Trump thought he would get away with it. The US Capitol attack hearings prove that’s not true | Emma Brockes

High drama, betrayal, catharsis: the televised select committee investigation makes for riveting viewing

One of the worst things about the Trump presidency was the frequent sense that the man could do or say anything and, Alice in Wonderland-style, the sheer lunacy of it would never break through. I could," said Trump in 2016, stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose voters."

On 6 January 2021, when, egged on by Trump, a mob of his supporters stormed the US Capitol building, this principle was seemingly put to the test. Impeachment efforts failed. Key members of Trump's team declined to condemn him. His supporters appeared to remain loyal. Now, as the events of that day come before a House select committee, there's a new approach in the fight to make some of this stick: less the presentation of evidence by a lawyer to a jury than of a prestige drama by a producer to a TV audience - one with limited time and multiple other viewing options.

Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist