Former ABC News President Helping January 6 Committee with Hearing Presentation: Report
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A former ABC News president is serving as an unannounced media production adviser to the House Select Committee on the January 6 Capitol riot as the panel prepares to give a multimedia presentation during a primetime hearing on Thursday, according to a new report.
Axios reported that James Goldston is producing the primetime hearing — which is the first in a series by the committee, though the others will occur during the day — “as if it were a blockbuster investigative special.” Goldston hopes the hearing will attract viewers who have not previously followed the minutiae of the Capitol riot investigation, the report says.
The hearing is set to feature a mix of live witnesses and pre-produced video, including clips of the committee’s depositions. The Democrat-led panel has conducted more than 1,000 depositions and interviews and plans to conduct more, according to the report.
The report notes that “only a fraction” of the surveillance footage from inside the Capitol has previously been released. In addition, the panel reportedly has official White House photos from the day of the insurrection that have not been shared publicly.
The hearing will come one week after a federal grand jury indicted Peter Navarro, a former Trump White House adviser, on criminal contempt of Congress charges over his refusal to cooperate in the House investigation of the January 6th attack. The House voted in April to refer Navarro to the Justice Department for failing to comply with a February subpoena from the committee.
Navarro was charged with one contempt count for his refusal to appear for a deposition, and another for his refusal to produce documents requested by the committee, despite the subpoena from the January 6 committee, the Justice Department said Friday.
The Justice Department had previously charged former Trump White House advisor Steve Bannon with contempt of Congress related to the committee’s investigation in November.
The committee also took the extraordinarily rare step of issuing subpoenas last month to sitting members of Congress, including House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy and four other House Republicans who had declined the panel’s requests to voluntarily cooperate. The group also subpoenaed Representatives Jim Jordan of Ohio, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Andy Biggs of Arizona and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.
