Final Jan. 6 Hearing Has Two Key Differences From The Rest

The House committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riots is scheduled to hold another hearing on Thursday afternoon, which will include some changes from past hearings.

Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, a Democratic Representative from Mississippi recently said that all nine lawmakers on the committee will have a chance to speak during the hearing. The eight other lawmakers that make up the committee include Representatives Zoe Lofgren, Adam Schiff, Pete Aguilar, Stephanie Murphy, Jamie Raskin, Elaine Luria, Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.

A January 6 Committee aide also confirmed to Newsweek that another change to the upcoming hearing will be that no live witnesses are expected to speak.

Thursday's hearing comes just ahead of the upcoming November midterm elections. The hearing will feature lawmakers speaking about the riots at the Capitol on January 6. Thursday's hearing is expected to be the final one, with a final report expected to be published by the end of the year.

Over the past several months, the committee has met for televised hearings on eight other occasions. Beginning on June 9, the committee has continued to discuss different evidence associated with the Capitol riots and former President Donald Trump's alleged role in them.

Over the course of the first three hearings, the panel presented evidence that allegedly showed Trump disputing the results of the 2020 election and disagreeing with those around him who told him otherwise.

During the following hearings, panel members spoke about Trump attempting to overturn the results of the presidential election, including a recorded phone call Trump had with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, where Trump asked him to "find" thousands of votes.

The Washington Post also reported that the committee is expected to showcase records from the Secret Service which detail Trump being warned about potential violence, citing anonymous sources briefed on the upcoming hearing. The Post also reported that the hearing is expected to investigate footage from a documentary featuring ex-Trump advisor Roger Stone. Newsweek reached out to the committee to confirm this reporting but did not hear back in time for publication.

Andrew Ballard, an assistant professor in the Department of Government at American University, told Newsweek that "There are a few things to consider with non-legislative hearings, what information will be discussed (and if any is to be made available to the public for the first time), the political context, and how these interact with members' goals."

"The committee has been really successful at keeping information private before the hearings, and at dropping metaphorical bombs during the hearings," Ballard said. "Whatever the content is that's revealed to the public will help dictate how the members act. If it's a true bombshell, there could be announced recommendations for further prosecution. Short of that, it will likely be lots of spin and grandstanding, and it's hard to imagine the new information won't be damning to various conservatives and Republicans."