....the House Select Committee (not Covid related)....

[Chillicothe]

That House Select Committee investigating the January 6th MAGA attack on the Capitol of the United States has been much in the news, and even on this venue posters have offered their perspectives. One poster recently reminded us all that that Committee is about to hold televised hearings.

So, I would recommend to all to read this morning's piece in The Washington Post. As usual the Post does and excellent job of reporting on the ins and outs of Washington's business and strategies of governing this nation.

Here's a small taster, (it's a long article, but you can read the whole enchilada with the provided link). --- I formatted with bullet points a couple of times....and underlined parts that were of particular interest to me. Mainly because that's the way that works best for my old brain.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Committee investigating Jan. 6 attack plans to begin a more public phase of its work in the new year"​

The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol plans to begin holding public hearings in the new year to tell the story of the insurrection from start to finish while crafting an ample interim report on its findings by summer, as it shifts into a more public phase of its work.

“We want to tell it from start to finish over a series of weeks, where we can bring out the best witnesses in a way that makes the most sense,” a senior committee aide said. “Our legacy piece and final product will be the select committee’s report.”

The committee has taken in a massive amount of data — interviewing more than 300 witnesses, announcing more than 50 subpoenas, obtaining more than 35,000 pages of records and receiving hundreds of telephone leads through the Jan. 6 tip line, according to aides familiar with the matter....

The five teams behind the investigation have begun to merge their findings. The topics include:

• the money and funding streams for the “Stop the Steal” rallies and events;
• the misinformation campaign and online extremist activity;
• how agencies across the government were preparing for the Jan. 6 rally;
• the pressure campaigns to overturn the election results or delay the electoral certification;
• and the organizers of the various events and plans for undermining the election.

Also on the agenda is whether the panel will refer to the Justice Department crimes they believe may have been committed by Trump and his aides.

As the committee gathers and sifts evidence, it is focusing on the question of what Trump did while the attack was raging, a time during which he was mostly publicly silent while his supporters ransacked the Capitol, and whether his action or inaction amounts to a crime.

The committee’s nascent discussions about potential criminal referrals also include --

• the efforts to pressure state and local officials to overturn the results of the election
• and whether people raising funds for the rallies and events surrounding Jan. 6 made their appeals while knowing the claims of election fraud were false.
  
  “In terms of criminal referrals more broadly, we are asking questions and finding facts,” said the second senior committee aide. “We’re not a law enforcement investigation, but we are finding facts, and we expect to make our findings public at the appropriate time for everyone to see.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/january-6-attack-investigation/2021/12/27/e2c37488-62d4-11ec-8ce3-9454d0b46d42_story.html