Jan. 6 committee members preview next hearings, warn 2024 election could be a violent 'mess'

Members of the House Jan. 6 committee said Sunday that their next televised hearing will focus on the effort by former President Donald Trump's campaign to organize and promote a slate of fake electors in an effort to overturn the 2020 election results.
"We'll show evidence of the president's involvement in this scheme," Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Sunday on CNN's State of the Union. "We'll also, again, show evidence about what his own lawyers came to think about this scheme. And we'll show courageous state officials who stood up and said they wouldn't go along with this plan to either call legislatures back into session or decertify the results for Joe Biden."
The scheme appeared kind of slapdash and amateur, The Washington Post reports, "but internal campaign emails and memos reveal that the convening of the fake electors appeared to be a much more concerted strategy, intended to give Vice President Mike Pence a reason to declare the outcome of the election was somehow in doubt on Jan. 6, 2021, when he was to preside over the congressional counting of the electoral college votes." The Justice Department and an Atlanta-area prosecutor are investigating to see if any crimes were committed.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Committee members declined to offer specific evidence that Trump himself committed criminal acts, saying the committee will present its findings at the hearings. But Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), one of two Republicans on the committee, said Trump's false claims about the 2020 election being stolen are still reverberating dangerously through all levels of the U.S. government and the 2024 election will likely be a "mess."
Kinzinger, who is not seeking reelection, pointed to a New Mexico county where Republican commissioners initially refused to certify the results of a primary because they don't trust their voting machines. Similar Trump-influenced officials will be in charge of certifying elections in many states, he said on ABC's This Week.
Kinzinger also disclosed that he received a death threat in the mail several days ago, a letter sent to his home address threatening to execute him, his wife, and their 5-month-old baby. "It was sent from the local area," he said. "There is violence in the future," and "until we get a grip on telling people the truth, we can't expect any differently."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
October 13 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Monday's political cartoons include Donald Trump's consolation prize, government workers during shutdown, and more
-
Can Gaza momentum help end the war in Ukraine?
Today's Big Question Zelenskyy’s request for long-range Tomahawk missiles hints at ‘warming relations’ between Ukraine and US
-
The Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners being released
The Explainer Triumphant Donald Trump addresses the Israeli parliament as families on both sides of the Gaza war reunite with their loved ones
-
Trump DOJ indicts New York AG Letitia James
Speed Read New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted as Trump’s Justice Department pursues charges against his political opponents
-
Judge blocks Trump’s Guard deployment in Chicago
Speed Read The president is temporarily blocked from federalizing the Illinois National Guard or deploying any Guard units in the state
-
Trump urges jail for Illinois, Chicago leaders
Speed Read The Texas National Guard begin operations in the Chicago area
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-off
Speed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to Chicago
Speed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats