January 6, 2021 will live in infamy as the day that right-wing protestors stormed the U.S. Capitol building under the false pretense that the 2020 election was stolen from lame duck president Donald Trump. While investigations by a House committee into the attack on the Capitol started nearly a year ago, they will begin to communicate their findings tonight in the first of several public hearings that will be available to view online and on national television.
What are the January 6 hearings?
Investigations into the 2021 attack on the Capitol began last July by the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. The committee’s investigation has included 1,000 interviews and 140,000 documents, according to the Washington Post, in order to accurately piece together what happened on January 6, as well as in the months leading up to the attack. The New York Times says the hearing tonight will include testimony from Capitol police officer Caroline Edwards, who was injured during the attack, and British filmmaker Nick Quested, who was documenting the actions of the far-right extremist group the Proud Boys. Tonight’s hearing will also reveal video footage of top Trump aides and Trump family members testifying as part of the investigation.
There are currently three hearings scheduled over the next week:
- Friday, June 10 at 10am AEST
- Tuesday, June 14 at 12AM AEST
- Thursday, June 16 at 12AM AEST
Deadline says that there could be eight days of hearings by the end of the June and more in September.
Where can I watch the January 6 hearings?
The easiest way to watch tonight’s hearing is via live stream on YouTube, which will begin tonight at 8pm ET on the January 6th Committee’s official YouTube channel. Other networks and outlets like PBS NewsHour, The New York Times, and the Washington Post will also be live streaming the hearing with some offering commentary from reporters.
Tonight’s hearing will also be aired on primetime national television. Channels like CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC will not be airing their original programming tonight and will instead broadcast the hearing in according to USA Today. Fox News decided not to air tonight’s hearing, and will proceed with Tucker Carlson’s show as scheduled, while pushing the hearing to Fox Business Network.
The focus of these upcoming hearing is to present a comprehensive narrative and timeline of how the insurrection began, dating back to the presidential election a few months prior. While bits and pieces of the committee’s investigation have been reported on, these upcoming hearings are an opportunity to hear the group’s findings cohesively, illuminating what actually happened in the months leading up to, during, and following the January 6 attack on the Capitol.