As Midterms Get Closer, January 6 Committee Chair Talks Next Steps

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Contributor

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), the Chair of the House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol Hill insurrection, stated that there will be at least eight hearings during the month of June. Though he did not confirm that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and advisor to Donald Trump would testify in front of the committee.

Thompson did indicate that a few of Trump’s relatives could be called to testify.

The investigation of the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 has gone slow. The Department of Justice, led by Attorney General Merrick Garland, has yet to make a major arrest in the attack. Members of Congress have been implicated in the planning of the attack with protest organizers connected to “stop the steal,” an organization falsely claiming that the 2020 election in which President Joe Biden won by 7 million votes over Trump, was somehow “stolen.”

Chairman Thompson told reporters on April 29 that were members of Congress the committee has reached out to already but there will be more. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is one of the members who will likely be called to testify. Others include Reps. Scott Perry (R-PA) and Jim Jordan (R-OH). Specific dates have not been determined but one date remains unchanged: The date of November 8, 2022.

As the midterm elections close in, Democrats are faced with the challenge of having to pursue and complete a complex investigation that Republicans are likely to immediately end if they take power in January 2023.

Republicans are already talking as if they are assured to win the midterm elections and take control of the U.S. House. The U.S. Senate is 50-50 in terms of who supports each party including two Independents voting with the Democratic Party on major issues.

Thompson remains in an important position as he navigates the moves on the bipartisan investigative committee that includes two Republicans. The U.S. House is out of session the week of May 2.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent journalist and the host of the podcast BURKEFILE. She is a political analyst who appears regularly on #RolandMartinUnfiltered. She may be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke