Missed the Jan. 6 hearings? What you need to know before they resume this week

WASHINGTON – The special House committee investigating the violent Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, resumes its public hearings this week, continuing to connect the dots and recount how President Donald Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election he lost.

It's an investigation that gained momentum with its star witness, Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide, who testified June 28 that Trump knew some of his angry supporters were armed as he directed them to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue to the U.S. Capitol.

Each week since the public hearings began has brought new testimony or cooperation from witnesses. The latest: On Sunday, the committee received a letter from the attorney for former Trump adviser Steve Bannon indicating that he would be willing to testify.

The Jan. 6 committee seeks to prove the president oversaw and coordinated “a sophisticated seven-part plan to overturn the presidential election and prevent the transfer of power,” Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said during the first hearing.

What have the first six hearings revealed? 

• Witnesses: Testimony from close associates of Trump provided details on the president's behavior before, during and after Jan. 6 in pushing his false claims of election fraud.

• Trump's pressure campaign: The president continued to claim the election was stolen after his Cabinet officials, such as Attorney General Bill Barr, told him he lost a free and fair contest. Barr testified that his office pursued all allegations of fraud and found no proof. When Trump continued to pressure Barr, he told the president, “I didn't want to be part of it.” Justice Department officials, state lawmakers and election workers described the pressure campaign as Trump tried to overturn Joe Biden's victory.

• Trump children testify: The former president's children Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump, along with her husband, Jared Kushner, testified in closed-door meetings to the Jan. 6 committee. The committee obtained phone records from Eric Trump and Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is engaged to Trump Jr.

• Ivanka Trump and Kushner urged Trump to back down: Once Barr had made his position clear – and resigned from his post over the fallout – Ivanka Trump, the president's senior adviser, accepted the Justice Department’s findings, she said in videotaped testimony. She and Kushner were among a group of White House counselors who urged Trump to back down from dozens of lawsuits in battleground states and to stop alleging that anything could happen on Jan. 6 other than Biden being certified by Congress as the next president.

• Former judge advised Pence: While Trump privately and publicly pressured Vice President Mike Pence to reject electors, Pence sought advice from retired conservative Judge Michael Luttig, who testified that he told Pence there was no basis in the Constitution or any other U.S. law that gave the vice president the ability to do what Trump wanted. When Pence wouldn’t follow through with Trump’s request, Trump “turned the mob on him,” Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said. Rioters chanted, “Hang Mike Pence.”

• Presidential pardons sought: Testimony alleged that Republican members of Congress helped the president try to overturn the 2020 election: Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Louie Gohmert of Texas, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Marjorie Taylor-Greene of Georgia. They all asked for a presidential pardon, according to Hutchinson's testimony.

• An angry president: Hutchinson related a secondhand story that Trump lunged at a Secret Service agent in his attempt to grab the steering wheel of an SUV and join the mob at the Capitol. The Secret Service said it would respond "on the record" to Hutchinson's allegations. Trump threw a porcelain plate against a wall after Barr said there wasn't widespread fraud in the election, according to Hutchinson's testimony.

• Documentary: The committee requested 11 hours of footage from British filmmaker Alex Holder, who testified behind closed doors June 23. About three hours of footage was released Sunday morning in the documentary on Discovery+ and did not include any big reveals.

When is the next Jan. 6 hearing?

The committee is scheduled to hold two hearings this week. Tuesday, the committee is likely to lay out evidence on how the pro-Trump mob was organized, assembled and financed.

Here's what else is to come:

• Bannon agrees to testify: Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union" that the Jan.6 committee received a letter from Bannon's lawyers saying the former Trump adviser would testify. Panel members have not had a chance to discuss the letter, and the committee has "many questions" for him, according to Lofgren. She indicated Bannon would be interviewed in a private setting.

• More White House testimony: The committee is pursuing legal options to compel people to testify, though members said witnesses are coming forward every day. Former White House attorney Pat Cipollone testified for about eight hours Friday behind closed doors. On Sunday, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., told ABC's "This Week" that Cipollone's testimony "did not contradict anybody" and that some of what he told the committee would be presented over the "next couple of hearings."

• Filling in the gaps: Jan. 6 committee members are trying to answer one of the most pressing questions from that day: What was Trump thinking and doing in the 187 minutes from the time he left his "Stop the Steal" rally on the National Mall to when he issued a video statement asking rioters to leave the Capitol.

Timeline: On Jan. 6, Trump was out of public view as aides urged him to act. A breakdown of those 187 minutes.

More: Trump White House Counsel Cipollone meets with Jan. 6 committee, 'does not contradict' earlier witnesses

Catch up on the first six hearings

The first public hearing was June 9. Here are takeaways from those hours of testimony:

• Hearing 1: Jan. 6 committee says probe shows Trump led and directed effort to overturn 2020 election

• Hearing 2: Bill Barr returns, election claims debunked and more

• Hearing 3: Pence's role opposing insurrection takes center stage

• Hearing 4: Fake electors, Trump pressuring state leaders and more

• Hearing 5: Trump's plan to topple the Justice Department and more

• Hearing 6: Trump knew mob was armed and dangerous, witness says

Contributing: Merdie Nzanga

Candy Woodall is a Congress reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at cwoodall@usatoday.com or on Twitter at @candynotcandace.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jan. 6 hearings resume this week: Here's what they have revealed