Jan. 6 committee nears end; key documents may be locked away

Committee spokespeople did not respond to multiple questions about what information the committee will be able to make public before it shuts down on Tuesday.

By

National News

December 30, 2022 - 1:55 PM

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose) and Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) listen as law enforcement officers testify in July 2021 at the House Jan. 6 committee’s first hearing. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

WASHINGTON — Just days before it disbands and loses control over the millions of pages of evidence it has gathered, the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection has released transcripts of just 126 of the more than 1,000 interviews it conducted.

If the committee runs out of time, the largest compilation of evidence about the attack could be lost — locked away by the National Archives for decades, or withheld from the public so as to not harm the ongoing Justice Department investigation into the attack, experts warn.

“The absence of these documents is kind of a grave concern” for ensuring accountability and guaranteeing the historical record is as accurate as possible, said Ryan Goodman, a New York University law professor and co-founder of the national security law and policy website Just Security.

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