January 6 committee to argue in upcoming hearing Trump remains a 'clear and present danger' - CNN

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Washington CNN  — 

The House Select Committee investigating the January 6 onslaught connected the US Capitol volition dainty its Thursday proceeding arsenic a closing statement up of the November midterms, which volition question to hammer location that erstwhile President Donald Trump remains a wide and contiguous information to democracy, peculiarly successful the discourse of the upcoming 2024 statesmanlike election, aggregate sources archer CNN.

Although determination volition not beryllium witnesses appearing in-person connected Thursday, sources say, the proceeding volition diagnostic caller grounds and grounds that the committee has uncovered. Since its past proceeding successful July, the committee has interviewed much erstwhile members of Trump’s cabinet, received much than a million communications from the Secret Service from the lead-up to the riot, and sat down with Ginni Thomas, the woman of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

“We discovered done our enactment done this summertime what the President’s intentions were, what helium knew, what helium did, what others did,” committee subordinate Rep. Zoe Lofgren told CNN connected Tuesday evening, referring to the worldly gathered since the panel’s past proceeding successful July.

Some of the grounds presented connected Thursday volition travel from caller witnesses, sources say, which could see Trump’s erstwhile Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, erstwhile Secretary of Treasury Steve Mnuchin, and erstwhile Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. Some of the caller grounds volition travel from witnesses the committee has presented successful erstwhile hearings.

The committee returns to the nationalist oculus amid a markedly changed investigative landscape. In the months since the past hearing, the FBI searched the erstwhile President’s Mar-a-Lago estate arsenic portion of its probe into the evident mishandling and retention of delicate authorities documents. In a abstracted probe, the Justice Department has fired disconnected subpoenas to dozens of individuals connected to Trump, arsenic its probe into efforts to subvert the 2020 predetermination intensifies and expands.

The proceeding besides comes little than a period earlier the midterm elections and the committee is expected to absorption connected the erstwhile President’s continued efforts to assertion the 2020 predetermination was stolen and enactment GOP predetermination deniers successful office.

“There remains a wide and contiguous information to our electoral strategy and to antiauthoritarian institutions. So, that is thing that volition travel done successful our last hearing. This is not past past we’re talking about, this is simply a continuing threat,” Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin told CNN.

“I deliberation the azygous astir urgent question is OK, what is the continuing wide and contiguous information we look present from the forces that Donald Trump unleashed.”

Still, committee members person insisted, albeit with fewer details, that they volition bring caller accusation to the forefront.

“I bash deliberation it volition beryllium worthy watching,” Lofgren said connected “The Situation Room” Tuesday evening. “There’s immoderate caller worldly that I found, arsenic we got into it, beauteous surprising.”

That volition apt see antecedently unseen video and besides caller Secret Service emails, sources acquainted with the substance told CNN. The trove of communications betwixt agents could uncover much astir wherefore definite messages were deleted connected the days starring up to and connected the time of the Capitol attack.

As portion of its closing message, the committee volition framework the US Capitol onslaught wrong a broader discourse and stress that the “danger to our ideology did not extremity that day,” according to Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff.

The reason, Schiff told reporters past week, is due to the fact that Trump and his allies proceed to propulsion the aforesaid baseless claims astir the 2020 predetermination that led to the unit astir 2 years ago.

While Schiff declined to sermon circumstantial themes that volition beryllium covered during Thursday’s hearing, helium made wide that the committee plans to absorption not lone connected however Trump’s failed efforts to overturn the 2020 predetermination culminated successful his supporters yet storming the US Capitol connected January 6 but however the erstwhile President remains a menace to democracy.

“I deliberation that what you’ve seen consistently and progressively is Donald Trump continuing to suggest and to accidental the aforesaid things that we cognize caused unit connected January 6,” GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, who serves arsenic vice seat of the committee, told CNN.

While the committee has gleaned caller accusation successful caller months, it has besides deed roadblocks.

A late-September effort to get grounds from Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos up of Thursday’s proceeding stalled aft Vos sued to artifact the subpoena. The committee had hoped to perceive astir a telephone Vos received from Trump successful July 2022, successful which Trump erstwhile again pressed Vos to decertify the state’s 2020 predetermination results.

Members person hinted that the proceeding could code much accusation astir longtime Trump state Roger Stone and his transportation to extremist groups.

“The mob was led by immoderate extremist groups,” Lofgren said connected “The Situation Room.” “They plotted successful beforehand what they were going to do, and those individuals were known to radical successful the Trump orbit.”

Sources besides accidental the proceeding is apt to diagnostic grounds from erstwhile Trump officials who resigned aft January 6.

But immoderate topics are not expected to get addressed, sources say. The sheet is not readying connected releasing an interim study astir Thursday’s proceeding and has not made a last determination connected if oregon erstwhile it volition marque immoderate transgression referrals to the Department of Justice. Although members person said the upcoming midterms bash not interaction their timing, it remains an important factor.

Members connected the committee are besides inactive deliberating whether to officially telephone Trump and erstwhile Vice President Mike Pence attest earlier the committee’s probe ends and the last study gets released astatine the extremity of the year.

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