What to Expect From This Week's Jan. 6 Hearings' Likely Finale

The House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attacks will hold its latest and possibly final public hearing of evidence on Wednesday.

The panel, who last held a live presentation in July on the events that led up to the Capitol riot, is expected to draw up its final report following Wednesday's hearing, with the aim for it to be published by the end of the year.

Details surrounding what will be the focus of Wednesday's presentation is unclear, and has not been confirmed by the panel members.

According to U.K. newspaper The Guardian, citing unnamed sources, the panel may establish a direct link between Donald Trump and his inner circle, including longtime ally Roger Stone and his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, and their communications with far-right extremist groups who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

The panel already revealed evidence, via the testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, that Trump told his then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to call Stone and Flynn on January 5, 2021, just as members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers were finalizing their plans for the insurrection.

The panel may also discuss other issues such as whether Trump fired his defense secretary Mark Esper to replace him with someone who would support the plan to seize voting machines, or delay the certification of Joe Biden's election victory, as well as discussions form Trump's team to impose martial law after Election Day.

One major development since the last hearing was the confirmation that Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, wife of Supreme Court judge Clarence Thomas, has agreed to speak with the panel voluntarily.

Ginni Thomas was found to have messaged Meadows urging him to stop Biden becoming president, calling the 2020 election the "greatest Heist of our History."

She was also in email communications with John Eastman, seen as the architect of the plan to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to stop the certification of the Electoral Count on January 6, 2021.

Thomas also urged GOP lawmakers in Arizona and Wisconsin to "choose" alternative presidential electors who would declare Trump the winner in the state over Biden.

However, it is unlikely that Thomas' interview with the panel has taken place. So her testimony will not be used in Wednesday's hearing, but featured in the final report instead.

Panel chair Rep. Adam Schiff [D-Cal] told CNN's State of the Union that Wednesday's presentation will be "potentially more sweeping" than some of the other hearings, without clarifying.

"It will tell the story about a key element of Donald Trump's plot to overturn the election," Schiff said. "And the public will certainly learn things it hasn't seen before, but it will also understand information it already has in a different context by seeing how it relates to other elements of this plot."

Speaking to NPR, fellow January 6 panel member Rep. Zoe Lofgren [D-Cal] also did not disclose details about what the upcoming presentation will focus on.

"We think it will be of interest. We have, of course, been working throughout the summer, and we have some additional information that we will relay that we think will better inform the public as to the events leading up to and during the January 6 riot," Lofgren said.

Lofgren said that the panel have not decided on whether their final report will include recommendations that Trump be charged for allegedly inciting the January 6 riot, then failing to take steps to end it, as well as his team's attempt to overturn the 2020 election results.

"We have not yet had a discussion on whether or not we should make criminal referrals. There is no such thing in statute. So it really just amounts to writing a letter," Lofgren said. "But as I say, the committee has not yet had that discussion and likely will not until all of the investigation is completed."

Lofgren added that, while Wednesday is possibly going to be the panel's final hearing, with the upcoming midterm elections soon taking precedent for the lawmakers, they "wouldn't rule out the possibility" of an additional public hearing after November as the panel members continue their investigation.