| Nearly a year ago, Americans reacted to entreaties from former President Trump, conservative media personalities and internet conspiracists and gathered in a lethal mob while attacking the U.S. Capitol and democracy itself. It could happen again. Those are among the preliminary findings of a House select committee investigating how influential people, working behind the scenes, coordinated events to stir supporters to oppose the government, members of Congress and law enforcement in reaction to a lie about a stolen election. The Hill’s wrap-up of Sunday shows: Officials brace for the Jan. 6 anniversary. “What people saw on Jan. 6 with their own eyes was not just something created at one moment. It was clearly, what we believe, based on the information we have been able to gather, a coordinated activity on the part of a lot of people,” Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 events, told ABC News “This Week” on Sunday. The panel, which on Thursday will mark a year since the dramatic insurrection, will disclose its findings over the coming months. Seven Democrats and two Republicans on the committee say they want to tell the full story gleaned from depositions and evidence while making recommendations to prevent future Capitol bloodshed and defiance of the Constitution. The committee’s final report is expected before November, with a possible interim report in the spring or summer (The Associated Press). President Biden and Vice President Harris will each speak on Thursday about the Jan. 6 events. The Washington Post: In a poll, Democrats and Republicans split in their views of the Jan. 6 attack and Trump’s culpability. Committee members appearing on TV on Sunday said the events of Jan. 6 were coordinated and even funded by outside parties and were planned and foreshadowed in news accounts ahead of events. They were inspired by a narrative formulated by Trump, predicated on an elaborately promoted fiction. And Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), vice chairwoman of the committee, said testimony gathered about Trump’s actions before and during the attacks should disqualify him to hold office. “He can never be near the Oval Office again,” she said. “This is a man who is simply too dangerous to ever again play a role in our democracy.” WTOP: Here’s what the House select panel has uncovered thus far. Robert Pape, a University of Chicago political science professor, warned in an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” that a study of insurrectionist beliefs among 21 million people in the United States and a study of 725 Jan. 6 attackers arrested as of last week reveal what he called an “empirical reality” that extremism is now mainstream and is “like dry wood that can be set off from a lightning strike or a spark,” especially heading into a poisonously partisan midterm election year. The Associated Press: Capitol rioters’ tears and remorse do not spare them from jail sentences. Reuters: Jan. 6 committee weighs whether it can subpoena GOP lawmakers, Thompson said. The Hill: Jan. 6 panel to seek information from Washington, D.C.’s Willard Hotel. The Hill: U.S. Capitol Police chief says planning for the force has improved since Jan. 6. Politico: Former Trump administration officials who quit after Jan. 6 receded from view and remained silent as Trump himself has not. Politico contacted 18 former administration officials who stepped down as a result of Jan. 6 or whose resignations seemed timed to events that day. Only one agreed to speak on the record. What else we’re watching this week: > Trump plans a news conference on the anniversary of the Capitol attack on Thursday, to take place at Mar-a-Lago (The Hill). > The former president faces a Friday deadline to submit to a deposition in a New York civil probe of his business. He filed a lawsuit to try to block it (The New York Times). > Legal challenges to two of Biden’s COVID-19 vaccination mandates will be heard by the Supreme Court on Friday (CNN). > A federal appeals court on Friday will hear arguments dealing with a controversial Texas abortion law (NBC News).  © Associated Press/J. Scott Applewhite > More in Congress: January is shaping up to be a month of transition and questions for Democrats as they hold out a glimmer of hope of passing some semblance of the Build Back Better agenda and making progress on other party priorities. Only weeks ago, January was thought to be a pivotal month in passing the multi trillion-dollar social spending proposal. That was before Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) knifed those chances on Dec. 19. However, Democrats have remained resolute that all is not said and done on the subject, including Manchin himself. According to Axios, Manchin is willing to come back to the table if multiple provisions surrounding climate and child care are revised, including nixing the child tax credit from the package altogether — a top Democratic priority. However, his concerns surrounding inflation and the overall size and scope of the blueprint remain, representing massive hurdles to getting over the finish line. The prevailing thought for Democrats, however, mirrors that of GOP lawmakers in 2017 after they failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act and prioritized a tax reform proposal: They have to pass something. Anything. “Sen. Manchin and I are going to get something done,” Biden said two days after Manchin announced his opposition. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has also promised a vote on the Build Back Better Act this month in some form. Until a plan of attack on the social spending and climate bill is determined, Senate Democrats are expected to shift their attention legislatively to voting rights and a battle to change the Senate rules. In a letter to his caucus, Schumer said that he would bring voting legislation to the floor this month and that if it is blocked by Republicans “the Senate will then consider changes to any rules which prevent us from debating and reaching final conclusion on important legislation.” However, that effort is still expected to be futile, as it would require all 50 Senate Democrats to vote in unanimity to alter the filibuster rules, including Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), who has shown zero appetite to support that possibility. The Senate Democratic leader recently warned a vote to change the rules could take place even if destined to fail (The Hill). The Wall Street Journal: Democrats seek filibuster changes to pass elections bills. The Associated Press: Biden’s words on voting rights meet call to action after Jan. 6. Sylvan Lane, The Hill: Five questions facing the economy in 2022. The Hill: Biden's court nominations face fierce GOP opposition. Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) personal Twitter account was permanently banned on Sunday for repeatedly sharing COVID-19 misinformation, including about the vaccines (The New York Times). Greene's congressional account remains active this morning (The Hill). The Hill: Lawmakers in both parties to launch new push on Violence Against Women Act. The Washington Post: Democrats brace for an era without Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Axios was the first to report that former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who died last week at age 82 from pancreatic cancer, will lie in state in the Capitol next week. A memorial service for Reid will take place in Las Vegas on Saturday (ABC News). |
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