“Jan. 6 Panel to Restart Hearings as House Returns to Work”

WSJ:

Members of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the Capitol are returning to work to plan a new round of televised hearings expected later this month, hoping to recapture the public’s attention after Congress’s August break.

One focus of the hearings is likely to be the concerns among cabinet officials about then-President Donald Trump’s actions during and after the riot by his supporters, including any discussions about possibly using the Constitution’s 25th Amendment to try to remove him from power. Under the amendment, a majority of the cabinet, with the vice president, can temporarily unseat the president if they find him unable to discharge his duties.

The committee held eight hearings in June and July that featured testimony from dozens of aides, state officials and administration figures about Mr. Trump’s actions related to the riot, which aimed to prevent the congressional certification of President Biden’s election victory. The hearings focused on how Mr. Trump explored different avenues to stay in power after losing the 2020 election, which he falsely said was stolen.

Since then, a separate investigation related to Mr. Trump has stolen the spotlight, after the Justice Department seized documents from Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property last month as part of a probe into his handling of classified materials. A federal judge in Florida on Monday ordered the appointment of a special master to review the documents, a decision the Justice Department is appealing. Mr. Trump has called the investigation the “Raid of Mar-a-Lago Document Hoax.”

The House panel, which has seven Democrats and two Republicans, hasn’t said when the Jan. 6 hearings will restart or how many there will be. The committee is expected to put out an interim report on its investigation soon, with a final report due before the end of the year. There could be additional hearings later in the year, committee members have said. A spokeswoman for the committee declined to comment.

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