What to know, how to watch July 21 hearing of U.S. House Jan. 6 committee
The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack will reconvene for a primetime hearing on Thursday night. The eighth hearing of the committee will explore the erasure of Secret Service data three weeks after the January 6th attack on the Capitol.
According to a statement by the committee, "The procedure for preserving content prior to this purge appears to have been contrary to federal records retention requirements and may represent a possible violation of the Federal Records Act."
The hearing will be led by committee co-chair Liz Cheney, due to Rep. Bennie Thompson being out with COVID-19.
Previous hearings included testimony from former Oath Keepers spokesperson Jason Van Tatenhove, Stephen Ayres, a participant in the attack on the Capitol, and Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to former President Trump's White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. Their testimony highlighted knowledge within the Trump administration about the potential violence of the attack.
What time is the hearing?
The hearing will take place at 7 p.m. CT Thursday, July 21, on Capitol Hill.
Where can you watch the hearing?
USA TODAY: Livestreaming the hearings on its website and YouTube.
The January 6th Committee's YouTube channel: youtube.com/c/January6thCmte
ABC: ABC News Live will carry the hearing. According to a CNN Business report, ABC is planning to preempt regular programming for special reports about the hearing.
CBS: These Wisconsin TV affiliates will carry the hearings: Green Bay WFRV, La Crosse WKBT, Madison WISC, Milwaukee WDJT and Wausau WSAW, according to a CBS News report.
NBC: The hearing can be streamed online at NBC News NOW, NBCNews.com, MSNBC.com and CNBC.com. According to a CNN Business report, NBC is planning to preempt regular programming for special reports about the hearing.
PBS: The PBS NewsHour will carry the hearings live with reporting and analysis. They will also stream them online.
C-Span: The hearing will be broadcast on C-Span, C-SPAN.org and C-Span Radio.
Major developments since the last hearing
"Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild," was the tweet that set the scene for the July 12 hearing of The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack.
Trump sent that tweet at 1:42 a.m. Dec. 19, 2020. Witness testimony identified the message as a rallying call for Trump's supporters to fight for his presidency.
“Basically, the president got everybody riled up, told everybody, ‘Head on down,'" Ayres said when describing his decision to march to the Capitol. “So we basically were just following what he said.”
Ayres described his desire to march to the Capitol as driven by a belief that the election was stolen. With many of their actions informed by statements made by the former president, Ayres and many other participants awaited directives from Trump before leaving the scene of the Capitol attack.
The committee did not share witness names ahead of the July 12 hearing in what many legal observers have identified as an attempt to avoid witness tampering. During its previous hearing, Cheney said the committee was informed of an attempt by Trump to contact a witness speaking to the committee.
Since making that discovery, the committee has been in contact with the Justice Department and increased focus on witness protection.
More: Who will be Jan. 6 hearing's most avid viewer? Donald Trump, with a team ready to hit back.
Recent coverage with a Wisconsin focus
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: How to watch July 21 primetime hearing of House Jan. 6 committee
