U.S. Capitol attack probe to push forward with new witnesses, Cheney says

WASHINGTON, July 24 (Reuters) – The panel probing the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol plans to push its investigation additional within the coming weeks, interviewing extra members of Donald Trump’s cupboard and his marketing campaign, in addition to U.S. Secret Service members, the committee’s vice chair stated on Sunday.

“We’re not finished yet,” Representative Liz Cheney, certainly one of two Republicans on the U.S. House of Representatives’ choose committee, instructed CNN’s “State of the Union.”

In eight hearings over six weeks that includes testimony from former White House officers and Trump associates, the panel painted the previous president as liable for the attack on the Capitol in a bid to keep in energy following his 2020 election loss. The hearings have additionally outlined efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the election outcomes.

The committee has but to determine whether or not to make a felony referral regarding Trump’s conduct to the U.S. Justice Department, Cheney stated, “but that’s absolutely something we’re looking at.”

Cheney stated testimony from Trump aides had opened doorways to new proof as others within the administration have come forward. The committee additionally continues to search an interview with Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the spouse of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, over her function in Trump’s efforts to overturn the election and will subpoena her if vital, Cheney stated.

Cheney stated the panel will look into the deletion of textual content messages by the Secret Service, including that the company had not proven the type of cooperation that was anticipated.

“The extent to which there are no text messages from the relevant period of time, the extent to which we have not had the kind of cooperation that we really need to have, those are all the things the committee is going to be looking at in more detail in the coming weeks,” Cheney stated in a separate interview on “Fox News Sunday.”

Earlier this month, the committee subpoenaed the Secret Service, searching for textual content messages from Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, 2021, because it investigated accusations by a watchdog that they’d been erased.

The Secret Service had stated that information from some telephones had been misplaced throughout a system migration that was initiated prior to the watchdog’s request. It handed over some information to the panel on Wednesday and the committee stated it wished extra information. learn extra

Reporting by James Oliphant and Kanishka Singh; Editing by Tim Ahmann and Daniel Wallis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.