Journalists crowded the 10 gathered tables for the suddenly summoned hearing by a parliamentary panel investigating the January 6th uprising. It was announced last week that there would be no further hearings until July. However, on Monday, the commission unexpectedly said it was convening a hearing to present “recently obtained evidence and receive testimony”. The witness was Cassidy Hutchinson, who made a number of surprising allegations, including that on January 6, the then president was informed that people gathered nearby that morning had guns, but told officials “to let the people go. me inside “and march to the Capitol. However, despite her testimony that made headlines and other revelations from the hearings, so far it seems unclear how much she resonates with the American public or how much she changes her mind. “Evidence of the impact on the hearings so far is hard to find,” said William A. Galston, president and senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution. On the first night of the hearings, the panel set out the beginning of its case against Trump – that his lies about the 2020 election and the pressure he exerted on Vice President Mike Pence to overthrow it immediately led to the violence on January 6, 2021. Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, testified Tuesday. (Jacquelyn Martin / The Associated Press) These hearings were televised in the first hour and attracted an audience of about 20 million people, equivalent, as the New York Times pointed out, to television events such as a big football game on Sunday night. But by the second hearing, which aired in the afternoon, the audience had shrunk by almost half to 11 million. This was followed by nine million on the third day. The committee heard from many former top Trump aides, and Republicans after Republicans, who said they told Trump they did not believe his allegations of electoral fraud. Former Attorney General Bill Barr testified on video that he had told Trump that there was no evidence of voter fraud, that he did not agree with the idea that the election had been stolen – but to Trump, he said. Barr, “there has never been a show of interest in the facts.” Conservative lawyer John Eastman also presented a plan to Trump, which was aimed at overturning Joe Biden’s election victory. The hearings also heard Trump chasing the US Department of Justice to pursue false allegations of electoral fraud, contacting the chief of staff “almost every day” and trying in vain to recruit top law enforcement officials in a desperate attempt. to remain in power. About eight to 10 journalists were crowded at the 10 gathered tables for Tuesday’s abrupt hearing. (Mark Gollom / CBC) However, an ABC News / Ipsos poll found that only 34 percent of Americans watch the hearing somewhat or very closely, with only nine percent watching it very closely. The poll also found that of those who watch closely, 43 percent are Democrats and 22 percent are Republicans. “I think it also shows that the Jan. 6 commission is not really having an impact on Republicans,” said Chris Jackson, an Ipsos researcher. A Quinnipiac University poll found that the majority of Americans say they follow the news of the commission very closely (26 percent) or somewhat closely (32 percent). About 41 percent said not so carefully (17 percent) or not at all (24 percent). A Politico / Morning Consult poll, meanwhile, found that 40 percent of Americans say the Jan. 6 attacks had a significant impact on their prospects, compared with 66 percent for the Sept. 11 attacks, 62 percent for the pandemic and 52 percent for the recent wave of mass shootings. Galston says that considering these and other polls, he concludes that most people attending the hearings are Democrats and that relatively few Independents and Republicans follow. CLOCKS Trump wanted armed men at the rally, says former aide:
Trump wanted people with guns at the Jan. 6 rally: a former aide
Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson says Donald Trump knew people had guns on Jan. 6, but he wanted to be allowed to gather because he wanted a large crowd. But while Republicans may not listen to the hearings, they hear about them, he says. “And what they hear is not good.” The hearings have also been filled with emotional moments, including that of Arizona Republican House Speaker Rasti Bowers, who spoke out about the threats he and his family had to endure because he acknowledged that state. Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, a former Georgia election official, testified that she and her mother faced so much public harassment from Trump allies that they felt unable to live normal lives. But Brian Gaines, a political science professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, says there may not be as much impact as, for example, the 1973 Watergate hearings, which took place while Richard Nixon was still president. “The biggest difference is that Trump is not the current president,” Gaines said. CLOCKS Highlights from Barr’s testimony:
Excerpts from Bill Barr’s testimony to the January 6 committee
Former United States Attorney General Bill Barr told a House of Representatives committee investigating the Jan. 6 uprising in the U.S. Capitol that the allegations of fraud in the November 2020 election were “false and foolish.” Then, the question “How much did the president know?” it was “really what he did [the Watergate scandal] take off, “he said. “How much the former president knew is just a different question.” However, Galston says he believes some Republicans are beginning to worry that the hearings are affecting people’s perceptions of Trump and whether he is the person they want to represent the party in 2024. “The fact that almost all the witnesses are Republicans, I am sure, has not escaped their attention,” he said. Trump himself slammed House Republican minority leader Kevin McCarthy for his decision not to have more Republicans in the House. “Trump is clearly concerned that this has implications, if not for the Republican Party, for him personally,” Galston said. Jackson, of Ipsos, says their polls show that most Americans believe Trump has at least much of the responsibility for the attack on the US Capitol. However, he says listening can only have a small impact on these beliefs. “Republicans who believe Trump is innocent, Democrats who believe Trump is guilty are not moving.” Wandrea ‘Shaye’ Moss, a former Georgia election official, testifies on June 21. (Michael Reynolds / Pool Photo via the Associated Press)
