NotedDC — Where the Jan. 6 committee goes next
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The Jan. 6 select committee holds its eighth and final scheduled hearing Thursday night, but the panel isn’t ready to rest its case against former President Trump.
Members of the panel have suggested their work isn’t over amid a burgeoning focus on deleted texts from Secret Service members before and on the day of the riot.
“This investigation is not winding down,” Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said Sunday on CBS News’ ‘Face the Nation.” “We may have more hearings in the future.”
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chair of the panel, told reporters earlier this week the committee plans to release a preliminary report on its year-long investigation this fall, with a final report later in the year.
However, the panel doesn’t appear to be in a rush, as it waits for the Secret Service to recover the text messages under a subpoena.
The panel’s vice chair, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), also faces a difficult reelection bid in mid-August, injecting another layer of political pressure for a key face of the committee.
Thursday’s prime-time hearing is expected to lay out what Trump did — and, consequently, did not do — after rioters marched to the Capitol on the day of the riot in early 2021.
Members of the panel are looking for a public bookend to material they presented in their first hearing, when they showed what happened inside the building after Trump spoke at a nearby rally and told supporters to “fight like hell.”
An expected three hours of footage and witness testimony is what the panel hopes to use to go out with a bang for its series of hearings, as The Hill’s Niall Stanage writes.
For their part, senators are pursuing bipartisan legislation to prevent another Jan. 6 from happening, our colleague Alex Bolton reports, with proposed reforms to the Electoral Count Act making it explicitly clear that a vice president has no authority to overturn elections.
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In today’s issue: Two former White House aides give their view of the Jan. 6 riot. Plus: An A-list celebrity comes to D.C. and a federal marijuana bill makes moves.
🕵🏼♀️ Pressure on DOJ expected to build
Democrats will likely put more pressure on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to charge Trump with a crime after the committee wraps up its public hearings.
Some advocacy groups are already questioning Attorney General Merrick Garland’s position as the hearings near a close, The Hill’s Harper Neidig reports:
“If our fears are groundless, and the Justice Department believes that former presidents are subject to the same criminal laws as every other citizen, it is entirely appropriate to reassure the public of that fact,” a group of advocacy and watchdog organizations wrote in a letter to Garland.
The committee can issue a recommendation of charges to the DOJ, but some are concerned that Garland won’t act upon it out of fear the evidence doesn’t reach a sufficient level.
From our colleague Rebecca Beitsch: “Legal experts say those fresh lines of inquiry should now be a top priority for law enforcement’s own investigation, as federal prosecutors are best equipped to fill in the gaps of what Congress has uncovered.”
THURSDAY NIGHT’S WITNESSES
Former Trump White House aides Sarah Matthews and Matthew Pottinger are expected to shed light on what Trump did at the White House during the Capitol riot, following explosive testimony from former aide Cassidy Hutchinson late last month.
Here’s some more on the two witnesses:
Sarah Matthews
Matthews, Trump’s deputy press secretary, resigned hours after the riot at the Capitol and later called it “one of the darkest days in American history.”
The 27-year-old’s testimony is likely to be another indication of how young aides see and know it all in Washington, after Hutchinson revealed how Mark Meadows, Trump’s chief of staff, confided in her about the dangers of the riot.
“Anyone downplaying Cassidy Hutchinson’s role or her access in the West Wing either doesn’t understand how the Trump [White House] worked or is attempting to discredit her because they’re scared of how damning this testimony is,” Matthews tweeted last month.
This isn’t her first time before the committee: she testified behind closed doors in February.
Read more about Matthews from our colleague Sarakshi Rai.
Matthew Pottinger
Pottinger, Trump’s deputy national security adviser, also resigned immediately after the riot.
His testimony will likely reveal how Trump’s belated public response to the riot led him and others to resign, telling the panel behind closed doors that he made the decision after he saw Trump’s tweet berating Vice President Mike Pence for certifying the election.
He may also shed light on how Meadows responded, meeting with him at the White House during the riot, as reported by The New York Times.
For a full preview of Thursday’s hearing, click here.
💨 Congress moves on marijuana bill
Senate Democrats will try to legalize marijuana before the end of the year, introducing a long-awaited bill on the floor Thursday.
Dubbed the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, the bill would legalize marijuana on the federal level and empower states to create their own laws.
However, the legislation is expected to face opposition from members of both parties.
Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.) and Jon Tester (Mont.) previously suggested to Politico that they wouldn’t support the legislation.
And while legalizing marijuana is a popular issue — a Gallup poll from November found 70 percent of Americans support it — many Republicans aren’t likely to back it.
How it stands in the District: In March, Congress upheld a GOP-supported ban of the sale of marijuana in Washington. Until marijuana is federally legalized, or the ban is lifted, District residents won’t be able to buy or sell it.
Read more from our colleague Aris Folley.
✨ New Kennedy Center honorees
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has named its honorees for later this year.
Actor and filmmaker George Clooney, singer-songwriter Amy Grant, R&B legend Gladys Knight, Cuban-born American musician Tania León and iconic Irish rock band U2 will be honored this year.
The show, which is expected to feature several high-profile tributes to the honorees, will air on CBS in December.
Each year, the Kennedy Center hosts its honorees, the president and special guests for a star-studded performance.
Former President Trump didn’t attend or celebrate the show while he was in office, but President Biden resumed attendance in the president’s box last year and also greeted last year’s honorees at the White House in December.
Hot ticket: Good luck getting an in-person viewing. The Kennedy Center says donors who contribute $10,000 or more annually are eligible to request tickets now. Donors who contribute $700 to $9,999 annually will be invited at a later date if tickets remain.
At a date to be determined, the public is invited to purchase any remaining tickets or be placed on the waitlist.
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⚾️ Batter up
Head to Nationals Park on July 28 for the annual Congressional Baseball Game to see your favorite members of Congress slugging it out (in the heat!).
The non-partisan charity game has run for decades, though was marked by a near-fatal shooting at the GOP’s practice the day before the game in 2017.
Republicans won the light-hearted game last year (their third win in 13 years), which President Biden attended.
Democrats this year have also lost a star player, Cedric Richmond, who resigned from Congress to join the White House earlier in the year.
Tickets are still on sale and you can check out this year’s team rosters here.
📺 Hayes to appear on Colbert
If you’re looking for some late night television to watch after the Jan. 6 hearing on Thursday, The Hill’s Judy Kurtz scooped that MSNBC host Chris Hayes will appear on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
More from Kurtz: “It’s hardly the first time that Colbert — a frequent critic of Trump — has opted to go live for his CBS show, rather than air a pre-taped broadcast.”
Have some news, juicy gossip, insight or other insider info? Send us tips: Elizabeth Crisp and Kelsey Carolan. And encourage friends to sign up here: thehill.com/noted.
We’ll see you next week!
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