Jan 6 panel weighs seeking testimony from Donald Trump and Mike Pence
The committee may request a written interview from the former vice president
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Your support makes all the difference.The House select committee investigating the Capitol riot is reportedly considering seeking interviews with former Vice President Mike Pence and former President Donald Trump.
A Republican member of the panel revealed to the Wall Street Journal that the committee was considering if, and how, it could secure interviews from the former heads of state.
Representative Adam Kinzinger, one of two Republicans on the January 6 panel, said during an interview that the panel may request a written interview with Mr Pence, and is considering whether it would use a subpoena to compel his testimony.
Despite earlier comments from committee chair Representative Bennie Thompson that the panel would not seek Mr Trump's testimony, Mr Kinzinger suggested that it was still under consideration.
A spokesman for Mr Pence has not commented on reports that the panel is considering requesting his testimony.
Obtaining testimony from Mr Pence and especially from Mr Trump would be significant development for the panel, which has already secured shocking testimony from Trump administration insiders, including White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadow's top aide, Cassidy Hutchinson.
Steve Bannon, an adviser to Mr Trump's campaign, has also agreed to testify before the committee after initially refusing to cooperate.
The panel's most recent hearings focused on Mr Trump calling his supporters to Washington DC for his speech and then subsequently sent them to disrupt the proceedings at the Capitol. Those included accounts from individuals who participated in the attack, including a former spokesman for the right-wing extremist gang the Oath Keepers.
The next hearing, scheduled for 21 July, will reportedly focus on the time between the start of the violence at the Capitol and Mr Trump's message to his supporters to stop their attack.
"Mr Kinzinger and I plan to go through that 187 minutes. What happened between the time that [former President Donald Trump] left the stage, gave these inflammatory remarks and gave people the impression...that he was going to himself march with this crowd to the Capitol," Representative Elaine Luria told ABC News on Wednesday. "[And] what happened between that moment and then around 4.17 in the afternoon, which is about 187 minutes later, when he finally made a statement to the nation, to the people at the Capitol to go home."
She said that Mr Trump "didn't take the leadership role as the President of the United States, as the commander in chief”.
"We're going to talk about dereliction of duty," she said.
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