The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set newsroom policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com. Joe Battenfeld is a veteran Boston Herald political columnist and multimedia reporter. The big question surrounding the Jan. 6 congressional hearings is whether former President Donald Trump can survive politically or if they will just push him into running for another White House term. Trump — depending on your political viewpoint — has been the clear star or villain of the hearings so far, with Democrats obsessed with uncovering enough evidence to charge him criminally for the Jan.