In a little over a month, the House Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol will run out of time.
"Our view has always been that this was a select Committee that serves in a point in time only for this Congress. That has always been our focus and our goal," said Rep. Pete Aguilar, who's on the committee.
But the Committee has yet to release its findings in a final report — one that could include new details about former President Donald Trump’s role in the violence as he begins a potential political comeback.
"Nothing that goes down in Florida is going to affect our focus on that," said Aguilar.
Trump is currently suing the Committee and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to avoid answering a wide-reaching subpoena for documents and testimony unanimously approved by the panel in October.
Chair Bennie Thompson and Vice Chair Liz Cheney made clear last week they would "will evaluate next steps" after Trump’s noncompliance.
It's not yet clear whether the time-limited Committee will refer contempt of Congress charges for Trump to the Department of Justice.
While hailed by its members as a bipartisan effort, all members of the Committee, including Republicans Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, were appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Several members of the Committee will not be returning in to Congress next year: Republican Vice Chair Cheney and Virginia Democrat Elaine Luria lost their midterm reelection bids,
and two more members, Illinois Republican Adam Kinzinger and Florida Democrat Stephanie Murphy, did not seek reelection.
Regardless of when the Committee wraps up its investigation, at least one probe into the former president’s role on Jan. 6 will remain ongoing.
"The Department of Justice has long recognized that in certain extraordinary cases, it is in the public interest to appoint a special prosecutor to independently manage an investigation and prosecution," said Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Special prosecutor Jack Smith is now charged with leading a Department of Justice investigation, which in part is looking into whether Trump or his allies attempted to block the certification of the 2020 election or impede the transfer of power.
— another effort the former president says he does not support.
"This will not be a fair investigation. But again, I thought this was all done or very close to being done. These people are corrupt, and yet they go after innocent people under the guise of legitimacy," said Trump.
And while the Jan. 6 Committee is winding down on Capitol Hill, the special counsel’s open-ended investigation is just beginning to take shape.
