Jan 6 committee to kickoff prime-time hearings

STORY: In the year since the House Select Committee began its investigation into the deadly January 6th assault on the Capitol, it has conducted more than 1,000 depositions and interviews and collected more than 140,000 documents.

Now, its finding are ready for prime time.

The committee will hold public hearings starting Thursday evening, aiming to not only shine a light on the on an unprecedented attempt to subvert U.S. democracy, but to draw the line of responsibility directly to the White House.

"Yes the Committee has found evidence of concerted planning and premeditated activity."

Committee member Rep. Jamie Raskin has called the attack nothing less than an attempted "coup" and said evidence will show that Donald Trump himself was responsible for his supporters violently trying to overturn his election defeat.

"The idea that all of this was just a rowdy demonstration that that spontaneously got a little bit out of control is absurd. You don't almost knock over the U.S. government by accident. (EDIT) I think that Donald Trump and the White House were at the center at these events. I think that's the only way to make sense of them all."

Donald Trump and his defenders say the president did nothing wrong as he flirts with running for the White House again.

And the Republican National Committee has called the assault "legitimate political discourse."

But with just five months to go until Nov. 8 midterm elections, the Committee – made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans - will attempt to reverse Republican efforts to downplay or deny the violence of the day.

The big task for the committee, says Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg, is to tell their story well.

"I think the committee is very aware that they have an obligation to tell the story, and to make sure the American people understand what happened to our country."

The committee has spoken privately with many in Donald Trump's inner circle, including his daughter and son in law as well as Rudy Giuliani, who was Trump’s personal lawyer and spearheaded efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Rosenberg said the stakes for the nation couldn't be higher.

"What we know is that Donald Trump is under suspicion of having committed the gravest grimes against our democracy in American history. (edit) And that he and his team may have betrayed our country in ways that no other set of Americans have in our history. We're going to learn a lot more about that, I think, in the coming months."

The big question is - will Americans care? A Washington Post-ABC News poll last month found that only 40% of Americans believe the committee is conducting a "fair and impartial" investigation - and Fox News has already said it will not air Thursdays hearing live.