Jan 6 hearing latest updates: Trump 2024 run at risk as polls shift after Cassidy

The lawyer for Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, said the conservative activist has “serious concerns” about testifying before the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 riot at the US Capitol.

Mark Paoletta sent an eight-page letter, obtained by The Daily Caller, to the committee as it has sought her testimony. Mr Paoletta specifically cited how Supreme Court Justices have been subjected to threats after a draft opinion of the court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade.

“I would also note that this has been a particularly stressful time as the Thomases have been subjected to an avalanche of death threats and other abuse by the unprecedented assault on the conservative Supreme Court Justices and their families”, the letter said.

The story of an altercation between former president Donald Trump and members of his Secret Service detail on the day of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol was widely repeated and discussed by Secret Service agents and other law enforcement officials when it happened, according to multiple reports.

Andrew Feinberg has the story from Washington, DC.

Republican Rep Adam Kinzinger has poked fun at Fox News’ political analyst Brit Hume’s complaint that the January 6 committee members, Mr Kinzinger included, were all chosen by one party.

Mr Hume wrote: “I’ve covered Washington for more than 50 years, including 11 years covering Congress specifically. I’ve never seen a committee all of whose members were chosen by one party, and where there is no cross-examination or any attempt to present both sides.”

The Illinois congressman replied: “Hey Brit. It’s been all Republicans testifying. Definitely one sided, just not in how you think it is.”

He continued: “And as you well know, Kevin McCarthy took his ball and went home,” adding: “You all sound nervous.”

Less than a week after he picked up a coveted endorsement from Donald Trump, Arizona GOP Senate hopeful Blake Masters also secured the backing of an infamous neo-Nazi troll who runs a racist news site named for the Nazi newspaper Der Sturmer.

According to Jewish Insider, Daily Stormer publisher Andrew Anglin said he “[could not] give a more forceful endorsement” of Mr Masters and called for “anyone in Arizona” who is not a known neo-Nazi adherent to reach out to the Republican candidate’s campaign with queries as to “what kind of help” he might need.

Twitter users believe they’ve found footage of Donald Trump allegedly trying to grab the steering wheel in the presidential SUV after his speech at the Ellipse on January 6 2021 that preceded the attack on Congress by his supporters.

The alleged altercation took place when Mr Trump’s security detail refused to take him to the Capitol.

Gustaf Kilander reports on what they’ve found.

About half of Americans believe former President Donald Trump should be charged with a crime for his role in the US Capitol attack on 6 January 2021, a new poll shows.

The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that 48 per cent of US adults say the Republican former president should be charged with a crime for his role, while 31 per cent say he should not be charged. An additional 20 per cent say they don’t know enough to have an opinion. While 58 per cent say Trump bears a great deal or quite a bit of responsibility for what happened that day.

The poll was conducted after five public hearings by the House committee investigating January 6, which has sought to paint Trump’s potential criminal culpability in the events that led to deadly insurrection. But it was taken before Tuesday’s surprise hearing featuring former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson. Her explosive testimony provided the most compelling evidence yet that the former president could be linked to a federal crime, experts say.

Views on Trump’s criminal liability break down predictably along party lines, with 86 per cent of Democrats but only 10 per cent of Republicans saying Trump should be charged with a crime. Among Republicans, 68 per cent say he should not be charged and 21 per cent say they don’t know. Still, the fact that nearly half the country believes he should be prosecuted is a remarkable position for the former president, pointing to the difficulties he could face if he makes another run at the White House in 2024.

On Wednesday, two former high-ranking former White House officials added their voices to the chorus supporting Cassidy Hutchinson’s recollection of events between Donald Trump and the Secret Service on 6 January 2021.

Olivia Troye, a former adviser to Vice President Mike Pence on issues of homeland security, tweeted that her former colleague Tony Ornato “sure seems to deny conversations he’s apparently had” with other Trump White House officials.

“Those of us who worked [with] Tony know where his loyalties lie,” she added. “He should testify under oath.”

Ex-White House communications director Alyssa Farah added bluntly: “Tony Ornato lied about me too.”

She tweeted: “During the protests at Lafayette sq in 2020, I told Mark Meadows & Ornato they needed to warn press staged there before clearing the square. Meadows replied: ‘we aren’t doing that.’ Tony later lied &said the exchange never happened. He knows it did.”

The select committee’s vice chair, Liz Cheney, has also vouched for Ms Hutchinson’s credibility.

John Bowden has the full details:

The response to Donald Trump’s Newsmax interview has been highly negative – and given that the January 6 committee has described efforts to intimidate Ms Hutchinson and possibly others into withholding their testimony, some have even accused him of trying to up that pressure on her in public.

Other critics on social media lambasted him for “gaslighting” his audience as he simultaneously claimed not to know Ms Hutchinson while simultaneously offering up a vivid character assassination.

Arizona Senate President Karen Fann has recieved a subpoena from a Washington DC grand jury as part of the FBI investigation into the 6 January 2021 attack on the Capitol.

According to CBS 5 in Phoenix, officials have confirmed that Ms Fann is cooperating with the probe and has turned over emails and text messages to FBI agents.

Andrew Feinberg has the story: