January 6 riots: Panel sets prime-time hearing on Trump, awaits Bannon

The committee is racing to gather newly emerging evidence and the session could be the final one in a series of public hearings that began in early June

The House committee investigating the January 6 riot is returning to prime time with a Thursday evening hearing that will examine the three-hour plus stretch when Donald Trump failed to act as a mob of supporters stormed the Capitol.

Also read: Jan 6 panel | More people turn up with evidence against Trump on role in riot

The committee is racing to gather newly emerging evidence and the session could be the final one in a series of public hearings that began in early June. A lawyer for former Trump strategist Steve Bannon, who faces criminal charges after months of defying a congressional subpoena, told the committee over the weekend that Mr. Bannon may now be willing to testify, according to committee members.

“I expect that we will be hearing from him and there are many questions that we have for him,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif. She and other committee members said they want to hear from Mr. Bannon in a deposition, with sworn testimony.

Thursday’s hearing will be the first in the prime-time slot since the June 9 debut that was viewed by 20 million people. A hearing on Tuesday will focus on the plotting and planning of the insurrection on January 6, 2021, by white nationalist groups such as the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters.

Investigators are digging deeper into the mounds of evidence collected so far about the role extremist groups played in the deadly insurrection and what the former President was doing as the violence ensued down the street from the White House.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., who will lead Thursday’s hearing with Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., described the upcoming testimony as key to providing an extensive timeline of what Trump did and did not do in those critical hours on the afternoon of Jan. 6, 2021. That includes Mr. Trump’s tweet criticizing Vice President Mike Pence for lacking “courage” as angry protesters outside the Capitol were heard chanting “Hang Mike Pence” for not challenging Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.