James Joyner has a post at Outside the Beltway, musing about the January 6 committee hearings. The post is hard to summarize succinctly, consisting as it does of long quotes from a piece in Mother Jone, interspersed with “Yes, but” observations from James. Nonetheless I recommend you read it.
In my view the committee hearings have several potential objectives, some more necessary and legitimate than others:
- Informing the American people about what happened on January 6, 2021
- An investigation of the factors that led to the breaching of the Capitol with an eye towards preventing its recurrence
- A sort of grand jury proceedings, building a case for indicting Donald Trump
- Battlespace preparation
Information
IMO this is the most legitimate objective of holding these committee hearings as televised public events. The American public should know, in non-agonistic terms, what occurred. It does not appear that the hearings have been particularly successful in achieving this goal:
Investigation
This, too, would be a very legitimate objective of the hearings but televised proceedings are actually an impediment to this objective. In addition to what we’ve seen so far such an investigation would include a consideration of the organization, structure, and direction of the Capitol Police. To whatever extent this is an objective of the hearings, it’s not particularly successful, either.
Grand Jury
House committee hearings are not the proper forum for this. The Department of Justice investigation presently in progress is. Since January 6, 2021 I have said that Mr. Trump should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law but I hope we are prepared for how little that might be. Rules of evidence apply in actual criminal cases and guilt must be established beyond reasonable doubt.
Battlespace preparation
Battlespace preparation for the 2024 presidential elections is the least legitimate objective and the House members conducting the proceedings are increasingly making it appear that this is their primary objective in the proceedings.
†Since January 6, 2021 I have said that Mr. Trump should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law but I hope we are prepared for how little that might beâ€
Very much like the Trump/Zelensky conversation, forming the basis for one of Trump’s impeachments, the same one-sided, one party script is being followed by the J6 committee.
Democrats have unilaterally set stringent rules capping any fair debate or bipartisan investigation of what really happened before, during and after the event creating justified, unbiased reasons for a Trump indictment. For instance thousands of hours of Capitol video remain unseen with only a scant amount cherry-picked and released by the Dems. Pelosi refuses to release her emails, or address why she refused requested calls for a National Guard presence on J6, while subpoenas from the J6 Committee have been wildly distributed to anyone even tangentially close to Trump. Absent is any witness testimony presenting evidence other than what explicitly confirms the tale the J6 Committee wants told, nor any cross-examination of heavily curated witnesses, one who is photographed hugging a member of the political “jury†overseeing this trial. There is no mention of the five deaths arising from that Capitol incursion, or the dicey circumstances surrounding them. Even AOC is questioning why Capitol police were opening doors for people to voluntarily enter and stroll around the interior of the building. Most importantly, why are so many citizens being held without bail, in solitary confinement, many for over a year, mostly on misdemeanor charges, and not one dealing with insurrection?
Is this the way our country exercises an investigation and prosecution of an event or a person to “the full extent of the law?†If so, then our laws have evolved into ones seen primarily in tyrannical, corrupted countries, rather than a free one like the United States was originally conceived.
Finally, I am frankly surprised how many here view the justification and consequential actions of Pelosi and the J6 Committee seemingly through a dislike of Trump and his unpresidential demeanor. Consequently, it seems the basic standards used to either convict or acquit the 45th president versus the 46th one are substantially different.
Biden’s reputation appears to be protected at all costs. His family’s fortunes, derived from foreign entanglements with Ukraine, China, Russia, slip by with incurious disinterest by the press, political associates, and intelligence divisions. While Whistleblowers for the infamous Zelensky phone call are zealously unquestioned and protected, people wishing to bring down Trump are unvetted and given public forums to vent their displeasures. Biden gaffes are only mildly criticized. Military disasters, like the Afghanistan withdrawal, are minimized and then fastidiously forgotten. Inflationary or immigration policies, if not blamed on Trump, are blamed on someone else. Election irregularities and unconstitutional acts associated with the 2020 election are dismissed as deplorable “sour grapes†. However, if Trump was at the helm of the past 2 years of wrongdoing, scandal, embarrassing misspeaks/professional misconduct (sniffing women’s hair), policies hurting the financial well being of working/middle class people, there would be no end to the rantings, ravings and impeachments demanded by the Dems and their progressive supporters.
