As Jan. 6 panel pauses, the U.S. faces a fourth fall of Trump (with a fifth in view)

Even before Liz Cheney made her announcement this week, another autumn of Donald Trump dominating the political scene seemed inevitable.

But now, it's official.

Cheney, the vice chair of the House Select Committee Investigating the January 6 Attack on the Capitol, made a great deal of news in the panel's public hearing Thursday night — not least by revealing the hearings would resume after the August recess.

"See you all in September," the Wyoming Republican said.

Truth is, even if the committee had wrapped this week, the former president would still be looming over the fall landscape like a rising harvest moon.

The House committee has had much to do with that, serving up the cream of its evidence in eight hearings that might have been episodes in a streaming TV series. The season-ender Thursday night was a three-hour special and arguably its most dramatic to date.