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WATCH LIVE: Jan. 6 Capitol riot hearings begin in Washington

WASHINGTON - The chairman of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and Donald Trump's attempt to overturn the 2020 election is ready to open Thursday's prime-time hearing declaring the deadly attack and the lies that led to it put "two and half centuries of constitutional democracy at risk."

Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said "the world is watching" the U.S. response to the panel's year-long investigation into the Capitol attack and the defeated president's extraordinary effort to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden's election victory.

"America has long been expected to be a shining city on a hill. A beacon of hope and freedom," Thompson planned to say, according to excerpts released in advance. "How can we play that role when our own house is in such disorder? We must confront the truth with candor, resolve and determination."

The committee plans to present never-before-seen video and a mass of other evidence to show the "harrowing story" of the deadly violence that day and also a chilling backstory as Trump, the defeated president, tried to overturn Biden's election victory.

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