @reedgalen on the latest pod:https://t.co/H1NnWo32pQ\u201d— The Lincoln Project (@The Lincoln Project) 1655060542
\u201c.@BillStepien will tell the truth given this would be his second brush with federal prison. #January6thHearings\u201d— Reed Galen (@Reed Galen) 1655075378
\u201cDon\u2019t think Donald Trump can escape conviction by persuading gullible jurors that he really believed his own toxic BS even if Ivanka didn\u2019t. That\u2019s not an available legal defense for the federal and state crimes of trying to change the electoral outcome!\n\nhttps://t.co/4nCilYUKZm\u201d— Laurence Tribe (@Laurence Tribe) 1655062889
\u201cNEW: Jan. 6 committee\u2019s first hearing confirmed three major things: GOP members of Congress wanted pardons, the committee\u2019s been focused on Trump engaging in wilful blindness, and a new look at the Trump-Flynn-Powell meeting on 18 Dec 2020. @GuardianUS https://t.co/FwTNUm5p0r\u201d— Hugo Lowell (@Hugo Lowell) 1655059883
\u201cnow how frigging hard is THIS?! https://t.co/1lk3kZ0J3i\u201d— Jennifer 'I stand with Ukraine' Rubin \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Jennifer 'I stand with Ukraine' Rubin \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1655045413
\u201cHard to find records that mysteriously couldn\u2019t be located.\u201d— Bradley P. Moss (@Bradley P. Moss) 1655089498
\u201cDonald Trump did not and does not reasonably believe the there was election fraud. Under the doctrine of conscious avoidance, he cannot put his head in the sand to avoid reality. \n\nThe \u201cdelusional sociopath\u201d defense (h/t @chrislhayes) would not hold up in a criminal trial.\u201d— Daniel Goldman (@Daniel Goldman) 1655090698
\u201cBREAKING: Watergate investigators can\u2019t find 18 minutes of recording in Nixon tape.\u201d— Bradley P. Moss (@Bradley P. Moss) 1655089539
