A new privately funded get-out-the-vote initiative in Wisconsin’s largest and most Democratic city has the support of Milwaukee’s mayor, but Republicans say it’s an attempt by Democrats to improperly bolster turnout in the narrowly divided battleground state.
With only three months left in the year, the House Jan. 6 committee is eyeing a close to its work and a final report laying out its findings about the U.S. Capitol insurrection. But, the investigation is not over.The committee has already revealed much of its work at eight hearings over the summer, showing in detail how former President Donald Trump ignored many of his closest advisers and amplified his false claims of election fraud after he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden. Witnesses interviewed by the panel some of them Trump's closest allies recounted in videotaped testimony how the former president declined to act when hundreds of his supporters violently attacked the Capitol as Congress certified President Biden's victory on Jan. 6, 2021.Lawmakers say there is more to come. The nine-member panel seven Democrats and two Republicans interviewed witnesses through all of August, and they are hoping to have at least one hearing by the end of the month. Members met Tuesday to discuss the panel's next steps.Because the Jan. 6 panel is a temporary or "select" committee, it expires at the end of the current Congress. If Republicans take the majority in November's elections, as they are favored to do, they are expected to dissolve the committee in January. So the panel is planning to issue a final report by the end of December.As for hearings, the panel's Democratic chairman, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, said after the private members' meeting Tuesday in the Capitol that the committee's goal is to hold a hearing Sept. 28, but that members were still discussing whether it would happen at all."We'll we're still in the process of talking," Thompson said. "If it happens, it will be that date. We're not sure at this point."SEE MORE: Trump Foe Liz Cheney Defeated In Wyoming GOP PrimaryMembers of the committee had promised more hearings in September as they wrapped up the series of summer hearings. Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the Republican vice chairwoman, said the committee "has far more evidence to share with the American people and more to gather.""Doors have opened, new subpoenas have been issued and the dam has begun to break," Cheney said at a July 21 hearing that was held in prime time and watched by 17.7 million people. "We have considerably more to do."It's unclear if the hearing would provide a general overview of what the panel has learned or if they would be focused on new information and evidence. The committee conducted several interviews at the end of July and into August with Trump's Cabinet secretaries, some of whom had discussed invoking the constitutional process in the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office after the insurrection.For its witnesses, the panel has already interviewed more than 1,000 people, but lawmakers and staff are still pursuing new threads. The committee recently spoke to several of the Cabinet secretaries, including former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in July and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao in August.The committee also wants to get to the bottom of missing Secret Service texts from Jan. 5 to 6, 2021, which could shed further light on Trump's actions during the insurrection, particularly after earlier testimony about his confrontation with security as he tried to join supporters at the Capitol. Thompson said Tuesday that the committee has recently obtained "thousands" of documents from the Secret Service.SEE MORE: Ginni Thomas Emails Urged Electors To Overturn 2020 ElectionThe committee has also pursued an interview with conservative activist Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, who's married to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Lawmakers want to know more about her role in trying to help Trump overturn the election. She contacted lawmakers in Arizona and Wisconsin as part of that effort.Members of the committee are still debating how aggressively to pursue testimony from Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence.Some have questioned whether the committee needs to call Pence, who resisted Trump's pressure to try and block President Biden's certification on Jan. 6. Many of his closest aides have already testified, including Greg Jacob, his top lawyer at the White House who was with him during the insurrection as they hid from rioters who were threatening the vice president's life. Jacobs characterized much of Pence's thought process during the time when Trump was pressuring him.The panel has been in discussions with Pence's lawyers for months, without any discernible progress. Still, the committee could invite Pence for closed-door testimony or ask him to answer written questions.The calculation is different for the former president. Members have debated whether they should call Trump, who is the focus of their probe but also a
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Top 10 Wisconsin political stories of 2021 (based on what you, the readers, read)
2021 was another big year in Wisconsin politics. Sen. Ron Johnson said some things. Voters elected a new state superintendent. Gov. Tony Evers and Republicans clashed over mask mandates. Michael Gableman threatened to jail the mayors of Madison and Green Bay. Here are 10 political stories you, the readers, checked out in droves.
Since the start of the outbreak, Gov. Tony Evers has issued multiple public health emergencies and a series of related orders.
Sen. Ron slammed the impeachment over the weekend as “vindictive and divisive,” and possibly a “diversionary operation” by Democrats to distract from security lapses at the U.S. Capitol.
"I wouldn’t run if I don’t think I could win," said Johnson, who is undecided on a re-election bid.
The board had previously not required masks in schools after some in the public voiced opposition.
With a new order announced, Republicans may be forced to start the process all over again to vote down the governor's emergency order and accompanying mask mandate, but the most likely outcome appears to be an eventual court decision.
Fort McCoy officials acknowledge there were initial problems with food supply, but that and other issues are being addressed.
The idea is in its infancy and all options, including declining to pursue anything, are on the table.
Gableman has asked the court, which plans to take up the matter on Dec. 22, to compel the two mayors to meet with him.
Deborah Kerr said she has also voted for Republicans and tells GOP audiences on the campaign trail for the officially nonpartisan race that she is a "pragmatic Democrat."
Limbaugh died Wednesday at 70.
