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    Jan. 6 hearings use TV tricks to great effect even as critics call them show biz

    It's an extraordinary show of discipline for a congressional committee, with a minimum of showboating, yielding hearings that resemble Dateline NBC or investigative podcasts.
    by David Folkenflik Jun 23, 2022 5 minutes
    The House Select Committee has used TV news techniques and documentary evidence to argue that then President Donald Trump knowingly pressured public officials to commit illegal acts. In this case, the panel displayed a transcript of his call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger as it played excerpts of the audio.

    Skeptics call the Congressional hearings on the January 6th siege of the U.S. Capitol show business. On Fox News, critics call them "show trials."

    Yet the House select committee investigating the attack is achieving something rare on Capitol Hill: Hearings that are surprisingly tangible, understandable, and substantive instead of the typical Congressional ping-pong match of clashes, arguments and even more arguments about whose turn it is to argue.

    The committee is making a dual argument. It is laying out the case that rioters who attacked the Capitol were intentional insurrectionists. It is also arguing that then President Donald Trump embarked on a pressure campaign that he knew was illegal and could end in violence as he tried to deny President Biden his win in the 2020 elections.

    The headlines and stories that have emerged are clear-cut. "Trump knew plan was illegal," atop its paper after one hearing. "Jan. 6 committee leaders. "Trump, Told It Was Illegal, Still Pressured Pence to Overturn His Loss," .

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