Poli Alert Political & Civics
Related Articles
Chairman Bennie Thompson gaveled in the first prime-time televised meeting of the Jan. 6 committee on Thursday night, when four officers testified about being beaten, crushed and knocked unconscious by a pro-Trump mob that the committee asserted was trying to overturn the 2020 election certification of President Joe Biden.
The hearing — the first of at least six planned in the coming weeks — served as a sort of opening argument for the committee, with an estimated 20 million people watching (not including online viewers).
New information on the next hearing, set for Monday at 10 a.m., was provided by Select Committee aides late Sunday afternoon.
Aides said Monday is focused on the “Big Lie,” described as the actions by former President Donald Trump “to ignore the will of the voters, declare victory, spread claims of election fraud and ignore the ruling of courts when rulings didn’t go his way.”
There will be two panels of witnesses at Monday’s hearing, which is expected to last at least two hours.
The aides revealed the American public will hear from witnesses – both in person and via recording – who will outline that Trump was told again and again that he didn’t have the numbers to win on Election Night, but then decided to declare victory anyway.
Aides also said the committee plans to lay out how in the days following the election, the president decided to embrace claims that the election was tainted by widespread fraud and pushed that lie.
“We’ll show how these lies that were peddled factored into the insurrection at Jan. 6,” according to Select Committee aides.
Witnesses who are expected to speak before the committee Monday are:
- William Stepien, former Trump campaign manager
- Chris Stirewalt, former Fox News political editor
- Benjamin Ginsberg, election attorney
- BJay Pak, former United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia
- Al Schmidt, former City Commissioner of Philadelphia
It wasn’t revealed which witnesses will be in person and which witnesses provided recorded testimony.
Thompson again will lead the committee, and aides said Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) also will factor heavily into Monday’s proceedings.
The committee will also dive into how challenges to elections usually go – and outline the differences in how Trump challenged the 2020 race results, plus dive into how the “Big Lie” also brought a financial windfall to the campaign.
“We hope the American people hear the facts and judge for themselves,” Select Committee aides said.
