Welcome to the Washington Week extra.
I'm Yamiche Alcindor.
Next week, the select committee investigating the January 6th capital attack will begin
public hearings.
That's right public hearings.
Here's what we know so far.
The committee's first public hearing will start at eight p.m. Eastern time on Thursday.
June 9th.
Everybody in D. C has mark their calendars.
It's expected to last 90 minutes to two hours.
A statement released
by the committee said it will share quote previously unseen material
for the last 11 months.
The committee has been investigating the
attack on the capital, and during that time they've spoken to nearly
1000 witnesses, including a number of former White House aides, as
well as former President Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani.
The committee is looking into five areas related to the January 6th
attack efforts by former President Trump and Close associates to
pressure federal, state and local officials to overturn the election,
law enforcement and intelligence agency failures.
Domestic extremist groups, Cunanan and online misinformation, January
6th rally planners and the stop the steal movement and following
the money behind efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Joining me tonight to discuss what to expect and more.
Eugene Daniels
playbook, author and White House correspondent for Politico and Annie
Karni Congressional reporter for The New York Times.
Well, Anne,
I want to start with you because there's a little bit of breaking
news tonight.
And that is that the Department of Justice is not going
to charge Mark Meadows, who was the final chief of staff for former
president Trump as well as Dan Scavino, who was deputy chief of staff
that is coming as Peter Navarro White House.
Adviser was charged with contempt, indicted on contempt of Congress
because he does not even negotiating with the January 6th investigation.
We also saw Steve Bannon face charges for not cooperating.
Talk a
little bit about what this news means and the significance of it.
I mean, I think that the difference here with the players you just
mentioned is the
Not none of them wanted to cooperate and Meadows has cooperated.
But there has been hours of negotiations behind the scenes with the
committee.
They've engaged with the committee, as we've seen in many
news stories about his texts on that day,
turned over a lot of a lot of stuff.
Um Navarro and Bannon have refused to even negotiate, So I think
that's what we're having this breaking news, but I think that's where
we're seeing the breakdown of who is being charged and who is not
being charged.
Um
We are going to find out.
You know, exactly detailed play by play
of what went on that day starting next week at the hearings, and
I think that
You know, six televised hearings.
This is an opportunity.
I don't
know if it will work for the Democrats to kind of bring back the
fear and the horror that people felt.
In the days after January 6th and that even you know Kevin McCarthy
felt as we know from the tapes in those days after January, 6th.
You know, we all have a short attention spans and there's a lot going
on.
But this is the Democrats opportunity to really lay out blow by blow.
What happened?
Why it matters And why you should you know, this should
be one of the top issues you vote on in November.
That's a hard hard
task for them.
To what specifically, will you be looking out?
For?
What do you What do you looking for?
As a reporter who's obviously
covering the hill every day day in day out watching these lawmakers
do the work.
I think I mean, the the facts are going to speak for themselves.
I think we're going to hear timeline of what happened that day that
we don't fully know right now.
And and I'm looking from, like a political perspective.
I'm covering
the midterms.
I'm looking to see if
If these televised hearings kind of drive this issue, bring this
issue to the forefront when, as we've been just discussion, inflation
baby formula.
Other issues Today issues are what people are feeling.
Horrible event shootings.
I mean that that being able to tell people
that democracy in peril is should be one of their like wake up in
the morning or step at night.
Worried about
It's a little more theoretical except on its own, you know, And this
is their chance to say it's really not that Republicans.
Republicans
are trying to take away your vote that that is something that Democrats
have polled.
That really matters to people, but it fades.
And so
this is their chance to say.
This is what's at stake and lay it out.
Nice and clear.
So we understand
that the, um the violence of that day was
You know, one part of a
Yeah, you know.
A
Plot to
You know, undermine the election, and that is like I'm very curious
to see how they underscore the seriousness of what happened and make
it matter to people and Eugene.
Same question.
What are you looking
for?
When it comes to these public hearings, they've been much anticipated.
What are you going to look at?
What's key, in addition to everything,
and he said was is
It.
Will this committee be able to, um, counter act all of the whitewashing
that we've seen happening in right wing media happening with Republicans
on the hill and around the country about what happened that day,
right?
