An unexpected visitor is witnessing history at a hearing of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, as actor Sean Penn was eyed at Thursday’s televised event.
The “Milk” star and celebrity activist was seen grinning and shaking hands as he sat with Capitol Police officers at the select committee's fifth public hearing.
A representative for Penn didn’t immediately return ITK’s request for comment, but the actor told CNN on Thursday that he was at the hearing “to observe,” saying he is “just another citizen.”
“I think we all saw what happened on January 6, and now we're looking to see if justice comes on the other side of it,” Penn said.
The 61-year-old Academy Award winner and founder of the nonprofit CORE was one of several performers who spoke out in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol last year, in a tweet to his 190,000 followers that was seemingly critical of then-President Trump.
“Hell hath no fury like a narcissist scorned,” Penn wrote at the time.
Thursday’s hearing is expected to focus on Trump’s pressure campaign to get the Department of Justice to back his baseless claims of election fraud ahead of the deadly attack.
Penn recently starred in the Watergate-focused Starz series "Gaslit."
Updated at 4:16 p.m.
