Jan 6 committee chairman announces more hearings to come in September

The co-chairs of the January 6 select committee have confirmed that their investigation would continue throughout the summer, and the panel will reconvene for a second round of public hearings in September.

Congressman Bennie Thompson, the committee chair, and vice-chair Liz Cheney made the announcement at the outset of Thursday’s hearing after noting in previous meetings that more witnesses continue to come forward and offer testimony to lawmakers.

“We will reconvene in September to continue laying out our findings to the American people,” said Mr Thompson.

“Our committee will spend August pursuing and merging information on multiple fronts before convening in September,” Rep Liz Cheney added.

“We have received new evidence and new witnesses have bravely stepped forward ... doors have opened new subpoenas have been issued and the dam has begun to break ... we have far more evidence to share with the American people, and more to gather,” the co-chair added.

Their announcement is two-pronged in its importance. Number one, it means that more revelations and details about one of the most shocking days in US history are surely on the way. Number two, it means that those revelations will begin hitting headlines just 60 days before voters are set to head to the polls and choose which party will control the House and Senate come January.

Right now, the GOP is heavily favoured to take the House while their rivals are likely to hold on to the Senate. The former could change, however, if more damaging details about the actions of GOP members of Congress or the president himself emerge.

The committee has long left open the possibility of holding further hearings, so today’s announcement is not a surprise. What will be potentially interesting is which witnesses the committee’s lawmakers manage to secure testimony from in the weeks between Thursday and the resumption of hearings in the fall.

So far the committee has uncovered a treasure trove of utterly damning information about the president’s activities in the weeks leading up to and during the Jan 6 assault, including most notably that his team was well aware of both the likelihood of violence breaking out as well as the likely illegality of their efforts before going ahead with efforts to overturn the election on Jan 6.