WASHINGTON — The House Jan. 6 committee will release transcripts of interviews conducted by investigators in the course of their investigation into the Capitol Hill attack, panel Chairman Bennie Thompson said Wednesday.
“We plan to make transcripts and other materials available,” Thompson, D-Miss., told reporters on Capitol Hill.
The transcripts will be released at the same time as the committee’s long-awaited report summarizing and detailing the investigation, Thompson said, adding that he hopes they will be released before the Christmas break.
Thompson said the transcripts will not be available for all interviews because some people had a «prearranged agreement that we would not make them available.»
«It’s a digital version that the public can access,» Thompson said when asked how people will be able to view the records. The president did not say who the interviews would be from or specify the number of transcripts that would be released.
The committee, which began its work in the summer of 2021, is in the final stages of the investigation. On Monday, adviser to former President Donald Trump, Kellyanne Conway, voluntarily appeared for an interview, and on Tuesday, Tony Ornato, Trump’s deputy chief of staff at the White House, was also expected to appear for an interview.
Earlier this month, committee staff members were told on January 6 that the committee’s final report would focus largely on Trump and less on findings about the failings of the FBI and other law enforcement agencies. in the lead up to the attack, NBC News. previously reported. Sources said at the time that the plan was not set in stone and could change.
The committee must release the final report on its investigation before the new Congress convenes in January, when the incoming House Republican majority takes control of the chamber.
Since it was formed in 2021, the committee has conducted more than 1,000 interviews and statements and received hundreds of thousands of documents. Since last June, when the committee held its first series of major hearings, it has received more than 10,000 submissions to its tip line. The panel has also issued about 100 subpoenas.
Among those who sat for hours before the committee were Trump’s children Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump, the former president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, Trump’s former attorney Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s former Justice Department official, Jeffrey Clark, and former Vice President. Mike Pence’s aide Greg Jacob.