By Farnoush Amiri/AP
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol is going public with its findings. Lawmakers hope to show the American public how democracy came to the brink of disaster. The series of hearings that will take place over the next several weeks began with a prime-time opener Thursday night. More than 1,000 people have been interviewed by the panel, and only snippets of that testimony have been revealed to the public, mostly through court filings
The next round of hearings won't take place in prime time like the debut on Thursday, but lawmakers will go into greater detail about specific aspects of the insurrection.
Who will testify on Monday
Monday's hearing will focus on Trump's effort to spread his lies about a stolen election. Former President Donald Trump's campaign manager, Bill Stepien, was among the witnesses scheduled to testify Monday, though Stepien pulled out of the hearing shortly before it began citing a family emergency, according to the Associated Press. Stepien was subpoenaed for his public testimony.
Monday's witness list also includes BJay Pak, the top federal prosecutor in Atlanta who left his position on Jan. 4, 2021, a day after an audio recording was made public in which Trump called him a "never-Trumper"; Chris Stirewalt, the former political editor for Fox News; noted Washington elections attorney Benjamin Ginsberg; and Al Schmidt, a former city commissioner in Philadelphia.
What the committee is expected to reveal
Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the Republican vice chair of the committee, said lawmakers will present evidence Monday showing that Trump "engaged in a massive effort to spread false and fraudulent information" that the election had been stolen — even though advisers and allies told him repeatedly he had lost.
The panel's probe has so far been divided into a series of focus areas, including the efforts by former President Trump and his allies to cast doubt on the election and halt the certification of President Joe Biden's victory; the financing and organizing of rallies in Washington that took place before the attack; security failures by Capitol Police and federal agencies; and the actions of the rioters themselves.
Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Eric Tucker contributed to this report.
