The U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol announced it will make criminal referrals to the Department of Justice. According to chair Rep. Bennie Thompson, the committee hasn’t narrowed down who will be referred.
George Washington University faculty experts are available to provide insight, context, and commentary. To schedule an interview with a GW expert, contact GW Media Relations at [email protected].
Law
Catherine J. Ross is a professor of law at the George Washington University Law School. She specializes in constitutional law with particular emphasis on the First Amendment. She is the author of A Right to Lie? Presidents, Other Liars, and the First Amendment.
Stephen A. Saltzburg is a professor of law and a former Justice Department official. He has called the DOJ’s efforts involving the riot of Jan. 6 “the largest investigation of criminal acts in the history of the country.”
Politics
Todd Belt, director of the Political Management master’s program at the GW Graduate School of Political Management, is an expert on the presidency and political media coverage.
Peter Loge, an associate professor of media and public affairs and director of the Project on Ethics in Political Communication, boasts three decades of experience in government, campaigns, and political strategy and communications. He can discuss the Committee’s media strategy and tactics and offer his opinion on the threat to democracy that the Committee sought to expose.
Casey Burgat, director of the Legislative Affairs master’s program at the GW Graduate School of Political Management, is an expert on Congress who can offer in-depth insight on the committee itself. He can discuss the political dynamics within the bipartisan panel, the powers the Committee possesses, and the processes and procedures it follows.
Matthew Dallek, a professor of political management, is a political historian who can place the hearings in historical context and comment on how the work being done by the January 6th Committee and the political environment surrounding it compares to previous congressional investigative committees.
Extremism
Jon Lewis, a research fellow at the George Washington University Program on Extremism, is an expert on domestic violent extremism and homegrown violent extremism, with a specialization in the evolution of white supremacist and anti-government movements in the United States and federal responses to the threat. He is the co-author of two major Program reports on the events of January 6, as well as numerous long form publications on the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers and their role in the events of January 6th.
In addition, Lewis manages the Program's Capitol Hill Siege database, which is the most up-to-date public tracker for all federal cases stemming from J6 participation.
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