Jan. 6 Committee May Add New Expertise for Investigation

WASHINGTON — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 battle astatine the U.S. Capitol is weighing whether to prosecute unit members who tin analyse societal media posts and examining the relation overseas adversaries played successful sowing divisions among Americans implicit the result of the statesmanlike election, according to 2 radical briefed connected the committee’s determination making.

The caller avenues of enquiry travel arsenic the committee, which presently has astir 40 unit members, continues to subpoena grounds and documents.

Witnesses this week included William J. Walker, the erstwhile commandant of the D.C. National Guard, who has said subject leaders delayed the defender effect connected Jan. 6, and the blimpish activistic Dustin Stockton, whose lawyer said helium is turning implicit a “treasure trove” of documents that would person elder Trump allies and lawmakers “quivering successful their boots.”

Mr. Stockton and his fiancée, Jennifer L. Lawrence, assisted successful organizing rallies aft the predetermination advancing mendacious claims astir its outcome. But Mr. Stockton has said helium was acrophobic that a march to the Capitol connected Jan. 6 portion Congress was certifying the predetermination would mean “possible danger,” and that his urgent concerns were escalated to Mark Meadows, the White House main of unit astatine the time, according to the committee.

The governmental operative Roger J. Stone Jr., a adjacent state of erstwhile President Donald J. Trump, appeared earlier the committee for a deposition connected Friday. But helium invoked his Fifth Amendment close against self-incrimination to each of the panel’s questions because, helium said, helium feared that Democrats would fabricate perjury charges.

“I did my civic work and I responded arsenic required by law,” Mr. Stone said aft the deposition. He past criticized the probe arsenic “Witch Hunt 3.0,” and accused the authorities of hiding perchance exculpatory video grounds astir the onslaught connected the Capitol.

Mr. Stone has claimed that helium was leaving municipality arsenic rioters stormed the Capitol. “I did not march to the Capitol. I was not astatine the Capitol,” helium said, adding that helium believed the unit was “illegal and politically counterproductive.”

But Mr. Stone promoted his attendance astatine the rallies connected Jan. 5 and 6, solicited enactment to wage for information done the website stopthesteal.org and utilized members of the Oath Keepers militia radical arsenic personal information guards portion helium was successful Washington. At slightest 2 of those members person been indicted connected charges that they were progressive successful the Capitol attack.

To bolster the public’s knowing of the attack, the committee is considering hiring respective caller unit members to analyse the immense magnitude of accusation that Mr. Trump’s supporters posted connected sites similar Twitter, Facebook, Parler and YouTube successful the weeks earlier and aft the attack. These integer footprints could assistance legislature investigators link players and events, oregon bring to airy details that witnesses mightiness not cognize oregon remember.

Federal prosecutors person relied connected hundreds of thousands of pieces of integer grounds to place and enactment charges against much than 700 defendants who person been arrested successful astir each authorities for their portion successful the attack.

The committee’s investigators are besides seeking to recognize whether overseas governments were capable to exploit and deepen societal divisions created by Mr. Trump’s refusal to concede his predetermination loss. Foreign adversaries person agelong tried to harm America’s nationalist information interests by exacerbating societal unrest and polarization.

Key Figures successful the Jan. 6 Inquiry

The committee has besides discussed examining whether overseas adversaries had immoderate different connections to the battle connected Congress, according to a idiosyncratic briefed connected that portion of the inquiry.

In mid-December, an “enemies list” of salient radical who did not enactment Mr. Trump’s lies astir the predetermination circulated online, including connected a website called Enemies of the People. The F.B.I. investigated and attributed the database to an Iranian disinformation campaign that sought to capitalize connected the “Stop the Steal” question to sow divisions.

In November, the Justice Department indicted 2 Iranian hackers for seeking to power the 2020 predetermination by sending threatening messages to respective 1000 voters. Many of the messages were designed to look similar they were from the Proud Boys, the right-wing extremist group.

Even arsenic House Republicans person condemned the probe arsenic a governmental witch hunt, the committee recovered enactment this week from Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the apical Republican successful the chamber. Mr. McConnell, who successful May led a filibuster that blocked the instauration of an autarkic committee to analyse the attack, said this week that helium believed the House committee was uncovering invaluable information.

“It was a horrendous event,” Mr. McConnell said of the Capitol siege successful a TV interview. “I deliberation what they are seeking to find retired is thing the nationalist needs to know.”