out there exists, what other reporters have. we don t know if kevin mccarthy will be asked to testify. we don t know whether mike pence will. we don t know whether donald trump will. i think there s a lot of unknowns. we know the committee does want to do some primetime hearings. they ll produce a final report. i definitely think there is a lot that still can be piece together here. and i can assure you this, despite the wishful thinking of that republican about people not caring about january 6th, a lot of republicans are going to sleep every night in washington, trying to remember what texts they sent. what they said on phone calls that they now know are being taped. and i can assure you, those tapes rattled a lot of republicans in washington that hope that people forget. but are reminded because they re turning on the tv hearing their own voices. but jeff, what kevin mccarthy said on those tapes was rational. and apparently today, he was greeted by a standing ovation
committing violence in his name, and doing nothing to stop them until he was prodded by aides to get out there and finally make a twitter video, a video, mind you, that took them three or four times before he was able to come up with one that was acceptable. and called for the rioters to finally go home, albeit he still told them he loved them. so what were it s a slow march here by the committee here has really accelerated in recent weeks and i think congressman schiff there talking about the primetime hearings which seem to be an act of consideration and maybe sooner than later to really bring this case before the american public, but nicole, you re right, it s a startling image yesterday. republicans are behind the scenes helping the committee but in front of the cameras, they re afraid of drawing donald trump s wrath, that included ted cruz having to apologize for rightly calling a terrorist act, what happened on january 6th, and he had to grovel for forgiveness, and as you well
the department justice, recently began asking defense lawyers for some of those charged in the insurrection, who are paying out. if their clients would admit in sworn statements that they swarmed the capitol believing that trump wanted them to stop pants from certifying the election. chairman thompson told reporters, the committee would be tomorrow. as the committee continues to move forward with the investigation portion of their inquiry, we also know that they are preparing for the possibility of televised primetime hearings. there is a lot going on. right now, there are of course, working against the clock with the midterm elections and the very strong possibility of a republican takeover at congress. looming large, in less than ten months. g large, in less than te months
least, that s how i read his text messages potentially. but it would be more important to get his reading than mine. so, we hope that he ll be willing to share that information. we made it abundantly clear, we re not interested in his political views or what he does on his show. we re interested in, you know, his role as an advisor to the president, as a confidante of the president, someone who campaigned for the president. those are not journalistic roles. congressman, you ve been generous with your time. my last question is about signals that the committee has sent that primetime hearings are not off the table, and they could start in a matter of weeks. do you have any firmer either timing in terms of the hour at which they may take place and timing in terms of when they could commence? we don t have date yet. you know, from my own personal view, the better we can schedule them to get the information out to the american people, that s the course that we should take. there s obvio
committee seems to be aware of that sentiment it s set to enter a more public phase of its investigation. that could mean hearings in prime time, committee chair bennie thompson tells bloomberg members are still working out details but those primetime hearings could begin in march or april. this news comes the same week as the one-year anniversary of the insurrection and that s not the only major development. nbc news can confirm the committee could ask former vice president mike pence to appear before the end of the month. julie tsirkin is on capitol hill for us this morning. they know they re dealing withaticing clock. overnight nbc news learned the committee plans to announce this month, actually, whether they re going to invite former vice president mike pence to appear before the committee and answer some questions. now, remember, the committee findsmake pence s role essential to their investigation because of what he was up against, under