Jan 6 committee hearings latest: House panel plans prime time session next week as Trump
Biden jokes ‘unfortunately that’s probably Trump calling me’ as phone goes off during speec
The 6 January select committee is reportedly planning to hold another primetime hearing on Thursday 14 July, this in addition to a session on Tuesday 12 July that will unpack evidence on how the crowd that stormed the Capitol was gathered. It is expected to focus in particular on extremist elements including the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has taken to Truth Social to defend his campaign to pressure Georgia state officials into overturning the 2020 election, insisting that his phonecalls to them were “perfect” – this as he faces a grand jury investigation into his actions by the district attorney in Fulton County.
Mr Trump has also expressed worries that the Jan 6 select committee may be gaining access to “inner secrets” of the government, and referred to his former White House counsel Pat Cipollone – who will be testifying privately on Friday – as a “lawyer acting for the Country” that “may someday be brought before a partisan and openly hostile Committee in Congress, or even a fair and reasonable Committee, to reveal the inner secrets of foreign policy or other important matters. So bad for the USA!”
Georgia Guidestones destruction presaged by Trump ‘bombing’ memes
Memes showing former US president Donald Trump ‘bombing’ the Georgia Guidestones appeared on his own social media platform days before the monument was attacked, a report says.
The photoshopped image featuring Mr Trump appeared on Truth Social on 2 July – four days before the mysterious 18-foot granite monument was damaged in an alleged explosion.
According to the DailyDot, the meme was posted by a verified user on the Trump-owned social media site.
It had earlier appeared on Twitter and was shared by other users.
Memes showing Trump ‘bombing’ Georgia Guidestones appeared online days before attack
Photoshopped image appeared amid GOP candidate’s campaign
Andrew Naughtie8 July 2022 13:25
Analysis: DeSantis 2024?
One of the main effects of the 6 January hearings has been to take some of the allure out of a Trump re-election campaign, with even some Republicans who have supported him in public up till now starting to openly advise against it. That in turn raises the question of who might run instead – and as Eric Garcia writes, few are as well-placed as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
What insiders say about Ron DeSantis standing for president in 2024
It’s looking increasingly like the Florida governor and Donald Trump are each other’s worst nightmare
Andrew Naughtie8 July 2022 12:45
Hardline GOP Senator on the 2024 campaign trail
Tom Cotton, the hard-right Arkansas Senator who infamously called for the military to be sent in to crack down on anti-racism protests in the summer of 2020, recently told a room of donors that he would not be put off running for president if Donald Trump announces another tilt a the White House. And now he appears to be doing the Iowa groudwork that’s compulsory for anyone seeking a presidential nomination…
Andrew Naughtie8 July 2022 12:09
What will happen at Tuesday’s Jan 6 hearing?
The next session of the Jan 6 committee, which is scheduled for Tuesday, July 12th at 10:00am ET, is set to focus on the role played by extremist groups who participated in the Capitol riot, and on the ways they were coordinated – possibly with the involvement of Trump confidantes.
Politico quotes committee member Jamie Raskin giving this assessment: “Our investigation shows that there was a tremendous convergence of interests between the domestic violent extremist groups and the broader MAGA movement. This hearing will be the moment when one sees both the convergence of efforts at a political coup with the insurrectionary mob violence. We see how these two streams of activity become one.”
For more on the Oath Keepers, whose leaders have been charged with seditious conspiracy over their role in the events of 6 January, here is Richard Hall’s report on leader Stewart Rhodes.
How Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes went from ballroom dancing to sedition charges
Stewart Rhodes cycled through ideologies and conspiracies before he become obsessed with Donald Trump, writes Richard Hall. He will soon face charges of organising one of the most serious attempts to overthrow the government in modern history
Andrew Naughtie8 July 2022 11:30
Amid bias claims, judges keeping Capitol riot trials in DC
A growing number of defendants are pushing to have their trials moved out of DC, saying the outcome of the first trials proves that the odds are unfairly stacked against January 6 defendants in the nation’s capital.
“DC is a city that, as a whole, feels that it has been the victim of a crime,” attorneys in two cases against members and associates of the far-right Oath Keepers extremist group wrote in court papers seeking to have their trials moved to Virginia.
Prosecutors and judges see no evidence that Capitol rioters can’t get a fair trial in DC and believe the process of weeding out biased jurors is working. Judges presiding over January 6 cases have consistently rejected requests to move trials, saying the capital has plenty of residents who can serve as fair jurors.
Judges keeping Capitol riot trials in DC amid bias claims
A growing number of Capitol riot defendants are pushing to get their trials moved out of Washington
Andrew Naughtie8 July 2022 10:55
Former DOJ official at centre of Trump’s election scheme seen in underwear on police video
A former US Department of Justice official central to Donald Trump’s attempts to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election was captured on police video outside his home in a shirt and boxer shorts as investigators searched the property on 22 June.
Law enforcement investigated Jeffrey Clark’s home one day before the House select committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol heard testimony about the former president’s pressure campaign to reverse his election defeat.
Alex Woodward has more details.
Former official who pushed Trump’s election scheme seen in underwear on police video
Jeffrey Clark pursued ex-president’s baseless election fraud narrative
Andrew Naughtie8 July 2022 10:00
New Jan 6 documentary director says he went soft on ‘fuming’ Trump
The director of an upcoming documentary “Unprecedented” whose scenes were handed over to the Jan 6 committee under subpoena has said that his approach was “very soft” and he did not push when he spoke to Mr Trump.
Alex Holder, a British filmmaker, was in the White House on the day of the attack and also spoke with Trump and his family in the aftermath of the Jan 6 riots.
Mr Holder told Time that he filmed Mr Trump “fuming” over Georgia governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, whom he called cowards.
“They’re not even running the state,” Mr Holder recalled Mr Trump as saying. “The state’s being run by Stacey Abrams.”
He said: “My approach was being really open and transparent and very soft. I didn’t push. I sort of took what I could get from them… There were no tricks in this. I’m very straightforward.”
After the interview finished, “there was a very awkward silence. A very uncomfortable atmosphere. There was a feeling of people being scared,” he said.
The filmmaker handed hours of footage to the committee which he says was “very important for the chronology and for what was going on in people’s minds at those specific times”.
All three episodes of the documentary will be streaming on Discovery+ on Sunday.
Andrew Naughtie8 July 2022 09:20
ICYMI: Former Trump press aide to testify at next Jan 6 hearing
A former Trump White House staffer who resigned after the 6 January riot at the US Capitol is set to testify publicly to the select committee investigating the incident.
Sarah Matthews, who served as deputy press secretary in the later phase of the administration, will reportedly be appearing by agreement at a future hearing after receiving a subpoena, according to CNN.
Trump press aide who quit after Capitol riot to testify at Jan 6 committee hearing
Staffer who resigned immediately after riot has…
Read More: Jan 6 committee hearings latest: House panel plans prime time session next week as Trump