Capitol riot committee to hold at least eight public hearings starting in June

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Congressman Bennie Thompson, who chairs the Homeland Security Committee, has revealed there will be at least eight public Capitol riot hearings beginning in June, and that the committee will ask Republican House and Senate members to participate.

NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Ali Vitali spoke with Mr Thompson, who confirmed that both former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump Jr would be asked to participate in the hearings.

Mr Thompson said the committee would begin requesting the Republicans' participation this week.

The congressman said the hearings would be a “mixture” of daytime and evening hearings.

“We’ll tell the story about what happened,” he said. “It will give the public the benefit of what more than a year’s worth of investigation has borne to the committee.”

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is expected to be among those asked to participate.

Though the committee may ask for the Republicans’ cooperation, there is no legal imperative for them to agree to participate. The committee could file subpoenas to force cooperation in the future.

A subpoena was used to force Kimberly Guilfoyle, the fiance of Donald Trump Jr, to speak with the committe on Monday. Ms Guilfoyle originally agreed to sit down with the committee voluntarily more than a month ago, but she cut that interview short.

Mr Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, and her husband Jared Kushner have also met with the committee for interviews.

The committee has also issued a subpoena against Mr Giuliani, who is expected to meet with them some time next month. It is unclear if Mr Giuliani meets with the committee next month whether or not he will be included in the public hearings in June.

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows was also given a subpoena to cooperate with the committee. It revealed that Mr Meadows had evidence ahead of the Capitol riot that violence was likely to occur. It also concluded that Mr Meadows was part of a plan with other Republicans to attempt to undermine the 2020 election on 6 January 2021.

“Mr. Meadows participated, as a functionary of the Trump campaign, in activities intended to result in actions by state officials and legislatures to change the certified results of the election,” the committe wrote in its filings. “In addition, Mr. Meadows communicated repeatedly by text with Congressman Scott Perry regarding a plan to replace Department of Justice leadership in the days before Jan. 6,”