Seventeen months after pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, the House Jan. 6 select committee is preparing to test whether revelations from that day still have the capacity to shock the American public, Axios' Alayna Treene and Zachary Basu write.

The big picture: Thursday's prime-time, Watergate-style hearing will be the first of several meticulously crafted events produced in part by James Goldston — the former president of ABC News and a master documentary storyteller.

• The hearings will blend elements from the first and second Trump impeachment hearings: a combination of testimony from key witnesses, harrowing new video footage and committee members laying out their case in televised speeches, sources familiar with the planning tell Axios.
• British documentary filmmaker Nick Quested — who embedded with the far-right Proud Boys, including during the group's private meetings ahead of the insurrection — will testify Thursday, the committee announced this evening. So will Capitol Police officer Caroline Edwards, who suffered a concussion after being assaulted on Jan. 6.

What we're watching

1. Whether the committee draws a direct tie between former President Trump and the Capitol attack — and proves a premeditated plot to disrupt certification of the 2020 election.

• Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) has said the committee has evidence of Trump's involvement in "a lot more" than just "incitement" — and that revelations from the hearings would "blow the roof off the House."
• The Washington Post reported today that Secret Service agents scrambled to secure a motorcade route on Jan. 6 so Trump could accompany his supporters as they marched toward Congress, though D.C. police ultimately nixed the plan.

2. New allegations or evidence of criminality.

• The Jan. 6 committee does not have the power to prosecute, but investigators have collected reams of potential evidence over the course of 1,000+ depositions and interviews.
• The Justice Department has reportedly asked the committee for transcripts of closed-door interviews — including some with Trump associates.

3. Any discussion of legislative reforms to prevent another Jan. 6.

• Axios reported the committee is privately divided on whether to recommend abolishing the Electoral College — a proposal Republicans have seized on as evidence of its alleged partisanship.

4. Ratings.

• Nearly every major broadcast and cable news network — except for Fox News — will have live coverage of the hearing, which is breaking the mold of past congressional spectacles by airing in prime time.
• Benchmarks: James Comey testimony in June 2017 (19.5 million viewers); Brett Kavanaugh hearing in September 2018 (20 million); day one of Trump's first impeachment hearing in November 2019 (13 million); day one of Trump's second impeachment trial in February 2021 (11 million).

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Months of major leaks from the Jan. 6 committee, including thousands of texts turned over by former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, may have undercut what would have been the biggest revelations from the hearing.

Three bombshells that have set the bar high:

• March 24: Ginni Thomas, a conservative activist and the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, urged Meadows to fight to overturn the election — calling Biden’s victory "the greatest Heist of our History."
• March 29: White House records turned over to the committee show a gap in Trump's Jan. 6 phone logs of seven hours and 37 minutes, including during the period when the Capitol was under attack.
• April 21: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told GOP leadership on Jan. 10 that he would recommend to Trump that he resign, calling his conduct "atrocious," according to a leaked audio recording of the call.

The White House is planning to leave the Jan. 6 messaging to the Hill, a White House official tells Alayna.

• Biden officials see this as Congress' turf — and are wary of injecting political messaging into an ongoing investigation that could lead to law enforcement actions, a second source familiar with the White House's planning said.
• The fear is that Biden's involvement would give Trump and his allies an opening to allege the president is politicizing the investigation, the source added.
• If Attorney General Merrick Garland ultimately decides to take action against former Trump officials, the administration doesn't want to give Republicans any fodder to attack the White House's credibility.

The Jan. 6 committee has issued at least 80 subpoenas seeking testimony from former Trump aides, members of Congress, "alternate electors" and organizers of the Jan. 6 rally that preceded the Capitol siege.

• Hundreds of other witnesses, including Trump family members like Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, have testified voluntarily.
• Two subpoena targets — former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon and former trade adviser Peter Navarro — have been indicted for contempt of Congress.

Actor and Uvalde native Matthew McConaughey holds up artwork by one of the victims of last month's school shooting in Texas while making a passionate plea for action at today's White House press briefing.