Latest Jan. 6 hearing features former Oath Keeper spokesman

The latest hearing by the House select committee investigating last year’s Capitol riot is expected to include testimony from a onetime spokesman for the far-right Oath Keepers militia group as well as one of the rioters. 

CBS News, citing two sources familiar with the committee’s plans, reported that Jason Van Tatenhove and Stephen Ayres will take part in the 1 p.m. hearing. 

Van Tatenhove was not working for the Oath Keepers at the time of the riot and reportedly has not been associated with the organization since 2016. Ayres pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct last month after surveillance footage showed him in the Capitol on Jan 6. 

The committee has not publicly announced the two witnesses, and has only revealed that the hearing will focus on the plotting and planning of the attack by white nationalist groups. 

The hearing is also expected to highlight Friday testimony from Pat Cipollone, who was Trump White House counsel at the time of the riot.

Committee member Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.) reportedly will co-lead the questioning. She told CBS News that the committee will also highlight a December 2020 tweet from President Donald Trump that they claim constituted a call to action.

Tuesday’s hearing is the seventh in a series of open hearings held by the panel in recent weeks. 

Late last month, committee chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) announced he was pushing the remaining hearings until July, citing an influx of new evidence including footage from documentary filmmaker Alex Holder — who recorded Trump and his family before and after the riot.

However, the panel then hastily convened a hearing on June 28 that featured testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top aide to ex-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. 

Several claims in Hutchinson’s testimony have since been called into question; however, committee member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) told NBC News on Tuesday that Cipollone corroborated “almost everything that we’ve learned from prior hearings.”

“I certainly did not hear him contradict Cassidy Hutchinson … He had the opportunity to say whatever he wanted to say, so I didn’t see any contradiction here,” Raskin added. 

It is unclear how many more hearings the committee will hold. However, it could hear testimony from staunch Trump ally Steve Bannon in the coming weeks. Bannon initially ignored a committee subpoena requiring him to appear last year and is set to face trial on charges of contempt of Congress next week.

The committee was initially believed to be holding a hearing on Thursday as well. However, NBC News later reported it would be rescheduled.