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The House Jan. 6 committee wraps up its ninth hearing, votes to subpoena Trump

Representative Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi and chairman of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, center, speaks during a hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022.
Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Representative Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi and chairman of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, center, speaks during a hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022.

Updated October 13, 2022 at 4:22 PM ET

The House Jan. 6 committee wrapped up its ninth hearing about its Capitol insurrection investigation. At the hearing's end, panel members unanimously voted to subpoena former President Donald Trump to testify.

Over the summer, the Democrat-led committee has laid out its case that former President Trump was at the center of an election fraud conspiracy that ultimately led to the deadly riot at the Capitol. Witnesses, including former Trump and White House officials and staff, have testified on how the then-president knew he lost but pursued efforts to pressure state officials, lawmakers and the Justice Department to overturn the election. Trump has dismissed the investigation as a "theatrical production" and a "witch hunt."

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What to expect at Thursday's hearing

It could be the panel's final hearing on its investigation — but it won't be the last we hear from them. The committee is expected to issue a report by the end of the year.

Unlike the hearings held this past summer that each focused on a particular topic as part of the overall effort to overturn the 2020 election results, Thursday's hearing took broader look at the push to undo President Biden's win from a broader context. There were no live witnesses.

Where the panel last left off

The committee last met publicly on July 21. That prime-time hearing focused on the 187 minutes Trump went dark during Capitol siege. Though call logs for the afternoon of Jan. 6 were empty, the panel noted that those for Trump lawyer and ally Rudy Giuliani show at least two calls between him and the former president that day. Other Trump calls that day are known, including several to Republican senators to urge them to delay the certification of Biden's win, the panel said. Trump, the committee argued, knew what was going on at the Capitol that day, and could have taken action, but for hours, did not.

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Heidi Glenn has been the Washington Desk’s digital editor since 2022, and at NPR since 2007, when she was hired as the National Desk’s digital producer. In between she has served as Morning Edition’s lead digital editor, helping the show’s audio stories find life online.