On January 6th, 2021, an insurrection occurred at the United States Capitol building. Thousands of Donald Trump supporters gathered at the Capitol to protest Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election. Now, over a year later, the House Select Committee began investing the riot in a series of public hearings.
Is Nine The Magic Number?
This past Thursday, the committee held its ninth hearing. In an article from NPR, the hearings leading up to Thursday were more about Donald Trump and his allies’ scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election. This most recent hearing put everything into a larger context. The committee decided unanimously to subpoena Trump to testify in a vote of 9-0.
Representative Liz Cheney said that “we are obligated to seek answers directly from the man who set this all in motion and every American is entitled to those answers so we can act now to protect our republic.”
Trump’s former campaign manager told the committee that Trump planned on insisting that he won the election, regardless of votes, in early July. The committee also shared clips of Roger Stone, a long-time Trump associate, encouraging violence surrounding election results.
What is the Purpose of the Hearings?
The overarching theme, so far, of the hearings lies in being a test for the Republican party and if they will be able to separate themselves from this extremist stereotype that has been perpetrated by Trump and his supporters. But, the main reason for the hearings is to convey how important it is to protect democracy. Since the last two elections, democratic procedures are being contested. Holding these hearings demonstrates how our country is responsible for holding government officials, past and current, accountable and also trying to preserve the validity of our elections. The sake of our very democracy is on the line and it is a fragile balance that requires free and fair elections.
Hopefully, these hearings will restore some faith in the government and prevent any more democratic backsliding.
What’s Next?
The committee’s subpoena requires Donald Trump to produce records and documents by Nov. 4th and appear before the committee to deliver testimony on Nov. 14th.
NPR included a quote from the committee’s closing remarks stating, “in short, you were at the center of the first and only effort by any U.S. President to overturn an election and obstruct the peaceful transition of power, ultimately culminating in a bloody attack on our own Capitol and on the Congress itself.”
To learn more and keep up with the hearings as they occur, you can read about them at January6th.gov.
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