Capitol riot committee hears how Trump ‘egged on’ violent mob as police officer describes ‘torrent’ of racist abuse – follow live

Welcome to our live coverage of the first select committee hearing on January 6. Stay tuned for updates.

The select committee is headed by Bennie Thompson, who also serves as chair of the House Homeland Security committee. The 73-year-old congressman, the only Mississippi Democrat serving in the House, is not seen as a partisan warrior and has the respect of many fellow Republicans.

Along with Republicans Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, Thompson has the backing of six other Democrats, including two prominent figures of the Trump era: Adam Schiff, who led the first impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump for his alleged ties to Russia. and extortion to the Ukrainian. Government; and Jamie Raskin, the chief impeachment director in the ex-president's trial in the Senate after the insurrection.

The Democratic team is rounded out by Zoe Lofgren and Pete Auguilar from California, Elaine Luria from Virginia and Stephanie Murphy from Florida.

As the committee's work progresses, four of the most pro-Trump Republicans in the House will hold an event of their own, and not in solidarity with the panel's work.

Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene, who have recently been on a fundraising speaking tour in the country, will be joined by Paul Gosar and Louie Gohmert at a press conference where they will "demand answers" from the Department of Justice on the state of the arrested. for his alleged involvement in the riots.

Gaetz, known for his belligerent style, not only voted to oppose the certification of the election results after the riot, but also suggested on the same day that left-wing protesters may have infiltrated the crowd. Ms. Greene, meanwhile, is even more given to conspiracy theories, including violent ones, and posed with members of a local militia movement during her run for Congress.

And for his part, Gosar has been the focus of intense controversy for accusing the Capitol Police of "stalking" Ashli ​​Babbitt, one of the four rioters who died that day. Liz Cheney criticized him for the comments, saying he had helped him put on the gas mask while the insurrection was underway.

NBC Washington reporter Scott MacFarlane, who has extensively covered the aftermath of the insurrection, posted a tour of the room last night where the committee's first hearing will take place.

By asking Liz Cheney to serve when the select committee was first created, Nancy Pelosi accomplished two things: She ensured that the committee would be bipartisan and she also ensured that it would have a quorum, meaning that when she turned down two of the nominees Republican Party and Kevin McCarthy. retired all five, the panel could continue its work anyway.

However, Pelosi also chose Adam Kinzinger to join. He and Cheney were the only two Republicans to vote in favor of the committee's establishment, and he has been one of Trump's most caustic Republican critics in Washington for years.

Accepting Mrs. Pelosi's invitation on Sunday, Mr. Kinzinger issued a statement explaining why he said yes:

“Self-government requires accountability and responsibility. My faith requires the same of me, the truth is necessary for order, and that is what I will do. Let me be clear, I am a Republican dedicated to conservative values, but I took an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution, and while this is not the position I expected to be or seek, when duty calls, I always will. answer."

The select committee technically has subpoena power, which means it can legally compel people to testify or submit information. But as Duty to Warn, a group of mental health professionals who came together to prove that Donald Trump was psychologically unfit for the job, pointed out, enforcing subpoenas is easier said than done.

Those who can be named include current and former members of Congress, and rumors have circulated since January 6 that some may have helped facilitate or even plan the attack.

According to the Washington PostJacqueline Alemany, the fact that the Justice Department is headed by a Democrat-appointed attorney general improves the chances that the committee will see the witnesses and information it wants.

Of the four witnesses who appeared before the select committee today, one of the most prominent is Harry Dunn, a Capitol police officer who claims he was called the N word while defending lawmakers against the rioters who had stormed the Capitol.

Dunn, who has served in law enforcement for about 13 years, has said in interviews that black officers who served on January 6 had a fundamentally different experience that day due to the implicit and explicit racism of many in the crowd, some of whom carried Confederate flags and were members of racist extremist groups.

Dunn's outspokenness since the insurrection has angered some on the right, including Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who recently called him an "angry left-wing political activist" and warned viewers that he has "very little in common with an average cop. " . Dunn's attorneys responded by noting that Carlson has never served in a uniform of any kind.

While some on the right try to portray the January 6 uprising as an anomaly, others warn that it could be anything. Peter Strzok, a 26-year veteran of FBI counterintelligence, told MSNBC last night White House Deadline that given conspiracy theories and ideas shared by the American right, serious violence may well be on the horizon.

As you pointed out, it's not about how many Americans are susceptible to these messages. “You don't need most people. You need one, two, three or five people and I think it's a matter of time, unfortunately, before we see deadly violence. "

The select committee will hear today from Michael Fanone, a Washington Metropolitan Police officer, who was brutalized by rioters on January 6, and who has since lobbied Congress to fully acknowledge what happened to him and his colleagues. that day. His efforts have included meetings with top Republicans, something that has proven to be a great challenge.

In June, Officer Fanone finally managed to secure a meeting with Kevin McCarthy after disputing the minority leader's claim that his office had reached out to schedule one. Coming out of their meeting, he was not optimistic about it.

Images of Officer Fanone body camera shows how he was brutally beaten by protesters who dragged him up the steps of the Capitol.

The nonprofit news site ProPublica, which specializes in investigative journalism, has compiled the video from January 6 He has been able to obtain it from the Department of Justice and has posted it on a helpful page, ordered by case. The footage is presented as evidence in cases against hundreds of suspected rioters.