Jan. 6 Committee Releases 1st 34 Transcripts of Witness Testimony from Probe

Jan. 6 committee Chairman U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Mass.), and Jan. 6 committee Vice Chairwoman Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) in the Canon House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Dec. 19, 2022. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The House Jan. 6 committee on Wednesday released 34 transcripts of witness testimony, a day prior to the expected release of the panel’s highly-anticipated full report on the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol.

The transcripts are the first to be made public from among the roughly 1,000 interviews the panel conducted over the past 18 months of its investigation.

“Today, the Select Committee made public 34 transcripts of witness testimony that was gathered over the course of the Select Committee’s investigation into the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol,” the panel announced.

The collection of transcripts include testimonies of former President Donald Trump campaign lawyer John Eastman, conservative lawyer Jenna Ellis, former acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark, former Trump adviser Roger Stone, former National Security adviser Michael Flynn, and Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward.

Others included Infowars host Alex Jones, conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, Oath Keepers Founder Stewart Rhodes, Proud Boys Chairman Enrique Tarrio, and controversial right-wing political commentator Nick Fuentes.

Fifth Amendment Cited

During the interviews, most of the 34 witnesses did not answer questions during all or at least part of their testimony, instead opting to assert their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Some witnesses, such as Stone, had cited his Fifth Amendment right for straightforward questions such as age and address.

The panel did not explicitly state why it decided to release the transcripts of these 34 individuals prior to releasing the full report.

The release of the transcripts came on the same day the panel had initially intended to release its full report. But on Wednesday afternoon, the panel announced it would hold off the release until Thursday. The decision came just hours before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed a joint session of Congress and as lawmakers were considering a $1.7 trillion omnibus bill.

The full report is expected to span 800 pages or more and comprise eight chapters of findings, which are expected to largely mirror nine hearings the panel held this year based on gathered documents and private interviews.

Trump, Others Referred to DOJ

The Jan. 6 committee had on Dec. 19 voted unanimously to refer Trump to the Department of Justice for potential federal prosecution over four proposed criminal charges: insurrection, obstruction of an official proceeding, making a false statement to the federal government, and conspiracy to defraud the federal government.

Besides Trump, the committee referred several other Trump associates to the DOJ for criminal investigations. The referrals for Trump and others have no legal weight, which means the DOJ is not obliged to act on the recommendations.

Eastman was the only person identified by name in those referrals for potential criminal charges. He had been responsible for authoring two memos, one of which was “a plan whereby Vice President [Mike] Pence would, as the presiding officer, declare that certain electoral votes from certain States could not be counted at the joint session,” the panel noted in the 154-page executive report summary (pdf) it issued on Dec. 19. During his testimony, Eastman invoked the Fifth Amendment 155 times.

Counter Report on Jan. 6

The 34 transcripts’ release comes on the same day that a group of five House Republicans published a separate counter report (pdf) that focused on the security failures at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The report is led by incoming House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.).

“Unlike the sham Jan 6 report that focused on partisan politics and political payback, House Republicans released a report today that details how we can ensure another Jan 6 never happens again,” Banks wrote on Twitter late Wednesday.

The five lawmakers who released the report were those initially chosen by House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for the Jan. 6 committee. But they were pulled from consideration after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) refused to seat two of them.

Trump was previously acquitted in February 2021 by the Senate in an impeachment trial over an insurrection incitement charge. Prior to that, Trump was acquitted in February 2020 by the Senate in his first impeachment trial, on two charges—abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.