How to watch Thursday’s House Jan. 6 committee hearing on Trump’s “relentless” pressure on Pence

The House choose committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol will maintain the third in a sequence of public hearings on Thursday starting at 1 p.m. ET. 

CBS News will broadcast the hearing as a Special Report.

Committee vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney tweeted a preview of the hearing, saying it could be centered on “President Trump’s relentless effort on Jan. 6 and in the days beforehand to pressure Vice President Pence to refuse to count lawful electoral votes.” 

Pence’s former counsel Greg Jacob and conservative jurist J. Michael Luttig, who has suggested Pence, are scheduled to seem. Two individuals conversant in Luttig’s anticipated testimony, who weren’t approved to focus on particulars of the hearing, advised CBS News that he’s anticipated to inform the committee “America’s democracy was almost stolen from her.”

Luttig can even doubtless state that the Republican National Committee is improper to have referred to among the occasions of Jan. 6, 2021, as “legitimate political discourse,” and he’ll warn fellow conservatives to not ignore the gravity of what Trump did as he scrambled to maintain onto the presidency that day.   

Luttig can even reveal how he suggested then-Vice President Mike Pence to resist Trump’s pleas for Pence to block the congressional certification of Joe Biden’s election victory.   

There can even be video from the deposition of former Pence chief of employees Marc Short, however he is not going to be a dwell witness, committee aides stated Wednesday.

Committee aides additionally stated there will probably be 4 sections of the hearing. First, the committee will discover the looks of the idea by lawyer John Eastman and others that the vp may unilaterally reject electors. Next, aides stated the committee will focus on the rejection of that concept by Pence’s legal professionals, a “group of committed public servants who upheld their oath” and gave Pence “sound advice” that he did not have the authority.

Third, aides stated the committee will current the pressure marketing campaign on Pence, with Trump each collaborating and attempting to rally his supporters to get them to pressure the vp themselves. The committee will argue this instantly contributed to the assault on the Capitol, and put Pence’s life in peril. 

Last, aides stated the committee will current that there’s an ongoing menace to democracy as a result of there are nonetheless individuals advocating the election was rigged, whereas on the identical time there have been individuals within the White House who had the view, expressed by former White House senior adviser and lawyer Eric Herschmann, that Eastman was going to want a great legal protection lawyer.

Cheney on Tuesday confirmed a video clip of testimony of Herschmann talking a couple of dialog he had with Eastman on Jan. 7, 2021 — the day after the riot. Herschmann stated Eastman talked about one thing about Georgia and preserving one thing for attraction, and Herschmann stated he replied, “Are you out of your f-ing mind? I said I only want to hear two words coming out of your mouth from now on: Orderly transition.”

Herschmann added that he advised Eastman, “‘Now I’m going to give you the best free legal advice you’re ever going to get in your life: Get a great f-ing criminal defense lawyer, you’re going to need it.’ And then I hung up on him.”

The inclusion of the Herschmann clip suggests Thursday’s hearing will check out Eastman’s position. CBS News has obtained data displaying Eastman pushed the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to assist overturn Mr. Biden’s victory within the state and ship “an alternate slate of electors” for Trump.

Cheney stated in her opening assertion final week that the committee will current e mail exchanges between Eastman and Jacob, the Pence lawyer. “Jacob said this to Mr. Eastman: ‘Thanks to your bullsh**, we are under siege,'” Cheney stated. 

On Wednesday, the committee launched surveillance footage displaying GOP Rep. Barry Loudermilk main a gaggle of individuals on a tour of the Capitol complicated the day earlier than the assault, with among the company documenting areas like staircases, safety checkpoints and hallways.

The committee requested Loudermilk final month for information a couple of tour he led of the Capitol complicated earlier than the assault. Loudermilk denied that he ever gave a tour of the Capitol itself on Jan. 5, when it was closed to vacationers due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After a evaluate of safety footage, the U.S. Capitol Police decided final month that there was “no evidence” that Loudermilk led the group into the Capitol and stated “we do not consider any of the activities we observed as suspicious.”

But the committee steered in any other case in a letter to Loudermilk on Wednesday. The new footage exhibits the congressman main (*6*) Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson wrote. The group stayed for “several hours,” he wrote, and a few “photographed and recorded areas of the complex not typically of interest to tourists.” 

Thompson stated Wednesday that the video is not going to be utilized in Thursday’s hearing.

What was scheduled to be the third hearing Wednesday was postponed on Tuesday, the committee stated. There was some uncertainty behind the rationale for the delay. Committee member Rep. Zoe Lofgren stated the delay was due to “tech issues” with the employees placing collectively the video presentation. But a committee spokesperson stated the postponement was “due to a number of scheduling factors, including production timeline and availability of members and witnesses.”

Meanwhile, committee member Rep. Pete Aguilar stated Tuesday that the schedule has “always been fluid.” 

The committee has two extra public hearings scheduled: Tuesday, June 21 at 1 p.m. ET, and Thursday, June 23 at 1 p.m. ET.  Thompson stated Wednesday that the committee is planning on ending the hearings this month, which means two extra nonetheless want to be scheduled. 

Zak Hudak contributed reporting.