WATCH LIVE: January 6th House Select Committee Holds First Hearing

The January 6th House select committee is holding its first hearing today to discuss their investigation into the storming of the U.S. Capitol earlier this year. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. ET.

The hearing begins with opening statements from committee chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-WY). Cheney’s opener is likely to be of particular interest, due to her breaking party lines and participating in a committee that many in her party are demeaning as an attempt to politically embarrass former President Donald Trump.

The purpose and the formation of the hearing have been the center of a major, recent political firestorm between House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The squabble began last week when Pelosi refused to allow two of McCarthy’s Republican picks onto the committee because both of them — Jim Banks (R-IN) and Jim Jordan (R-OH) — are staunch Trump allies who’ve amplified his 2020 election lies. McCarthy retaliated by denouncing the committee and withdrawing all of his other choices, so Pelosi’s countermove was to appoint Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) to the committee as a matter of bipartisanship. Both Kinzinger and Cheney have been vocal critics of Trump’s election lies and the riotous actions of his supporters on January 6th.

The committee is expected to hear testimony from Harry Dunn and Aquilino Gonell of the Capitol Police, plus Michael Fanone and Daniel Hodges of the Metropolitan Police. All four officers will be asked to give their accounts of the attacks they experienced while they struggled to protect the Capitol.

Watch above, via NBC.