Day’s End
Day 10 and final day of public hearings, testimony and comments by the House Select Committee Investigating the January 6 Attack on the Capitol. (1)
December 19
Consider today, “day 712:” America’s closure on the events leading up to and including January 6 are 712 days away.
Consider today, America learned that in Congress there is no closure, as four members of the 9 member House Select Committee will no longer be members of Congress, removed by their electorate for their efforts morally and politically to remove Trump from office and party domination.
Consider today, the Committee’s work may be over — the Committee’s mandate expires December 30 — but for one-third of Congress who believe with the former President that the election of 2020 was “stolen,” the reckoning of January 6 is far from over and closure for a nation united continues to elude its citizens.
The January 6 House Select Committee today unanimously moved to refer 4 criminal charges against Donald J. Trump, John Eastman ‘and others’ to the DOJ for prosecution. (2)
Additionally, the Committee unanimously moved to refer 4 current members of Congress to the House Ethics Committee for violations of House Ethics rules. (3)
To former Senator Claire McCaskill who was unseated by Josh Hawley whom, one recalls, offered a raised fist of solidarity in sight of the mob attacking the Capitol, the summary of the Committee’s report sounded like the opening argument in a criminal trial: ‘today we will present to you, the jury, evidence to assist you in deciding whether…’
In a way the jury has already spoken by returning a split verdict in the Stewart Rhodes Oathkeepers’ criminal trial (cite Jury’s Out): the indictable offense of insurrection to overthrow the peaceful transfer of power will be a ‘tall hill to climb,’ for the DOJ to convince a jury, according to one observer.
And there is the guard rail of the “speech and debate clause” of the US Constitution:
They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place. (4)
Today, evidence of illegal acts, of evidence tampering, of privilege — all are involved in framing the execution of justice, hence accountability and restoration.
One observer, former Federal prosecutor Chuck Rosenberg, criticized a fellow observer on MSNBC for alluding to the Committee releasing transcripts publicly,
‘As a prosecutor I would not want the transcripts to be released to the public. Not only does it put further witness testimony and witnesses at risk; it also gives advantage to the defense.’
In other words, the Committee’s report at best is an evidentiary “roadmap,” lots of dots, for the DOJ to connect. One rather big dot was coined today, in the accusatory statement “Donald J. Trump, John Eastman, and others…” Who precisely are ‘the others?’
During his comments, Committee Chair Rep. Bennie Thompson offered a clue as to whom ‘the others’ might be
‘It was not the intent of the Committee that because the foot soldiers were being tried and convicted, those who planned and plotted the attack on the Capitol should get a pass.’
Short of identifying plotters and inciters the Committee’s work unearthed a scandal of reflection and self-correction. As one observer said, ‘we knew in advance of the attack from social media that it was going to happen, so why did we let it happen? Why did we drop our guard?’ (5)
There were many takeaways today, lots of handwringing and hand washing. Yet, missing will be the observers and observations of America’s democratic institutions for the J6 Committee offered a credible public space, a narrow window into the events of January 6.
The Committee offered a front row seat at observing ‘untested’ Constitutional provisos such as Section 3 of the 14th amendment. (6)
Today a historian claimed that to decline to test, to refuse to reckon Constitutional wrong-doing, as former President Gerald Ford did by pardoning Nixon, gives opportunity for future coups and seizure attempts such as the one perpetrated by Donald J. Trump. (7)
The DOJ and future impaneled juries will face the conundrum of upholding the law which the chief enforcement officer of the United States perverted in the name of the office of President. In America one asserts the authority of the office of President while using the office as cover for criminal activity.
One shall see.
Will one remember?
In the end what the J6 Committee succeeded at was creating a space for reflection and for action, something the two Congressional impeachment hearings, stymied by DC’s political infrastructure of legal obstruction and obfuscation, were unable to accomplish.
The cameras helped. People could watch. Tears had meaning. Courage was on display.
December 19
One could sense a whiff of the new-old J6 denialism descending in the form of a thin Republican majority in Congress. Many will attempt to repress reflection, to put J6 “behind us;” in the end, to intone January 6 was a “terrible day,” as Kellyanne Conway so expertly compartmentalized in today’s witness testimony presentation.
In other words, to ignore, the verb behind ignorance.
The remains of January 6 resemble a stain on America’s exceptionalism, America’s claim of uniqueness. America is no better than a peck of nations. Her place in global leadership is in tatters; her history now marked as that of another repressive regime where elites hold sway over citizens. An unwelcoming nation; a nation unsafe.
Trump is, as one observer remarked today, the ‘tip of the iceberg.’ (8)
December 20
Notes
2. “Recommended charges included obstruction of an official proceeding; conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to make a false statement; and attempts to “incite,” “assist” or “aid or comfort” an insurrection.[18][19]” — Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_January_6_Attack
3. A fifth member of Congress who defied Committee subpoenas was Rep. Mo Brooks, who will not face Ethics Committee referrals as he was not re-elected. However, he remains exposed to possible DOJ subpoena. — Commentary by Joyce Vance, MSNBC legal consultant
4. https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artI-S6-C1-3-1/ALDE_00013300/
5. Peter Strzok, MSNBC Contributor and former Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division
6. Amendment XIV, Section 3 prohibits any person who had gone to war against the union or given aid and comfort to the nation’s enemies from running for federal or state office, unless Congress by a two-thirds vote specifically permitted it.
Comment: Originally passed by Congress during the Civil War to protect the Union from Confederate insurrectionists. The Senate’s interpretation at the time was that the amendment applied to lawmakers already in office.
7. Michael Bechloss, MSNBC Contributor and Presidential historian, December 19
8. Ben Rhodes, MSNBC Contributor and former deputy national security advisor for strategic communications, December 19
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