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CLOSING ARGUMENTS: Jan 6th Committee’s last hearing will focus on Trump’s “clear and present danger”

CLOSING ARGUMENTS: Jan 6th Committee’s last hearing will focus on Trump’s “clear and present danger”

Jan 6th Committee's last hearing will focus on Trump's "clear and present danger"

Thursday’s last televised January 6th Select Committee hearing will include new and “pretty surprising” material to hammer home Donald Trump’s continued “clear and present danger” to American democracy, says one member of the panel.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) teased that the panel’s closing arguments before the American public will not only focus on ties those in Trump’s orbit had to extremist groups such as the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys, but will also look at what Trump’s state of mind was at the time and just what his intentions were overall.

This aligns with testimony from the trial of Stewart Rhodes, a former member of the Oath Keepers, who testified in court that he was in touch with a Secret Service agent in the months leading up to the Capitol riot. Rhodes, the co-founder of the extremist citizens’ militia group, as well as four other members, are currently on trial on seditious conspiracy charges for their actions related to the January 6th insurrection.

(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

While this hearing won’t include live witness testimony like the others which preceded it, the panel intends to use their time to meticulously lay out their case against Trump with recorded video interviews from several of his allies. Viewers could potentially hear testimony from Trump’s former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former Secretary of Treasury Steve Mnuchin, and former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. Some of the new testimony will come from witnesses the committee has presented in previous hearings.

https://twitter.com/January6thCmte/status/1578062226832891906

A lot has happened in the time since the Committee’s last hearing, particularly the FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate as part of its investigation into the apparent mishandling and retention of sensitive government documents.

In a separate probe, the Justice Department has fired off subpoenas to dozens of individuals connected to Trump, as its investigation into efforts to subvert the 2020 election intensifies and expands. At the same time, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced her lawsuit against Trump while Fulton County DA Fani Willis continues her special grand jury investigation in Georgia.

Other details the committee is expected to share Thursday include new information gleaned from documents turned over by the Secret Service, as well as clips from a documentary crew collected following an international journey by investigative staff, who traveled to Denmark in August to meet with a filmmaker who spent three years following Stone.

The final January 6th House Select Committee hearing is scheduled to begin on Thursday at 1 pm EST/10 am PST.

Check back with Occupy Democrats tomorrow for full coverage of the latest House Select Committee hearings

Follow Tara Dublin on Twitter @taradublinrocks.

Tara Dublin
Tara is a reported opinion columnist at Occupy Democrats. She's a woefully underappreciated and unrepresented writer currently shopping for a super cool novel that has nothing to do with politics while also fighting fascism on a daily. Follow her on Twitter @taradublinrocks

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