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Adam Kinzinger will lead Jan. 6 committee hearing Wednesday talking about Justice Department moves

Congressman told CBS panel will talk about events that led to Jan. 6 Capitol riot

By Derek Barichello
FILE - Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., questions witnesses during the House select committee hearing on the Jan. 6 attack on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 27, 2021. Kinzinger is calling on Democrats and independents to form an “uneasy alliance” with Republicans to fight former President Donald Trump’s influence in Republican politics. (AP Photo/ Andrew Harnik, Pool, File)

FILE - Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., questions witnesses during the House select committee hearing on the Jan. 6 attack on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 27, 2021. Kinzinger is calling on Democrats and independents to form an “uneasy alliance” with Republicans to fight former President Donald Trump’s influence in Republican politics. (AP Photo/ Andrew Harnik, Pool, File) (Andrew Harnik/AP)

U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger was silent during the first public hearing of the Jan. 6 committee that aired on primetime television Thursday, but that soon will change he said on a Sunday morning CBS program.

Kinzinger, R-Channahon, told John Dickerson of “Face the Nation” he will lead a hearing Wednesday morning specifically talking about the Justice Department moves of former president Donald Trump.

“You saw a president that spreads misinformation, tries to install his own people in to justice to do his bidding – Justice, which is supposed to be, you know, representative of all of us, pressures the Vice President [Mike Pence], and then eventually, when he can’t get his way, he tries to pressure Congress through, just not public pressure, but in a public attack.”

Kinzinger is one of two Republicans on the Jan. 6 panel, joining Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming. Cheney and Rep. Bennie Thompson, R-Mississippi, led the first hearing, which included evidence that Trump ignored advisers who told him he had lost the election and there was no evidence of fraud.

Kinzinger said the committee is presenting the actions that led to Jan. 6.

“I think the thing that’s most concerning to me is nothing has changed,” Kinzinger said Sunday on CBS. “The only thing that has changed since Jan. 6, is now if they want to run that play again, they’re gonna put more loyal people into the administration earlier on. So it’s important for the American people to see this, to take ownership of this and make a decision for ourselves what kind of a country we want to live in.”

Kinzinger said when he referred to “they,” he meant a reelection of Trump.

“There is no doubt in my mind, zero doubt, that he will instead of screening candidates, like he probably did when he got elected in 2016, for you know, qualifications, he’s going to screen people based on their loyalty to him,” Kinzinger said.

The Channahon Republican said on his Twitter page the negative reaction from some Republicans proves Thursday’s Jan. 6 committee hearing “was a truth bullseye.”

Kinzinger said Americans should keep watching as the committee will drill deeper and develop its argument.

“Our democracy is not safe yet, and you need to see why,” Kinzinger said on Twitter.

The committee has conducted more than 1,000 interviews with people connected to the siege and collected more than 140,000 documents. They will use that evidence over the course of seven hearings this month to show how the attack was coordinated by some of the rioters in the violent mob that broke into the Capitol and interrupted the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory – and how Trump’s efforts started it all.

Kinzinger has said the committee’s findings will set the tone for how the next generation talks about Jan. 6, learns about it and remembers it.

The next session of the Jan. 6 committee is 9 a.m. Monday. Watch live on the committee’s YouTube page https://january6th.house.gov/news/watch-live