The January 6 Committee’s Hearing This Week Could Be Its Finale

The January 6 committee is set to reconvene this week, launching the second season in the televised spectacle that has held the nation’s attention even as it has further polarized its politics.The chairman of that committee, Representative Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, has intimated that Wednesday afternoon’s hearing will be the last before the body releases its written report, as provided for in its enabling resolution. Mr. Thompson predicted: “I can say that unless something else develops, this hearing at this point is the final hearing. But it’s not in stone because things happen.” Teasing the next installment, he told CNN, “We have substantial footage of what occurred that we haven’t used,” and noted that this is “an opportunity to use some of that material.” Also previewing Wednesday’s disclosures is Representative Adam Schiff, who hyped that they would be “potentially more sweeping than some of the other hearings” and “tell the story about a key element of Donald Trump’s plot to overturn the election.”According to the New York Times, one thread of that story that the committee has pursued — in conversations with a one-time national security adviser, Robert O’Brien; a treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin; and a secretary of state, Mike Pompeo — was an effort to invoke the 25th Amendment in the wake of January 6.That constitutional clause, passed in the wake of the assassination of President Kennedy, grants Congress the power to deem the president “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office” and remove him from power. It is not clear how far those discussions advanced in the chaotic early days of 2021. Even as the January 6 committee went quiet for the summer recess that followed its initial suite of eight hearings, a stream of disclosures indicates that its work is continuing apace. The wife of a U.S. Supreme Court justice, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, has agreed to an interview. Vice President Pence has said, “If there was an invitation to participate, I would consider it.”Looking forward, Mr. Schiff notes that the committee would operate with “a high degree of consensus and unanimity” regarding the possibility of issuing criminal referrals for President Trump. For his part, Mr. Schiff notes that he supports such referrals to the Justice Department. As a legislative body, the committee itself cannot issue charges; that power belongs to the executive branch.Speaking at the Texas Tribune festival this weekend, Representative Elizabeth “Liz” Cheney — a Republican who has lost her chance to run for another term in Congress — noted that the body has recovered 800,000 pages of Secret Service documents in respect of the events of January 6. Still missing, however, are a tranche of text messages from that day. The resumption of the committee’s work will take place against a legal landscape that has grown significantly more perilous for President Trump. A civil lawsuit launched by the New York State attorney general, Letitia James, threatens to make it all but impossible for Mr. Trump to do business in the state. Meanwhile, an ongoing criminal investigation into the discovery of classified documents at Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago compound appears to be gathering steam. A recent victory by the Department of Justice before the riders of the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ensures that investigation will continue.The committee itself has of late come under glancing judicial scrutiny, via a subpoena demanding records of the Republican National Committee. In fending off that demand, the RNC noted that the committee’s enabling resolution mandates 13 members, not the nine currently serving. It likewise ordered consultation across the aisle, which did not happen. A panel of riders of the District of Columbia Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals, while deprived of the opportunity to rule on the question — the committee retreated, rendering the matter moot — nevertheless mused that at stake were “important and unsettled constitutional questions.”

The January 6 Committee’s Hearing This Week Could Be Its Finale

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