Peter Baker: Dems Will Be Making the Jan. 6 Committee Hearings Public in Hope It Helps Them in the Midterms

EXCERPT:

BAKER: "Well, they would tell you this is an investigation of a serious threat to our Constitution and democracy and it's not about partisan politics, but of course they obviously would like to set the stage for the midterm elections by focusing blame on President Trump — former President Trump and Republicans for what happened on January 6th. That's where, of course, this whole thing gets tied up, between a legitimate investigation and a partisan effort to gain political points. By bringing the hearings out in public in the spring, as they’re talking about, it will focus national attention in a way that hasn’t been done in the investigation so far. There’s nothing that compares to having people sitting in a witness chair, testifying before Congress, telling their story on-camera live and in a very human way. That's something they think could shift the dynamics in terms of how the public perceives this event. They are planning some sort of interim report by the mid part of the year, and then possibly a final report or another interim report before the November election. That, of course, then gets it right into the thrust of this campaign season, and that will be — you know, that will be, you know, a jump ball, too."