January 6 hearings aim to put Trump 'at the center' of the mayhem and attack on democracy, aides say

• The House select committee investigating January 6 is gearing up for its first hearing on Thursday.
• Committee aides say the public will hear from several witnesses including Trump's family members.

The House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection is preparing to use a set of public hearings to make the case that former President Donald Trump was "at the center" of a coordinated effort to stop President Joe Biden from taking office.

House select committee aides told reporters during a Thursday briefing that the committee will be "revealing new details showing that the violence of January 6 was the result of a coordinated, multi-step effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election and stop the transfer of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden" at the hearings that start Thursday.

The aides, who spoke on condition they not be named, noted that the first public hearing, scheduled for 8 p.m. Thursday, will feature material that the public has not previously seen, from documentary evidence to recordings of witness interviews to records obtained during their investigation into the attack on the US Capitol. The public will hear opening statements from committee members and then witness testimony.

During the first hearing, the public will hear from documentarian Nick Quested, who filmed the far-right Proud Boys group during the riot, and Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards, who was injured during the attack, about their experiences on January 6.

In addition to the live witnesses, the public will hear from several witnesses, including senior Trump White House officials, senior Trump administration officials, Trump campaign officials, and Trump family members, committee aides told reporters.

The House select committee, composed of seven Democrats and two Republicans, is aiming to give the American public a better understanding on how the January 6 insurrection unfolded throughout six public hearings expected to take place this month. Additional hearings are scheduled for Monday, June 13, and Wednesday, June 15, both at 10 a.m.

During the committee's 10-month investigation, they have interviewed more than 1,000 individuals, collected thousands of documents, and issued subpoenas to get more individuals to cooperate with its investigation. In the run-up to the hearings, there had been reports of debate inside the committee about how much to focus on Trump's role versus the response of law enforcement or making a case for electoral count reforms.

The committee has no legal authority to charge Trump. But its findings could put more pressure on the Justice Department to look into possible charges against the former president. The committee will issue a final report, presumably sometime later this year, an aide said.