WASHINGTON-
Two former White House aides are expected to testify Thursday at the House committee’s prime-time hearing on Jan. 6 as the panel examines what Donald Trump was doing when his supporters stormed the Capitol, according to a report. person familiar with the plans.
Matthew Pottinger, a former deputy national security adviser, and Sarah Matthews, a former press officer, are expected to testify, according to the person, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and requested anonymity. Both Pottinger and Matthews resigned immediately after the January 6, 2021, insurrection that disrupted Congressional certification of President Joe Biden’s victory.
The two witnesses will contribute to the committee’s narrative at its eighth and possibly final hearing this summer. The prime-time hearing will detail what Trump did, or did not do, for several hours that day as his supporters beat up police officers and stormed the Capitol.
Previous hearings have detailed chaos at the White House with aides and outsiders pleading with the president to tell rioters to leave. But he waited more than three hours to do so, and there are still many unanswered questions about what exactly he was doing and saying as the violence unfolded.
A committee spokesman declined to comment. CNN was the first to report the identity of Thursday’s witnesses.
Lawmakers on the nine-member panel have said the hearing will offer the most compelling evidence yet of Trump’s “dereliction of duty” that day, with witnesses detailing his failure to stop the angry crowd.
“We’ve filled in the blanks,” Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Illinois, a member of the House committee investigating the unrest and who will help lead Thursday’s session, said Sunday. “This is going to open people’s eyes in a big way.”
“The president did not do much more than watch television happily during this period of time,” he added.
Throughout its year-long investigation, the panel has uncovered several details about what the former president was doing when a mob of rioters stormed the Capitol complex. Testimony and documents revealed that those closest to Trump, including his allies in Congress, Fox News anchors and even his own children, tried to persuade him to call off the mob or issue a statement calling for the rioters to leave. to home.
At one point, according to testimony, Ivanka Trump went to her father to plead with him personally when those around him had failed to communicate. All those efforts were in vain.
Thursday’s audience will be the first in primetime since the June 9 debut that was watched by an estimated 20 million people.
The hearing comes nearly a week after committee members received a closed report from the Department of Homeland Security watchdog after it was discovered the Secret Service had deleted text messages sent and received around Jan. 6. . Shortly after, the committee subpoenaed the agency. , searching for all relevant electronic communication from the agents at the time of the attack. The deadline for the Secret Service to respond is Tuesday.
Committee member Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., told The Associated Press on Monday that the Secret Service has told them it will turn over the records within the subpoena requirements.