How You Should Watch the January 6th Committee Hearings
How You Should Watch the January 6th Committee Hearings
The U.S. House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack will be holding a series of public hearings, and the committee members have an opportunity to provide the definitive account of January 6th.
The U.S. House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack will hold a public hearing on Thursday, the first of a series of public hearings that are scheduled for the next several weeks ahead of the publication of the Select Committee’s a final report in September.
There are many ways to understand the purpose of the Select Committee’s hearings—the committee members will seek to explain in detail the timeline of events leading up to the Capitol Riot, present evidence uncovered during the investigation to the public, and question under oath the inviduals connected in various ways to the Capitol Riot.
However, the most important way to understand the purpose of the Select Committee’s hearings is to view each piece of evidence, each witness questioned, each revelation made, as part of a larger whole—the story of an unprecedented attack on the seat of American democracy. The Select Committee’s task will be to set the narrative and provide the definitive account of the January 6th Insurrection.
Here are the most important chapters in the story of January 6th Insurrection:
All the Presidents Lawyers
The Trump Campaign filed dozens of lawsuits challenging the results of the 2020 election, and nearly every single lawsuit failed. However, these lawsuits were part of a larger campaign to cast doubt on the validity of the results of the election. Several of the lawyers involved in these litigation efforts were also deeply connected to the individuals that planned and coordinated the events of January 6th.
Fake Electors Conspiracy
There was a coordinated campaign in several states to circumvent the election certification process by selecting alterative electors from states won by President Joe Biden. State lawmakers were pressured to overrule the results of the election in their states, and instead vote to certify alternative electors that would cast their votes for former President Trump. In other cases, alternative electors attempted to public disrupted the Electoral College vote, or cast their own votes at unofficial events.
Stop the Steal Rallies
In the wake of the election, several right-wing activists began to immediately organize events to protests the results of the election and advocate for the overturning the of the election. These events were organized by many of the same individuals that planned and coordinated the events of January 6th, and there is significant evidence that many of the individuals who participated on the Capitol Riot also attended these events prior to January 6th.
Seditious Conspiracy
There is a significant amount of evidence that there was planning and coordination by far right extremist groups, including the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and Three Percenters, prior to the events of January 6th. Many of the leaders of theses far right extremists groups have connections to prominent and influential figures in the Trump Campaign and the Trump Administration.
Decertification of the Election
The White House and Congressional Republicans sought to disrupt the certification of the election results by objecting to the counting of the electoral votes from key states that were won by President Biden. This was planned and coordinated by prominent and influential figures within the White House and Congress, and included pressuring former Vice President Mike Pence to unilaterally disqualify the electoral votes from key states that were won by President Biden.
January 6th Insurrection
The January 6th Insurrection was the culmination of a campaign to overturn the results of a free and fair election, which included dubious legal challenges to the election results, attempts to install alternative electors, protests events to organize supporters, planning and coordination by far right extremist groups, attempts to disrupt the certification of the election results, and the rally on the morning of January 6th which preceded the Capitol Riot.
Watch the Select Committee Hearings Live:
Date: Thursday, June 9th, 2022
Time: 8:00pm EST
