We the People have an important duty: bear witness to the entirety of the events surrounding the January 6 insurrection. This month's televised hearings are huge. And so, Little Sister Resister crawls out of her cozy California hole.
Resisters, it's been one year and four months since we've gathered on these pages.
The U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol is presenting a series of televised hearings on their investigation, beginning with the hearing on the night of Thursday, June 9. The two-hour primetime hearing aired on all of the major news outlets.
The committee is comprised of seven Democrats and two Republicans from the 117th Congress:
|
|
The committee convened in July of 2021. They've worked hard over the last year, with remote and live depositions from over 1,000 witnesses, from Whitewash House officials, including members of 45's family, all the way down to responding police officers and members of the rioting mob. Now, they present some of their findings and will conduct a series of 6-8 televised hearings over the next two weeks, presenting much of the testimony they have gathered over the the year, as well as live witnesses.
On Thursday night, they laid the groundwork of their investigation in front of an enthralled nation. And they brought receipts.
We watched absorbed for two hours, which was packed with information that we knew and more than one moment where we were transfixed. "Wait a minute, did we know that?! We didn't know that!"
The committee chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and vice-chair Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) made powerful opening statements. Like a a good prosecutor's opening argument in a criminal proceeding, they laid out the arc of their case and some of their evidence before calling two live witnesses, both of whom were compelling.
It was captivating. Disturbing. Maddening, Frightening. Surprising. And not surprising.
They laid the whole debacle directly and unequivocally at the feet of the former president*.
What I could write here is not adequate. The words of the committee members and witnesses speak for themselves. I give you important quotes from the hearing.
On the driving force behind the attempted coup.
"Donald Trump was at the center of this conspiracy." – Thompson
"The attack on our Capitol was not a spontaneous riot." – Cheney
"President Trump summoned the mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack." – Cheney
"There is no doubt that President Trump was well aware of the violence as it developed." – Cheney
"As you will see in the hearings to come, President Trump believed his supporters at the Capitol, and I quote, 'were doing what they should be doing.' This is what he told his staff as they pleaded with him to call off the mob, to instruct his supporters to leave." – Cheney
"They knew that President Donald Trump was too dangerous to be left alone." – Cheney
"January 6th was the culmination of an attempted coup, a brazen attempt, as one rioter to put it shortly after January 6th, to overthrow the government. The violence was no accident. It represents seeing Trump's last stand, most desperate chance to halt the transfer of power." – Thompson
"On the morning of January 6th, President Donald Trump's intention was to remain President of the United States despite the lawful outcome of the 2020 election and in violation of his constitutional obligation to relinquish power. Over multiple months, Donald Trump oversaw and coordinated a sophisticated seven-part plan to overturn the Presidential election and prevent the transfer of Presidential power. In our hearings, you will see evidence of each element of this plan." – Cheney
"What President Trump demanded that Mike Pence do wasn't just wrong, it was illegal and it was unconstitutional." – Cheney
"Donald Trump had his days in court to challenge the results. He was within his rights to seek those judgment in the United States. Law abiding citizens have those tools for pursuing justice. He lost in the courts, just as he did at the ballot box. And in this country, that's the end of the line. But for Donald Trump, that was only the beginning of what became a sprawling multistep conspiracy aimed at overturning the presidential election, aimed at throwing out the votes of millions of Americans, your votes, your voice in our democracy, and replacing the will of the American people with his will to remain in power after his term ended. Donald Trump was at the center of this conspiracy, and ultimately Donald Trump, the president of the United States, spurred a mob of domestic enemies of the Constitution to march down the Capitol and subvert American democracy." – Thompson
"Those who invaded our capital and battled law enforcement for hours were motivated by what President Trump had told them, that the election was stolen and that he was the rightful President. President Trump summoned the mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack." – Cheney
"President Trump invested millions of dollars of campaign funds purposely spreading false information, running ads he knew were false, and convincing millions of Americans that the election was corrupt and that he was the true President. As you will see, this misinformation campaign provoked the violence on January 6th." – Cheney
"What President Trump demanded that Mike Pence do wasn't just wrong, it was illegal and it was unconstitutional." – Cheney
"The judge evaluated the facts and he reached the conclusion that President Trump's efforts to pressure Vice President Pence to act illegally by refusing to count electoral votes likely violated two federal criminal statutes. And the judge also said this. If Dr. Eastman and President Trump's plan had worked, it would have permanently ended the peaceful transition of power, undermining American democracy and the Constitution. If the country does not commit to investigating and pursuing accountability for those responsible, the court fears January 6th will repeat itself." – Cheney
"You will hear that President Trump was yelling and 'really angry' at advisers who told him he needed to be doing something more. And aware of the rioters' chants to hang Mike Pence, the president responded with this sentiment, 'Maybe our supporters have the right idea.' Mike Pence 'deserves it.'" – Cheney, describing witness testimony
Just sickening.
On the response.
