Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) said that the 1/6 Committee investigation may continue through the midterm election, which would cut off Trump’s planned presidential campaign announcement.
Video:
Transcript via ABC’s This Week:
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
LOFGREN: We will make it in the appropriate time frame.
This investigation is very much ongoing. The fact — and the fact that series of hearings is going to be concluded this Thursday doesn’t mean that our investigation is over. It’s very active, new witnesses are coming forward, additional information is coming forward. There are things that we’re looking at still.
And so, that — those discussions will be very pertinent.
RADDATZ: So you could have another series of hearings?
LOFGREN: Well, I’m not suggesting we will or won’t.
We will, we’ve indicated this, we will have a report this fall. And whether we have, you know, a public unveiling of that, you know, that’s yet to be decided. But we will have a summation, an interim report, and then a final report later this year.
….
RADDATZ: You talk about when your investigation is over. Will the investigation, do you believe, be over by the midterms?
LOFGREN: Well, I can’t say for sure because it depends on what comes in. Frankly, if the president’s supporters had not engaged in frivolous litigation for months on end, we would be farther along than we are. But we’re going to plow ahead and get our job done, find all of the facts and then lay all the facts out for the American people.
Trump may have screwed himself by trying to tie up the 1/6 Committee in court. By wasting time, Trump might not be able to announce his campaign as soon as he wants, because the Committee will still be working.
Donald Trump has two forces pulling against him. The failed former president wants to announce early because he hopes that doing so would allow him to get a head start on Ron DeSantis and clear potential candidates out of the 2024 Republican Primary.
Trump also wants to announce because he thinks that if he is a candidate he will have the platform to compete with the 1/6 Committee for media attention, which is not true. The free media ship long ago sailed for Trump. The billions of dollars that he got in free press in 2016 won’t happen in 2024.
Lofgren made it clear that the 1/6 Committee isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, so Trump may have to wait to launch his bid to return to the White House.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
