The House January 6th Committee will shift into a “more public phase of its work” in the new year in order to finish, according to the Washington Post.
It is not clear what the “public phase” will entail, besides an effort to construct a public narrative of “the insurrection” and the release of at least one “interim report” before the 2022 midterm elections.
An interim report is expected to make mundane recommendations for the “reform” of the Electoral Count Act, which lays out the procedures for the counting of Electoral College votes after an election, among other legislative changes.
But the real red meat of 2022 from the committee’s perspective will be contained in “a dramatic presentation of the behind-the-scenes maneuvering by Trump, his allies and anyone involved in the attack or the attempt to overturn the election results,” an aide told the Post.
The narrative-construction is clearly meant to do as much damage as possible to both the Republican Party’s chances in the midterms and former President Trump’s ability to run for office again in 2024.
Members of the committee obviously also hope to make criminal referrals to the Justice Department, but some experts are worried that such an effort “makes it sound like what they’re doing is a criminal investigation, as opposed to a legislative investigation to propose legislative solutions,” the Post reported.
The committee has already issued more than 50 subpoenas and interviewed over 300 witnesses, but appears interested the unprecedented step of issuing subpoenas to sitting lawmakers like Reps. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Mo Brooks, R-Ala., and Paul A. Gosar, R-Ariz.
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon have both been held in contempt of Congress for failing to appear before the Committee.
Bannon has been indicted on two misdemeanor contempt charges and his trial is set for July 18.