Because for a year and a half, they have been able to say
kind of whatever they want kind of telling us trying to tell us and
convince the American people
That what we're looking at on the screen wasn't that bad, But it
wasn't that scary when we know that's not true.
People died.
And
so that's the part one but also what former President Trump was doing
that day.
There's a lot of things that we think we know about what
he did because a lot of it was happening publicly when he had still
at his Twitter account, But there's so much I think that we don't
know.
We know that the National Archives is allowing his possibly
allowing them to get official White House.
Photographs.
So that tells you where the president was and what he
was doing, and also from the morning that the time that he woke up
and knew that he was going to the lips to make that speech to when
we saw him do that kind of hostage video telling people to go home,
but that he loved them.
What was happening between that because that's
what folks want to know, And that's what the American people want
to know.
What did the president then president do?
And, more importantly,
Was he pushing folks to continue what was happening that day?
And
there is this black box basically at the White House, where we don't
really know what the president was doing.
Remember, standing on the
lawn and and reporting Yes, we know he's watching TV.
We know he's
enjoying at least part of this, but we really didn't have.
We don't
really know the conversation that is happening.
So it's gonna be
really interesting.
I want to stay with you, Eugene because
We've seen so many big hearings in the last couple of years.
I mean,
James Comey probably took them all right, the former FBI director
sitting in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee, but I wonder
What's the What's the likelihood that this breaks through?
What's
the likelihood that this What we think is really important in Washington
is actually gonna be important to my cousins in Miami and other places
who have real life issues to deal with, as many said.
The economy, people trying to find baby formula.
Why?
How much do
you think this might break through my family and bucks for South
Carolina?
Right?
We're trying to figure out whether or not this is
something they can convince the American people to care about this
because we remember that day, right?
We had friends with possibly
were there
that were there while this was happening, and so the American people
watched in horror, but they have
Largely moved on and talking to the American people about democracy
is in peril.
That's not something that counter acts.
You know what's
what kind of food am I able to bring my table?
How much is gas?
How
can I possibly go to work?
Whether or not I have a job?
And if I
like that job, right?
The fact that we're still in the middle of a pandemic, you know that
killed more than a million people in this country.
And so this is
going to be a test of whether or not they can convince folks to care.
And I will say, based on the evidence that we've seen in other hearings
that's going to be really difficult and probably not going to happen,
and that's really depressing for those of us that really care about
democracy and worried about what January six portends for the future.
Because if there is no blowback, especially legally or politically,
for the folks that were involved at the highest levels of government
to try to overturn the will of the people in this country, What does
that say?
For the next time they want to do that, especially now
that there is more of a blueprint, and obviously the Republican Party
is not going to give you you're not gonna get any flak and in trouble
for it, So that's something
That I think the focus on this committee are really trying to work
through.
But it's gonna be really difficult.
And any last question.
Uh, I wonder when you think about covering the midterms when you
think about sort of what January 6th portends for the future.
How much are lawmakers sort of trying to make that connection and
how much are they may be saying, we're not gonna be able to make
these these public hearings are in June.
The elections?
Not till
November, so much can happen between when these hearings and happen
and when people go to the ballot.
Absolutely.
I mean so far, Democracy
in peril is not what frontline Democrats are talking about, and their
races they're talking about.
Inflation and baby formula, and they're trying to show that they
were the ones pushing Biden to have a stronger response.
And
they are trying to show that they care about the kitchen table issues.
Ah, and yes, and June is very far from November.
So so I don't know
if if it's if it's going to last, But this is the month eyes.
I said
earlier.
This is the month where a few things can help them.
Have framed this election, not just as a referendum on up or down
vote on duty.
Are you happy with Democrats in power, But this is
a way to say, um
It's a choice between people who want to protect democracy and a
party that wanted to undermine your election and your vote.
This
is a choice on abortion.
You know a bunch of a bunch of issues, but
this is one of them that this can be a real contrast.
Yeah, and and And I should say, I mean for our viewers any it during
the show, talked about abortion guns, January 6th in the economy
all happening in June.
It's such a smart way to frame it.
Because those are all the things that are going to be happening.
We'll have to leave it there tonight.
But thank you so much to Eugene and to Annie for joining us and sharing your reporting.
Goodnight from Washington. I'm Yamiche Alcindor.