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Adam Kinzinger, Jan. 6 committee will seek public’s attention Thursday with first hearing on primetime

Panel that includes Kinzinger plans to give overview of its 11-month investigation into Capitol riot

By Derek Barichello
FILE - Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., listen as the House select committee tasked with investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol meets on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 19, 2021. Republican Party officials have voted to punish Cheney and Kinzinger and advanced a rule change that would prohibit candidates from participating in presidential debates organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates. GOP officials took a voice vote to approve both measures at the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and Rep. Adam Kinzinger, (R-Channahon), listen as the House select committee tasked with investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol meets on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 19, 2021. The first of six hearings will take place over the next several weeks beginning with a session 7 p.m. Thursday night in which the nine-member panel that includes Kinzinger plans to give an overview of its 11-month investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger has said one of the challenges of the Jan. 6 committee will be to capture the public’s attention.

Thursday, the committee will have a prime-time slot to present its information.

The first of six hearings will take place over the next several weeks beginning with a session 7 p.m. Thursday night in which the nine-member panel that includes Kinzinger (R-Channahon) plans to give an overview of its 11-month investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. More than 1,000 people have been interviewed by the panel, and only snippets of that testimony have been revealed to the public, mostly through court filings, according to the Associated Press.

Several major networks and cable news programs are expected to carry the first hearing live in its prime-time slot. The committee also is expected to live-stream it on C-SPAN and on its YouTube page.

Kinzinger is one of two GOP lawmakers serving on the U.S. House Select Committee.

Lawmakers plan to have witnesses testify and to display a series of never-before-seen images and exhibits relating to the lead-up to the insurrection and the attack itself. The public hearing, unlike other committee hearings, will be a mixture of traditional testimony as well as a multimedia presentation.

Kinzinger told Shaw Media in January it will be crucial for the Jan. 6 committee to present all its information before the end of the year. If the Republican Party regains control of the House in the November election, Kinzinger said the committee will be shut down.

With hearings beginning Thursday, the panel remains on schedule to wrap up by the end of summer or in early fall.

Beyond the effect on the upcoming general election, Kinzinger has said the committee’s findings will set the tone for how the next generation talks about Jan. 6, learns about it and remembers it.

Several members of the committee have promised new and explosive information to arise from the public hearings, but it remains unclear what that will entail, according to the Associated Press.

The hearings are expected to be exhaustive but not the final word from the committee. It plans to release subsequent reports on its findings, including recommendations on legislative reforms, ahead of the midterm elections.

The panel’s probe has so far been divided into a series of focus areas, including the efforts by former President Trump and his allies to cast doubt on the election and halt the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory; the financing and organizing of rallies in Washington that took place before the attack; security failures by Capitol Police and federal agencies; and the actions of the rioters themselves.

Notably, Fox News Network has said it will not televise Thursday’s hearing, drawing criticism from Kinzinger, who has been critical of the network, as well as one of its hosts Tucker Carlson. This is nothing new, Fox News also elected not to televise previous reports made by the committee.

“If you work at Fox News and want to maintain your credibility as a journalist, now is a good time to speak out, or quit,” Kinzinger said Tuesday on Twitter. “Enough is enough.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report