A significant witness resigned from today's session of the US congressional committee examining the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Still, the panel proceeded with its plan to emphasize former President Donald Trump's unfounded assertions that the 2020 election was stolen.

The session began 45 minutes late due to the absence of William Stepien, Trump's campaign manager during the final several months of the run for the White House, who cited a family emergency.

The second of six public hearings planned this month, the session will focus on former President Trump's "Big Lie" accusation that his 2020 election loss was the product of widespread fraud.

The remaining witnesses included a former Fox News political editor and Atlanta and Philadelphia officials who quit after Trump's backers challenged election results in their respective states.

The committee is holding hearings to discuss the preliminary findings of its one-year investigation into the events of January 6, when thousands of Trump supporters attacked the Capitol as Vice President Mike Pence and lawmakers met to certify Joe Biden's victory over Trump in the November 2020 election.

Today's session followed a groundbreaking hearing on Thursday night in which Trump's closest allies, including his daughter Ivanka, refuted his phony accusations of voter fraud.

Approximately 20 million Americans watched the hearing during primetime television viewing hours.

Trump has denied wrongdoing, and he and his allies view the Select Committee run by Democrats as a political witch hunt. Democrats describe it as a vital probe into a tragic and fatal occurrence, claiming that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wanted a bipartisan, independent committee but Republicans refused.

Remaining witnesses

Chris Stirewalt, a former political editor at Fox News, was previously set to speak with Stepien as one of the last witnesses.

Ben Ginsberg, a conservative Republican election attorney, Byung J. "BJay" Pak resigned as US attorney in Atlanta after Trump's campaign questioned Georgia's election results. Al Schmidt, the only Republican on Philadelphia's elections board and a target of attacks after defending the integrity of the 2020 vote, was also scheduled to testify today.

Georgia and Pennsylvania were among the states that voted for Trump in 2016 but supported Biden in 2020. They have been the center of unsubstantiated claims of election fraud.

During a conference call with reporters to preview the hearing, a committee staffer stated that Representative Zoe Lofgren would play a prominent role.

On the day of the attack, four persons perished, one from police gunfire and three from natural causes. About 140 police officers were injured, and one died the next day. Later, four officers committed suicide.

More than 250 individuals have been charged with assaulting or obstructing law enforcement. About 90 have been charged with employing a lethal or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily harm to a law enforcement officer.

The assistant declined to comment on whether or not any of today's witnesses would be subpoenaed. He had also refused to comment on whether Stepien was anticipated to be a hostile witness.

Harriet Hageman, a Trump-backed candidate, competing against Representative Liz Cheney, vice-chair of the January 6 Select Committee, in the Wyoming Republican primary for Cheney's House seat, is represented by Stepien's firm. Cheney and Representative Adam Kinzinger are the only two Republicans on the nine-member panel.

After she criticized Trump, House Republicans voted to remove Cheney from her caucus leadership position, and she has been the focus of verbal insults by the former president.