Members of the House of Representatives’ election commission to investigate the January 6 attack on the US Capitol attack are hearing during the first hearing on Thursday, June 9, in Washington, DC. (Aaron Schwartz / Xinhua via Getty Images)
Expected testimony by former President Donald Trump’s campaign manager Bill Stepien to the House of Representatives committee on January 6 was unexpectedly changed on Monday, when Stephen said he could not show up due to a family emergency.
The development is “devastating” for Monday’s hearing, said a source familiar with the commission’s plans, but the commission is prepared for such unforeseen situations and has videos to deposit from Stepien’s earlier testimony.
Monday’s second hearing of the House of Representatives committee of this month will focus on Trump’s lies about the 2020 election.
Aides to the House’s elected committee said the hearing would look closely at how Trump accepted false allegations of fraud in the 2020 election and how he decided to declare victory in the post-election hours, although he was told the numbers did not confirm it.
Aides said the hearing would show how Trump’s team pursued legal challenges in court and lost those cases, and then Trump chose to ignore the will of the courts and continued to try to annul the election.
The hearing will also seek to link Trump’s election lies to violence on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, aides said, including how the rebels echoed the former president’s baseless allegations that the election had been stolen.
Among those expected to testify is former Fox digital policy editor Chris Stewworth, whose decision to call Arizona for Joe Biden on election night angered Trump’s campaign – and Fox’s conservative hosts.
The second panel of witnesses testifying on Monday included former Georgia Attorney General BJ Pak, who was pressured to accept Trump’s allegations of fraud and resigned; former Philadelphia commissioner Al Schmid, who debunked false allegations of election fraud in Philadelphia; and conservative election lawyer Ben Ginsberg, who is expected to speak on the failed lawsuits being prosecuted by Trump’s team.
Stipen was perhaps the most intriguing witness as a key member of Trump’s team during the 2020 campaign. He had to appear on summons, he told CNN on Sunday.
Here are the key things to watch during Monday’s hearing:
Denial of allegations of Trump’s fraud
The hearing is the second of seven scheduled by the commission on January 6 for this month, as it highlights a case that puts Trump at the center of efforts to cancel the 2020 election and the violence that took place in the Capitol on January 6.
Monday’s hearing focused on electoral fraud, and the committee seeks to demonstrate to the public that Trump’s allegations that the 2020 election was stolen – which was accepted by a significant proportion of Republicans, including many Republican candidates fighting for the post this year – are wrong.
More video testimonials
Stepien’s role in the hearing – and what he has to say about election fraud – was expected to highlight Monday’s highlights. But their associates said they also plan to release more video of the closed-door interviews they conducted with many in Trump’s orbit.
These videos turned out to be key in Thursday’s inauguration hearing, which shows how the commission was told that many people around Trump knew his allegations of election fraud were untrue.
A more traditional hearing
The first hearing included two witnesses – a Capitol police officer and a documentary filmmaker who was with extremist groups on January 6 – but their testimony came after a lengthy presentation by commission chairman Benny Thompson and Cheney, summarizing the commission’s findings and a lengthy video. showing new footage from the violent attack on the Capitol.
Aides said Monday’s hearing would be a return to a more traditional congressional hearing, with the rest of the committee involved in asking questions and two panels of witnesses.
As Thompson leads the hearings, California’s Democrat Zoe Lofgren will play a key role in Monday’s hearing, which focused on voter fraud, officials said.
This is a model that is likely to continue with other members of the committee in future hearings that will examine how Trump and his allies sought to put pressure on the Department of Justice, state legislatures and his former vice president Mike Pence to help. in an attempt to cancel the election, as well as what the commission said was Trump’s role in inciting the Capitol riot and his inability to respond as violence unfolded.
CNN’s Caitlin Polanz contributed to this report.
Read more here.
Add Comment