Analysis: The committee’s opening on Jan. 6 is a critical opportunity to correct Trump’s lies

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Not only is this the investigation into one of the darkest stages of America’s story, but-in examining the motivation and attacks on democracy on that fateful day-it will serve as a real-time counterpoint as pro-Donald Trump Republicans have whitewash history to forgive their demagogic leader.

In examining Trump’s behavior after he lost the election in November and then claimed massive fraud, investigators will eventually draw a direct line between the former President’s obscenity and the shocking attack on the U.S. Capitol. . The work of the committee is even more important, as the dangerous rise of uprising and lies that helped the removal of Congress have only intensified since the former President left Washington and focused the vision on destroying democracy from the outside. .

The committee represents the most formal and extensive effort to find out what happened behind the scenes at the White House, in Trump’s campaign and the violent element of his supporters before their march into Congress. It is likely to also examine the policy and security failures that allow mobs to breach the Capitol. And it can offer recommendations on how to avoid unheard of scenes in the future – if the country is to rise again on top of political disaster.

That the first hearing on Tuesday will begin more than six months after the mob 6 attacks in January underscored how the GOP’s continued loyalty to Trump has undermined the normal constitutional norm of accountability and ensure to reduce its impact.

But the panel will continue, along with seven Democrats and two Republicans, Wyoming Reps. Liz Cheney and Rep. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – and may be in the process of sacrificing their promising political careers to expose Trump’s threat to democracy and the Constitution.

House GOP Minority Kevin McCarthy branded the committee as effectively a kangaroo court designed to harm the former President. He released all five he chose for the committee after Pelosi rejected two of them, Reps. Jim Jordan and Indiana Rep. Jim Banks, who reinforced Trump’s statements that the last election was fraudulent. Jordan has been a leading figure in trying to blame Pelosi for removing Congress – for security failures – rather than Trump.

Acting in line with Trump’s demands, McCarthy actually helped sabotage a previously truly independent commission formed in a bipartisan House deal. And after initially claiming Trump was responsible for the red crowd hordes that stormed Congress, McCarthy made the former President anchored in his election campaign.

A historical record

After months of wing propaganda and misinformation about the Jan. 6 attack, the committee has a chance to set the record and establish a historic record – though Trump supporters will certainly deny the fact.

Testimony from police officers, lawmakers and others who fled for their lives from the crowd that day would recreate the horror of those moments as if America’s democratic traditions were in jeopardy. risk.

House Awareness Chairman Adam Schiff, who is serving on the Jan. 6 panel, said Monday that testimony from DC and Capitol Police officials will push the GOP’s attempts to rewrite history and describe whether what seems to be “be in the front lines for brave police officers.” The committee expects to see unwatched videos from Jan. 6 that include profanity language.

What really happened is still scary.

A sitting U.S. president refused to accept his great defeat in a presidential election, created a malicious web of lies about fraud that never occurred and called a mob in Washington. He then urged them with further lies, telling them to “fight like Hell” before they marched into Congress to block certification of successor election victory.

It was, for all intents and purposes, an attempted coup and made the United States look more like a failed state in the hands of a rebellious dictator trying to cling to power than the global adviser of democracy and peaceful transition. power that it set itself up to be

The atmosphere surrounding the committee will be less sensitive to Trump’s threat to basic American democratic values ​​that faded – as was expected to happen – when he left power on Jan. 20. But the former President only raised his claims that the election was stolen, convincing his millions of supporters that American democracy was bad.

His increasingly extreme behavior carries the possibility that the violence on January 6 may not be its end. For example in Arizona on Saturday, Trump poured out lies about the election, and warned that the midterms in 2022 and the presidential career in 2024 would also be ruined if a supposed plot against him was not exposed.

If anything, his speech was more insulting than the one he delivered at Elipse in Washington on Jan. 6 that led to the uprising.

“This is a fraud, the greatest crime in history, and we need to hold these people accountable,” Trump said during his visit to Grand Canyon State, where GOP state senators conduct poor audits. of votes in primary Maricopa County based on his lies about fraudulent ballots.

In another example of motivation from Trump’s world, former President’s brief national security adviser Michael Flynn, a former general, made a “joke” about killing a man in Washington when he was given an automatic rifle at an event in the first month. .

In light of the events on January 6, his humor was in poor taste.

The dispute between Pelosi and McCarthy could damage the findings of the investigation.

When Pelosi vetoed the banks and Jordan’s spot on the committee last week, many Beltway advocates suggested he had made a serious political mistake and allowed McCarthy to claim his motives were naked siding.

In the strictest sense, that may be true. And it is almost impossible to find a paradigm for a spokesperson who removes members of a committee chosen by a rival party leader.

But the unique context of the January 6 uprising also provides some unprecedented background. And at the opening of the committee, his approach did not seem risky. For example there is no ability to control events in the hearing room or have allies on Trump’s side crack down on offensive testimony on television.

The select committee, which has subpoena power, has the ability to release weeks of damaging evidence that would expand Trump’s legacy and could increase the price for Republicans who support it. Pelosi hinted at how his political strategy would play out in a statement from his press office on Monday.

“This week, House Republicans reaffirmed that they stand with the insurrectionists – not with our law enforcement,” the release said.

Cheney and Kinzinger’s willingness to join the committee, in the meantime, would allow Pelosi to somehow have the opportunity to claim the panel was bipartisan. McCarthy lashed out at two rebel GOP lawmakers whose apostasy underscores the extent to which large sectors of the House Republican Party have abandoned democracy in a way that would surprise the most influential former GOP leader.

He called Cheney, one of the strictest conservatives in the House, and Kinzinger, a veteran of the Iraq war, “Pelosi Republicans.” Cheney responded that the new name was “somewhat childish” – a comment released by his colleague from Illinois.

“It’s like a child. We’re doing big things now. We’re getting answers to the worst attack on the Capitol since the War of 1812,” Kinzinger said Monday. He added that he was willing to listen to testimony from his fellow Republican members of the House – such as Jordan – about what their role was on Jan. 6.

“I wanted to know where the facts were leading, and if that included members who had an organizing role or that they knew or they tried to cover up. That’s important,” Kinzinger said.

Knowing how the House GOP split on Jan. 6 – and the radical company McCarthy is holding back by protesting an investigation – four pro -Trump members will object to Tuesday’s committee opening.

Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert and Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar would highlight what they said was the plight of Jan. 6 “prisoners.” Such terminology, which refers to suspected criminals as part of a legal investigation into their alleged role in the unrest, underscores the extreme road the GOP has taken in support of Trump.

The contrast between the two events could hurt Republican claims that it will always be a party to law and order, justice and support for the police. This may be noticed by suburban voters who turned their backs on Trump’s cause and helped cost him the election. But the former President is unlikely to cost his almost mystical connection to his supporters – convincing him to pursue another run for the presidency in 2024.

If anything, if the two impeachments and the truth about an election not being stolen hadn’t ended, it’s likely that a select committee appointed by Pelosi would be – just as important.

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