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Former President Donald Trump will loom over this hearing. His actions and response to the riot will be its main focus, so what has he said about the committee's work?

He has dismissed the hearings, writing in June that the Democrat-led committee was “illegally constituted” and a “kangaroo court”.

Ahead of the last hearing, Trump accused the committee of unfairly targeting him and dismissed past witness testimonies as “fake and made up stories”.

He has also continued to repeat his false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, saying that “there is massive and incontestable evidence and proof”.

Earlier on Thursday, the ex-president again took to his Truth Social platform to argue his vice-president. Mike Pence, had made the wrong decision by choosing to certify the election result.

He wrote that "everybody ganged up and said that Mike had no choice", which he called "an election-changing event".

John Sudworth
In the hearing

The press are taking their places at the moment, with snappers milling around, and lots of chat and banter.

The two witness name cards are there on display, confirming, as widely reported, the appearance tonight of Matthew Pottinger - the former deputy national security adviser and the most senior Trump administration official to resign after 6 January - and Sarah Matthews, the former White House deputy press secretary who resigned the same day.

Their testimony, of course, is expected to shed light on the actions taken - or not taken - by President Trump during the riot.

Ahead of this evening’s hearing, panel member Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican, tweeted a video clip showing some testimony from Trump insiders about the former president’s actions on the day of the riot.

In the video, former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany testifies that she recalls Trump was “always in the dining room” during the riot.

Two other witnesses - General Keith Kellogg, Mike Pence’s national security adviser, and former Trump executive assistant Molly Michael - both claimed that Trump was watching the riot unfold on TV.

Lastly, former White House counsel Pat Cipollone responds “yes” when asked if violence from the riot was visible to Trump on television.

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Before the hearing gets under way, it's worth a reminder of what exactly happened on the 6 January last year.

Supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol building in a bid to thwart the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory.

The key events began early in the morning, with an 08:17 tweet from Trump in which he repeated claims of electoral fraud and a “corrupt process”.

In a speech at midday, he said he hoped supporters would march to the Capitol "to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard”.

But within the hour, a growing crowd was trying to push past police officers to get inside the building. The protesters broke through the windows, pushed inside, and hopped through the broken glass. They then kicked open the doors to let others in.

Read a full breakdown of the day’s events here.

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The prime time hearing is expected to revolve around former President Donald Trump’s actions as rioters descended on and entered the US Capitol on 6 January, with a particular focus on the 187 minutes in which the violence was taking place.

Members of the committee and critics of Trump have argued that he did not do enough to rein in thousands of his supporters who swarmed the Capitol. They are likely to make the case that he potentially violated the law - and his duties as president - by not taking firmer action.

Among those who are expected to testify are former deputy national security advisor Matthew Pottinger, and Sarah Matthews who served as Trump’s deputy press secretary.

The panel is also expected to show portions of video testimony from former White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, who was interviewed on 8 July.

In addition to hearing from witnesses, the panel also plans to show outtakes from a video Trump recorded on 7 January in which he seemed to have difficulties condemning the riot.

Welcome to our live coverage of today’s session of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol.

In today’s hearing - the final one scheduled - the committee is expected to focus on what former President Donald Trump did - or didn’t do - over a period of around three hours as the violence was taking place.

The Democrat-led committee has accused the former president of doing nothing to quell the riot or tell his supporters to leave, potentially putting politicians - as well as his own Vice-President Mike Pence - in harm’s way.

The hearing is the eighth in a series of sessions aimed at investigating the riot and determining culpability. The panel has been investigating the attack for the past year, interviewing more than 1,000 witnesses and amassing tens of thousands of documents.

Although no further hearings have been scheduled, the panel plans to continue its investigation and more hearings are likely in the future. It may issue criminal referrals to the Justice Department, leaving it up to Attorney General Merrick Garland to decide whether Trump or others should be prosecuted.

Follow live updates and analysis here.

Image source, Reuters