Jan. 6 Committee Delays Start Of Hearings, Citing ‘Inordinate’ Amount Of Depositions To Sift Through

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), chair of the Jan. 6 Select Committee, said that the panel is likely to begin holding public hearings in May because it needs more time to work through depositions according to NPR.

That pushes back committee members’ initial projections for the hearing schedule by at least a month.

“In reality, more like May, just because we have an inordinate amount of depositions to get through,” Thompson told NPR on Tuesday night.

Thompson also said that a combination of hearings during daytime and primetime hours is still on the table, but the format is yet to be determined.

“Some could be prime time, some could be while we are on recess, some could be the regular format for hearings, so all of it is under discussion,” Thompson told NPR.

Thompson added that the panel has set a goal to wrap up depositions to focus on hearings by April 1 — but acknowledged that it’s a tough deadline to meet in the event that new witnesses come up after that date.

“It’s a timetable, nothing is set in stone,” Thompson said, according to NPR.

“If in the process of doing depositions and interviews, additional information comes forward, then we’d be remiss if we didn’t take that information and vet it to see whether or not whether we need to go forward with it,” Thompson continued.

Thompson’s comments come after the National Archives delivered White House visitor logs from the Trump administration to the committee last week. The National Archives also turned over records from former Vice President Mike Pence.

Previously, committee member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) told MSNBC last month that the panel was hoping to hold public hearings starting in April. Raskin, at the time, said that public hearings hadn’t began yet mostly because of figures in former President Trump’s inner circle who were stonewalling the committee.

Raskin, however, noted that the committee expected to hold public hearings in the spring despite delays.

“But we are determined to get to those hearings quickly in the spring, hoping in April, certainly no later than May,” Raskin said last month. “And then to get a report out to the American people about what happened.”

Additionally, Thompson also previously discussed the possibility of public hearings being held in primetime hours. Thompson told Bloomberg News in January that public hearings would give Americans “the best opportunity” to hear testimony and evaluate evidence.

Holding public hearings during primetime hours would be a novel move — most congressional hearings are held during the day.