Who’s who in the House Jan. 6 hearings

WASHINGTON — The House Select Committee is pulling from more than 1,000 depositions and thousands of documents as it lays out the results of its investigation for the American people in public hearings, the first of which was Thursday.

Nearly all of the committee’s work has happened behind closed doors, but enough information has emerged from court filings, public statements and leaks to piece together who the major players are. Here’s a breakdown.

President Trump’s inner circle

President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani and several members of his legal team pursued conspiracy-filled lawsuits claiming that voter fraud changed the outcome of the 2020 election. At the same time, they played central roles in the effort to persuade state legislatures and Congress, in public and private meetings, to overturn the results.

Also likely to be mentioned are Bernie Kerik ,a former New York City police commissioner who worked with Giuliani after the election to gather evidence of fraud and gave the committee a lengthy deposition, and former Army Col. Phil Waldron, Giuliani’s key witness detailing how fraud may have occurred, as the attorney tried to persuade state lawmakers and congressional Republicans to dispute states’ certified election results.

Trump’s former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, his former attorney Sidney Powell and former Overstock.com Chief Executive Patrick Byrne, who helped bankroll an effort to gather evidence of election fraud, were involved in weeks-long attempts to gain access to electronic voting data in an effort to prove their theory that fraud changed the results of the presidential election. The trio met with Trump on Dec. 18, 2020, in the Oval Office to propose an executive order that would have allowed the federal government to seize voting machines and election data in certain counties to audit the results and invoke national security emergency powers to investigate claims of foreign interference in the election. White House lawyers and Giuliani persuaded Trump to reject the idea.

John C. Eastman, a conservative attorney and former law professor, wrote memos that laid out how Trump could stay in power if Vice President Mike Pence rejected state electors on Jan. 6 or delayed certifying the vote to give state legislatures time to review fraud allegations and potentially send back electors for Trump rather than Biden.

A federal judge in a case deciding whether Eastman must turn over documents to the committee determined that Eastman and Trump most likely committed felony obstruction.

Former executive branch officials

Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who initially provided the Jan. 6 committee with emails, texts and other documents detailing efforts to overturn the election, is now refusing to cooperate. The emails show that Meadows played a significant role in planning for states to send alternate slates of electors to Washington. The House voted to hold him in contempt of Congress for not complying with a committee subpoena.

Former White House advisor Peter Navarro, who said in his book and interviews that he was part of an “operation” to keep Trump in office by getting Congress to reject the results of the election, has refused to speak with the committee. The House voted to hold him in contempt for refusing to comply with its subpoena.

Former Deputy Chief of Staff and White House Social Media Director Dan Scavino Jr. has been accused of helping Trump spread false information about election fraud on social media and recruiting a crowd to come to the Jan. 6 rally in Washington. The House voted to hold him in contempt for refusing to comply with its subpoena.

Former Assistant Atty. Gen. Jeffrey Clark allegedly pushed colleagues in the Justice Department to investigate new theories about fraud and asked the department to instruct some states to “decertify” the results. Trump considered installing Clark as attorney general over acting Atty. Gen. Jeff Rosen, who said there was no evidence of fraud that could sway the election; the president backed down when Justice leaders and White House lawyers threatened Jan. 3 to resign en masse.

Pence’s Chief of Staff Marc Short and general counsel Greg Jacob each told the committee about Trump and Eastman’s pressure campaign on the vice president to throw out the election results from a handful of states in the days before Jan. 6.

Former Meadows staffer Cassidy Hutchinson was in the room with him for many of the meetings that took place before and on Jan. 6 that are at the root of the inquiry, including with GOP lawmakers who planned to object to accepting electors from certain states. She has testified behind closed doors at least three times.

Fraudulent electors from seven states

Fourteen people falsely claimed to be 2020 electors for Trump in states won by President Biden: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Even though a majority of voters picked Biden, the fraudulent electors submitted their votes for Trump to the National Archives. The plan, which involved Trump campaign aides and state Republican Party officials, was meant to give Congress room to question the legitimacy of the results they were gathered to certify on Jan. 6.

Members of Congress

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) spoke with Trump during the attack on the Capitol and in the days after, including about whether the president was in any way responsible for instigating the assault and what should be done in response.

The committee has alleged that Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), leader of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, “was directly involved with efforts to corrupt the Department of Justice and install Jeffrey Clark as acting Attorney General.”

Rep. Jim Jordan (ROhio) spoke to Trump on Jan. 6 and participated in meetings and discussions in late 2020 and early 2021 about strategies for overturning the election, according to the committee. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused to allow him to be a member of the committee, prompting McCarthy to withdraw all of his recommendations for GOP members.

Rep. Andy Biggs (RAriz.) helped plan various aspects of Jan. 6, including bringing protesters to Washington for the counting of electoral votes and attempting to convince state officials that the election was stolen, according to the committee.

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) spoke at Trump’s rally before the attack on the Capitol, encouraging those present to “start taking down names and kicking ass.” He has publicly disclosed conversations that took place in the fall of 2021 in which Trump urged him to work to rescind the 2020 election.

All five refused to comply with subpoenas to appear before the committee.

Extremist groups and rally planners

The panel is scrutinizing white nationalist leaders and militia groups — including the Proud Boys and their leader, Enrique Tarrio, and the Oath Keepers and leader Stewart Rhodes — about whether they helped coordinate the Capitol attack and what rally organizers may have known about their intentions.

The committee is also expected to discuss the organizers involved in planning and financing the rallies Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, including the one at which Trump spoke before the attack.