Trump aides' words to take center stage as U.S. Capitol riot hearings open

The congressional hearings on the 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol by Donald Trump supporters will spotlight testimony by the former president's top aides and family members as a House committee seeks to persuade Americans that the riot was an orchestrated attack on democracy.

After almost a year of investigation, the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack moves into a new phase on Thursday with a prime-time hearing that will include videotaped testimony from senior Trump White House officials and campaign officials, committee aides said.

"We will be revealing that the violence of Jan. 6 was the result of a coordinated, multi-step effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election and stop the transfer of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden, and indeed that the former president, Donald Trump, was at the center of that effort," said an aide, speaking on condition of anonymity to preview the hearing.