Rep. Adam Kinzinger, one of two Republicans on the House Jan. 6 committee, on Sunday offered a peek into the upcoming — and potentially final — series of the panel’s public hearings. All signs suggest it’s going to be a doozy.
Based on Kinzinger’s remarks to NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” the next wave of hearings, set to begin in September, will focus on what I’m calling “the cash and the potential cover-up.”
Specifically, that phrase refers to the donations Donald Trump and members of his inner circle solicited as part of the paradoxically named “Stop the Steal” campaign leading up to Jan. 6, 2021. It also touches on reports that the Secret Service erased texts sent on and around Jan. 6, allegedly after they were requested by oversight officials. Top Democrats have accused Department of Homeland Security inspector general staff of appearing to engage in a cover-up to hide the text deletions, which the Secret Service has said were part of a scheduled data migration.
The hearings could address “the fact that a vast majority of this money was raised under ‘Stop the Steal,’ with no intention of doing anything to so-called stop a steal,” Kinzinger said, highlighting a fundraising effort that reportedly netted Team Trump millions of dollars. “It was all about just raising money, and people were abused that way, so there will be a lot more of that.”
Frequent readers of The ReidOut Blog know by now that the grift underlying Trump’s Jan. 6 plot, and the potential for Trump’s lies to bankrupt him as civil lawsuits mount, is an intense focus of mine. Adding to the story are recent reports that congressional investigators reportedly traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark, earlier this month to view documentary footage of Trump ally Roger Stone, who was involved in the “Stop the Steal” grift. If Kinzinger’s preview is any indicator, we’re likely to get more evidence on that front.
The Illinois Republican also said we can also expect more on the Secret Service scandal because, as he explained, “We’re still sitting around like, ‘Why don’t we have some of these text messages? Why was some of this stuff hidden?’”
“I think we’ll get answers to that by the time … we can present that to the American people,” Kinzinger said.
That’s quite a preview. “Season one” of the Jan. 6 committee’s public hearings were eye-opening and earth-shattering. The next slate of hearings, billed as a sort of series finale, is raring up to be even more revelatory. We’re primed to get answers on two nagging questions in particular: What role did the Secret Service play on and around Jan. 6? And how did Trump and his minions seek to capitalize — literally — on the chaos they sowed?
Stay tuned.
The House Jan. 6 committee is holding its ninth public hearing on Thursday, Oct. 13 at 1 p.m. ET. Get expert analysis in real time on our live blog at msnbc.com/jan6hearings.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.