Jan 6 Committee Releases More Than 30 Transcripts Of Interviews

On Wednesday night, the committee that's investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 riot released the first set of transcripts of interviews from its 17-month probe.

The committee said that on Wednesday, the panel made public "34 transcripts of witness testimony that was gathered over the course of the Select Committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol."

They were the first of hundreds of interview transcripts that were compiled during the panel's investigation into the insurrection and former President Donald Trump's role, reported CNN. The Jan. 6 committee is expected to release its full final report on Thursday, after originally saying that it would be unveiled Wednesday.

In a report summary that was released Monday after the committee's final public meeting, the panel concluded that Trump was ultimately responsible for the riot. They presented a trove of evidence for why the former President should be prosecuted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) for a number of crimes.

On Wednesday, House Republicans released their own report that focused on security failures at the U.S Capitol on Jan. 6 last year, and not Trump's actions on the day of the riot.

The final report by the Jan. 6 committee that is set to release soon, launches a new era for politicians, criminal investigators, and members of the public who have been eager to see the details of its work. Apart from the report, the panel will start releasing the behind-the-scenes building blocks to its investigation that the DOJ, Republican lawmakers and witnesses have been asking for, reported CNN.

The panel is expecting to unveil “hundreds” of transcripts, committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, had said. He added that there are some witnesses with sensitive material that the committee has decided to protect. An overview of its findings was presented by the panel on Monday. It included evidence for a number of criminal statutes that it believes were violated in the plots to delay Trump’s defeat. The panel had revealed that it was aware of “multiple efforts by President Trump to contact Select Committee witnesses." The committee added that DOJ is aware “of at least one of those circumstances.”

The summary also claimed that the committee has a “range of evidence suggesting specific efforts to obstruct the committee’s investigation." That included concerns that lawyers paid by Trump’s political committee or allied groups “have specific incentives" to defend Trump rather than "zealously represent their own clients.”