The long-threatened hearings for the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot begin tomorrow night, and it will be aired on every major place, save, of course, Fox News. Though its members have long promised a big show, it has little chance of ending with Trump escorted to jail. The committee simply doesn’t have the power to punish those accountable. But what they can do it tee up reams of lawsuits that could leave Donald Trump — and some of his cronies, including those in Congress — with nothing.
Indeed, the committee has amassed what one of its members has called “the biggest data effort in the history of congressional investigations,” including interviews with more than 1,000 witnesses and at least 14,000 documents. That could help lawsuits that are already in action, like the one from eight Capitol Hill officers attacked on the fateful day, who are suing Trump, his campaign, Roger Stone, the Proud Boys, and others who were involved.
“What the committee can’t do is hold people accountable. But that’s where criminal prosecutions and civil litigation comes in,” Edward G. Caspar, that group’s attorney, told The Daily Beast. “If you think of the three means of seeking accountability for those responsible for the attack—congressional hearings, criminal prosecution, civil litigation—they’re like a three-legged stool. The committee can shine a very bright light on the evidence and present it to the public. That’s something the others can’t do.”
In other words, they’ll provide attorneys representing clients with plenty of evidence, including videos and transcripts and testimony provided under oath, to bolster lawsuits, against Trump and others.
Trump is already in plenty of legal hot water. The day before the hearings are set to begin, it was revealed he had agreed — alongside Don Jr. and Ivanka — to actually sit down for a deposition regarding another case against him: the one from the New York State Attorney General’s Office looking into his business’ practices. It’s been argued that, after that case is done with him, he may have nothing left but his pensions. After the Jan. 6 hearings, he may not even have those.
(Via The Daily Beast)