Senate to hold hearing into 6 January Capitol attack by Trump supporters – live updates
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11.37am GMT
The hearing into appointing Merrick Garland as US attorney general will continue today. Alex Rogers and Jeremy Herb for CNN identified six key takeaways from yesterday, of which this is perhaps one of the more significant for a certain former president:
Democrats largely didn’t mention Donald Trump by name when they asked about the investigation into the January 6 riot at the Capitol, but they touched on the question of whether the Justice Department should examine the former president’s role for encouraging the mob, which led to his impeachment. Even Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell, after voting to acquit Trump in the Senate trial, suggested that the criminal justice system is the right venue in which to consider those allegations.
Sen Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, encouraged Garland to look “upstream” and “not rule out investigation of funders, organizers, ringleaders, or aiders and abettors, who were not present in the Capitol on 6 January.”
11.32am GMT
I mentioned it was a busy day in Congress today, here’s how Chuck Schumer laid out the agenda last night.
What we're doing tomorrow:Moving forward on COVID reliefVoting to Confirm:—Thomas-Greenfield @ UN—Vilsack @ USDAConfirmation hearings on: —Becerra @ HHS—Haaland @ Interior—Adeyemo @ Treasury—Garland @ JusticeHearings on:—Insurrection—Economy—Intel—Armed Services Continue reading...