Jan 6 committee member says next hearing will focus on ‘efforts to assemble’ pro-Trump mob

Committee may shed new light on far-right militia elements of riotous crowd

A member of the January 6 committee revealed the subject of the committee’s next hearing on Sunday, telling CBS News that he and his colleagues will examine the effort by Donald Trump to lure thousands of his supporters to the US Capitol.

Representative Adam Schiff made the comments on Face the Nation, explaining that “[o]ur very next hearing will be focused on the efforts to assemble that mob” that attacked Congress while the Senate was meeting to certify the results of the 2020 election.

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His remarks came after host Margaret Brennan asked whether the committee planned to show evidence of communications between the Trump White House and far-right militias including the Proud Boys and Oathkeepers. Mr Schiff responded that he did not intend to get ahead of the panel’s hearings, suggesting that her question will be answered at the next hearing or an upcoming one.

The committee plans to hold at least two more public hearings this month, including its final hearing which is set to be held in prime time to allow more Americans to watch live.

But lawmakers on the panel have shown a willingness to expand that number, such as was the case with a surprise hearing called last week to display the testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, a close aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.

And there are signs more surprise hearings could be called in the weeks ahead: Rep Adam Kinzinger, one of the committee’s two Republican members, revealed in a separate interview on Sunday that more witnesses have come forward since Ms Hutchinson’s hearing on Tuesday.

Mr Schiff backed up those comments on Sunday, explaining: “We are following additional leads. I think those leads will lead to new testimony.”

The explosive testimony of Ms Hutchinson sent shockwaves through Washington this week as it was confirmed for the first time by a White House official that Donald Trump’s team knew or at least suspected that violence would break out on January 6 as a result of their efforts to overturn the election. Recounting her boss’s fretting about the date days beforehand, Ms Hutchinson said that Mr Meadows worried January 6 would get “real, real bad”.

The testimony also confirmed for the first time (among many other revelations) that White House staffers were discussing the potential for members of the Proud Boys and Oathkeeprs participating in the day’s events.