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“People Must Pay Attention. People Must Watch”: The Jan. 6 Committee Is Trying to Make the Most of Its Prime-Time TV Slot 

Former ABC News president James Goldston is reportedly advising the Congressional committee, whose members have been generating hype for the hearings kicking off this week. 
Image may contain Bennie Thompson Human Person Zoe Lofgren Crowd Audience Flag Symbol Room and Indoors
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 28: Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., center, flanked by Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., speaks as the House Selects committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol meets to vote on contempt charges against former President Donald Trumps advisers Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino on Capitol Hill on Monday, March 28, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)The Washington Post/Getty Images

The January 6 committee is apparently not taking any chances with their media strategy on Thursday, when the first in a series of public hearings will air in prime time. Veteran network executive James Goldston, the former president of ABC News, “has joined the committee as an unannounced adviser,” Axios reported Monday. The committee tapped Goldston, whose storytelling expertise breathed life into programs such as Nightline, to shape the cache of material that the committee has amassed over the past year, which reportedly includes more than 140,000 documents and disclosures from over 1,000 depositions and interviews. Thursday’s prime-time hearing, which Goldston is producing, is said to feature both live witnesses and pre-produced video—including clips from some depositions. Goldston “plans to make it raw enough so that skeptical journalists will find the material fresh, and chew over the disclosures in future coverage,” while also getting the attention “of Americans who haven't followed the ins and outs of the Capitol riot probe,” Axios’s Mike Allen reports.

Some committee members have also taken it upon themselves to generate hype for Thursday’s 8 p.m. hearing, including Rep. Liz Cheney. The vice chair of the committee previewed the committee’s findings in an interview with CBS Sunday Morning. “It is extremely broad. It’s extremely well organized. It’s really chilling,” Cheney said of former President Donald Trump and his allies’ “multi-pronged effort” to subvert democracy, which she declared “an ongoing threat.” Trump not only hasn’t shown remorse for the deadly insurrection he incited, but “continues to use even more extreme language, frankly, than the language that caused the attack,” Cheney said. “And so, people must pay attention. People must watch, and they must understand how easily our democratic system can unravel if we don’t defend it.” Asked by CBS News’ Robert Costa whether she is “confident that what you have found as a committee will somehow grab the American people by the lapels and say, 'Wake up: You have to pay attention’?” Cheney replied, “I am.” (Rep. Jaime Raskin also previewed the hearings this past week on our Inside the Hive podcast.)

Led by House Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the bipartisan panel consisting of seven Democrats and two Republicans has been investigating how Trump and his allies conspired to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election, leading to the insurrection at the Capitol. The six hearings, expected to last until late June, will be the first time the committee has disclosed “previously unseen material” about what it discovered during its 10-month probe of the days leading up the unprecedented attack, according to The Associated Press. The panel, which interviewed more than 1,000 people and reviewed more than 125,000 documents, expects to show ongoing attempts to 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.

Among the broadcast networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC are planning to carry Thursday night’s hearing live, with David Muir, Norah O'Donnell, and Lester Holt anchoring, respectively. Jake Tapper and Anderson Cooper will anchor CNN's special coverage, beginning at 7 p.m; Rachel Maddow, Nicolle Wallace and Joy Reid will also begin anchoring at 7 p.m. over at MSNBC. Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum will anchor live on Fox Business and coverage will be offered to Fox broadcasting affiliates; however, Fox News will continue to air its regular prime time programs, led by Tucker Carlson at 8 p.m. Carlson has downplayed the events of January 6 and tried deflecting blame from Trump supporters. 

The twice-impeached president is hoping that House Republicans and media allies distract from the committee's findings and focus on Biden's domestic pressure points, including soaring inflation and tumbling financial markets. “Most Americans don't like what happened on January 6, but rate it pretty low on their importance list when compared to inflation, cost of gas and the border,” Rep. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican who represents a Biden-won district, told CNN. 

“WarRoom Posse, all Cadres, Vanguards–we saddle-up this week–all hands on deck,” Steve Bannon posted on social media Sunday. The former White House advisor was indicted by the Department of Justice in November 2021 on two counts of contempt of Congress stemming from his failure to comply with a subpoena issued by the House panel.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is overseeing the Republican response against the hearings, according to CNN, which may prove awkward given that he was caught on audio earlier this year criticizing Trump immediately after the attack. But McCarthy—who could become House Majority Leader if his party takes control in November— is apparently back on good terms with the former president, who endorsed the California Congressman over the weekend. 

Leaked audio of Rep. Kevin McCarthy denouncing then-President Donald Trump after the insurrection.

Two Republicans who got nixed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) from serving on the select committee are expected to play key roles in blunting the panel's message: Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, both of whom voted to overturn the 2020 election results.

The committee is expected to draw from the testimony of a former aide of Vice President Mike Pence, then-White House director of legislative affairs Marc Short, to make their case against Trump. According to CNN, he was a first-hand witness to the pressure campaign applied by Trump and his allies to convince Pence to stand in the way of the certification of the 2020 election.

A Trump aide confirmed to CBS News that the former president is expected to provide a counter response, but it was unclear if it would be a statement or through the “Truth Social” platform.

This article was updated with additional network coverage plans.