LETTER: Jan. 6 committee now delving into hearsay

Greg Jacob, who was counsel to former Vice President Mike Pence, left, and Michael Luttig, a retired federal judge, arrive before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol holds a hearing at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, June 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

I believe the Jan. 6 hearings are necessary and appropriate. I also believe that those responsible should stand trial and, if found guilty, punished.

Listening to the June 29 testimony, however, I noticed that, not only was the speaker not in the vehicle in which then-President Donald Trump was alleged to have tried to grab the wheel, but the descriptions given were, in legal parlance, hearsay. Except for a few exceptions, hearsay testimony is subject to objection and cannot and should not be introduced in a trial. Why the committee — with all the respective lawyers as members and aides — allowed this to be publicized is questionable, even to this life-long Democrat.