"Throughout our history, the United States has fought against foreign enemies to preserve our democracy, electoral system, and country. When the United States Capitol was stormed and burned in 1814, foreign enemies were responsible. Afterward, in 1862, when American citizens had taken up arms against this country, Congress adopted a new oath to help make sure no person who had supported the rebellion could hold a position of public trust. Therefore, Congresspersons and United States federal government employees were required for the first time to swear an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That oath was put to test on January 6th, 2021. The police officers who held the line that day honored their oath. Many came out of that day bloodied and broken. They still bear those wounds, visible and invisible. They did their duty. They repelled the mob and ended the occupation of the Capitol. They defended the Constitution against domestic enemies so that Congress could return, uphold our own oath, and count your votes to ensure the transfer of power, just as we've done for hundreds of years." – Thompson
"As part of our investigation we will present information about what the White House and other intelligence agencies knew and why the Capitol was not better prepared. But we will not lose sight of the fact that the Capitol Police did not cause the crowd to attack. And we will not blame the violence that day — violence provoked by Donald Trump — on the officers who bravely defended all of us." – Cheney
"There were two — two or three calls with Vice President Pence. He was very animated and he issued very explicit, very direct, unambiguous orders. There was no question about that. And — and he was — and — and I can give you the exact quotes I guess from some of our records somewhere. But he was very animated, very direct, very firm. And to Secretary Miller, get the military down here. Get the Guard down here, put down this situation, etc." – General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
"He [Chief of Staff Mark Meadows] said we have — we have to kill the narrative that the Vice President is making all the decisions. We need to establish the narrative that, you know, that the President is still in charge and that things are steady or stable or words to that effect. I immediately interpret that as politics, politics, politics. Red flag for me personally, no action. But I remember it distinctly." – General Mark Milley
"There, in a sacred space in our constitutional republic, the place where our presidents lie in state, watched over by statues of Washington and Jefferson, Lincoln and Grant, Eisenhower, Ford, and Reagan, against every wall that night encircling the room, there were SWAT teams, men and women in tactical gear with long guns deployed inside our Capitol building. There in the rotunda, these brave men and women rested beneath paintings depicting the earliest scenes of our republic, including one painted in 1824 depicting George Washington resigning his commission, voluntarily relinquishing power, handing control of the Continental Army back to Congress. With this noble act, Washington set the indispensable example of the peaceful transfer of power, what President Reagan called, nothing less than a miracle. The sacred obligation to defend this peaceful transfer of power has been honored by every American president except one." – Cheney
Words from videotaped witnesses.
Interviewer [asking about campaign attorney Alex Cannon's conclusion that there was no election fraud]: "And what was [Trump Chief of Staff] Mr. Meadows reaction to that information?" Alex Cannnon: "I believe the words he used were, so there's no there there."
“I made it clear I did not agree with the idea of saying the election was stolen and putting out this stuff, which I told the president was bullshit. And I didn’t want to be a part of it, and that’s one of the reasons that went into me deciding to leave when I did.” – Former Attorney General Bill Barr
"I accepted what [Bill Barr] was saying." – Ivanka Trump
"President Trump is wrong. I had no right to overturn the election. The presidency belongs to the American people and the American people alone. And frankly, there is no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American President." – Vice President Mike Pence
The live witnesses.
The first two witnesses described the initial scene. Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards, who was on duty at the Capitol's West Plaza, described her harrowing experience, where she was knocked unconscious only to regain consciousness a little later and return to duty, holding back rioters and assisting other officers who where injured. Since the insurrection, she has been unable to return to active duty due to sequelae from her traumatic brain injury.
Also testifying was documentarian Nick Quested, who was invited by the Proud Boys to document their planning, assembling, and implementing a violent coup against the United States Government.
Firstly, what morons. Secondly, holy shit more horrifying footage.
Quested's footage of the events, including a day-before meeting between leaders from the Proud Boys and leaders from the Oathkeepers, was direct evidence that the attempted coup was planned in advance and coordinated by two groups of armed and armored domestic enemies. These men believed that SCROTUS had directed them to act. And they did, in a highly coordinated way, ready to do violent battle. We'll hear more about these groups and their seditious acts in the coming hearings. For now, know that several Proud Boys members have pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy charges, and many others have been indicted. Seditious conspiracy. Let that sink in.
The video.
Besides Quested's footage, the committee released a 12-minute montage of video clips illustrating the hours of violence. It was disturbing and haunting, much of it was new, and it brought back the horrors of that day. We saw fixed-position overhead video, Capitol building security footage, and police body cam video. Part of the video showed a member of the mob read one of Twitler's tweets as a battle cry. We heard haunting chants of "Nannnncy....Nannnncy...." as they marched toward Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's office, and chants of "Hang Mike Pence!" superimposed on the gallows that had been planned and erected on Capitol grounds. At the end of the clip, as images showed the mob viciously beating police officers on the ground, we heard 45's voice: "They were peaceful people. These were great people. The crowd was unbelievable. And I mentioned the word love. The love — the love in the air, I've never seen anything like it."
It was a scary, hate-filled, violent mob.
Here is the video presented to the American people. Warning: it's hard to watch. Click on "Watch on YouTube" or follow this link.
My thoughts.
Mad respect to Liz Cheney. She was good. She is standing up for what's right even as her career as U.S. Representative goes down in flames. She is the definition of a statesperson. At the end of her remarks, Rep. Cheney called out her fellow Republicans. "There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone. But your dishonor will remain."
We want to hear more. In the end, like a good criminal prosecution opening argument, the hearing made We the Jury want to hear more, yearn to see the evidence, and eager to learn about the charges for which 45 and others are to face. Attorney General Merrick Garland, are you listening?
Will there be punishment for the former president*? We've already seen two impeachments end in acquittals. Congress can't do much more. It'll be up to A.G. Garland. Public pressure may sway him, if the overwhelming evidence somehow doesn't. So let your voice be heard.
Will minds be changed? Unsure. If enough people can get a glimpse, they may be. Every major news outlet carried the hearing live. But Faux News did all they could to make sure their minions did not get a glimpse. During *ucker Carlson's show on Thursday, running at the same time as the hearing, they did not run a single commercial, for fear that casual channel-surfing would expose their viewers to the truth.
There's more. It was a packed two hours, and not a moment was superfluous. If you missed it, I highly encourage you to watch the full hearing, and also plan to watch the rest of them over the next few weeks. The next televised hearing will be on Monday, June 12 at 10am EDT (7am PDT).
Watch Thursday's hearing here.
I'll be back.
Click here for Part 2: The Big Lie and The Big Con
