There’s been plenty of committee news about the investigation into the events of January 6, 2021. After nearly two years of interviews and document reviews, the House Intelligence Committee is set to release a final report. This report details a slew of figures involved in the events that led up to and followed the Capitol riot. It recommends a number of legislative and legal reforms.
The report identifies four Republicans who should be investigated by the Ethics Committee. These are Andy Biggs, Jim Jordan, Scott Perry, and Kevin McCarthy. The report also recommends that Congress consider a bill that would bar Trump from running for reelection in 2020.
As the reelection campaign reaches a fever pitch, the House Intelligence Committee has released dozens of transcripts and more are coming. The transcripts add credibility to the committee’s claim that the Trump sphere attempted to tamper with witnesses. Several of the allies of the President have demanded that the committee provide the entire context of interviews.
The former president has criticized the committee, claiming that it’s highly partisan. He also pushed back against the panel’s recommendation of a criminal referral. However, the Justice Department declined to charge him with any crimes.
According to reports, the committee will hold a public hearing on October 13 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time. While the committee had originally planned to hold a hearing on September 28, Hurricane Ian delayed the schedule. A staffer didn’t specify what documents would be made public Wednesday.
The committee is set to release an executive summary of the report, which is expected to include eight chapters. Among the recommendations is a call for Congress to rewrite the 1887 Electoral Count Act. Some of the other legislative recommendations include clarifying the role of the vice president in certifying election results.
One of the key findings is that former president Donald Trump and his supporters were at the center of a “multi-part conspiracy” to subvert the 2020 election. They were trying to pressure top officials of the Justice Department and local elections officials, according to the committee.
In addition to the investigation into the Capitol riot, the House Intelligence Committee also interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses. Many of these interviews were held in closed-door sessions. Despite a lengthy investigation and the thousands of documents examined, the committee was able to make 17 findings. Among those findings was that the Trump sphere tried to tamper with witnesses during the investigation.
The committee is also weighing the possibility of subpoenaing former president Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. If the House Oversight Committee approves a criminal referral for the former president, the Justice Department would likely be called in to investigate.
Despite the committee’s criticism of the former president, the committee did find a few allies of Trump who were willing to work for him. This includes Hope Hicks, a former Trump loyalist who testified at the committee’s January 6 hearing. She said she believed the president was attempting to block Congress from reaffirming the results of the election.