Watch our fascinating discussion with former Senators Bill Cohen, Norm Coleman, and Claire McCaskill on how congressional committees work toward factual consensus in oversight investigations.

For our democratic system to work, our leaders, institutions (both public and private), and citizens need to value facts and truthfulness. In recent years, however, we have witnessed mass disagreements over what is true and how to separate fact from fiction. We’ve also learned the consequences can be deadly. The Levin Center is sponsoring a three-part series of panels to delve more deeply into how facts become established in the public mind and how truthfulness might be restored to our public discourse.

Our second panel featured three former senators with years of oversight expertise. They discussed the unique role played by Congress in resolving factual issues confronting the country, how committees conduct factual investigations, how committee members attempt to reach consensus on the facts, what happens when they can’t reach consensus, and how investigative hearings and reports affect public perceptions of what is true. They also provide interesting commentary on factfinding by the House committee examining the January 6th attack on the Capitol.