Jan. 6 committee announces surprise Tuesday hearing

The Jan. 6 select committee, in a surprise announcement with about 24 hours’ notice, said it will hold a Tuesday hearing “to present recently obtained evidence and receive witness testimony.”

It was not immediately clear whom the panel was calling to testify, nor what new evidence was being presented. The sudden shift comes after panel chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) told reporters last week that investigators were shifting their hearing schedule to accommodate new witnesses, a deluge of new evidence from the National Archives and a flood of tips from the public.

Panel leaders have further teased the addition of other hearings beyond two sessions rescheduled to July that were to focus on the role of extremism during the Jan. 6 attack and then-President Donald Trump’s actions.

The select panel had originally intended to hold roughly a half-dozen public hearings in June to present its findings, though investigators had cautioned the schedule was subject to change as new evidence emerged. The select panel has maintained its investigative work even as it ramped up its pace of hearings.

Documentary filmmaker Alex Holder, who had extensive access to the Trump family, met with investigators last Thursday morning after getting subpoenaed by the select panel for his recordings and testimony. And the panel also sent a letter to Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas also known as Ginni, seeking her testimony after evidence emerged she had exchanged emails with Trump-allied attorney John Eastman.

The House is currently out of session until mid-July, though committees are still meeting this week.