Much of what you wrote is inaccurate.
Jan: Pelosi refuses to release her emails, or address why she refused requested calls for a National Guard presence on J6
Pelosi did address this issue. Pelosi has no direct authority over the National Guard. In fact, she called for military assistance.
https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-235651652542
Jan: Most importantly, why are so many citizens being held without bail, in solitary confinement, many for over a year, mostly on misdemeanor charges, and not one dealing with insurrection?
Those who are held are being held under the federal Bail Reform Act, which presumes that people are to be released before trial. Pre-trial detention requires a court hearing where the government must show that the person is either a flight risk, will seek to undermine the legal process, or a continuing danger to the public. See 18 U.S. Code § 3142. People who avoided arrest, destroyed evidence, intimidated witnesses, or who continued to make threats, will often be held until trial.
Also, several people have been charged with seditious conspiracy, a more serious crime than insurrection under the federal statute. See 18 U.S. Code § 2384. Two members of the Oath Keepers, a far-right anti-government militia, have already pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy.
Jan: Finally, I am frankly surprised how many here view the justification and consequential actions of Pelosi and the J6 Committee seemingly through a dislike of Trump and his unpresidential demeanor.
It has nothing to do with dislike, but that Trump has consistently sought to undermine American institutions. Turns out that the delicate balance of power in the U.S. Constitution was largely dependent on the honor system. A president would gracefully and gratefully cede power, as George Washington did in 1797.
For instance,
Reffitt threatened to shoot his children to keep them from talking to authorities and was held in pre-trial detention. He was just recently convicted by jury trial.
â€The U.S. Congress continues to hold hearings on the Capitol riots that flared up on January 6, 2021. But it continues to turn a blind eye to the extreme negligence of Democratic officials, whose poor security decisions laid the groundwork for the Capitol building siege.â€
https://trendingpolitics.com/house-dems-will-grant-national-guard-authority-to-d-c-mayor-who-gave-jan-6-stand-down-order-knab/
The Senate Sargent of Arms also had interesting testimony over the early intel received by congressional leaders regarding possible violence happening on J6. Unfortunately, he inconveniently died before he could give it. In the meantime, Pelosi and McConnell’s response, in lieu of such forewarnings, was to have light security around the Capitol, refusing the precautionary national guard request submitted by Trump. If the now ex president wanted an insurrection why approve a large national guard presence to quell it?
————————-
Guy Reffitt was one odd ball, who mainly trespassed on the Capitol grounds, and did not enter the building. His story and behavior has been enlarged in order to distract from the hundreds of people charged with minor infractions and unjustly held without due process.
Finally, to cede power, after so many public citations and affidavits of wrongdoing, ballot tampering etc., is to basically approve of a corrupted election process. Over half the country is suspicious of the true and legit outcome of the 2020 election process. Joe Biden’s presidency has become a malignant one because of peopleâ€s belief he fraudulently acquired the position. Furthermore, this lack of trust in our elections will not go away just because some elite politicians say it was a sound election.
Consequently, dominion machines are justifiably being challenged, resulting in 9 security issues being called out. Laws were broken in WI in which recertification measures are being considered. Nevada, PA, Arizona, MI, Georgia, even Colorado all have issues stirring as to the credulity of how honest their elections were. So, I think such a broadly contested election deserves more scrutiny before a “winner†is announced. IOW, There was reasonable doubt about how the 2020 election was conducted, and not gracefully ceding power was the correct action to take.
Notably, you didn’t acknowledge your previous errors.
Jan: Pelosi and McConnell’s response, in lieu of such forewarnings, was to have light security around the Capitol, refusing the precautionary national guard request submitted by Trump.
Trump never submitted a request for National Guard deployment.
Jan: If the now ex president wanted an insurrection why approve a large national guard presence to quell it?
Neither Pelosi or the mayor of DC have authority over the National Guard. They report solely to the President of the United States. Pelosi was never consulted.
Jan: His story and behavior has been enlarged in order to distract from the hundreds of people charged with minor infractions and unjustly held without due process.
We provided a specific and showed how and why he was held pre-trial. You might want to provide a specific.
Jan: Finally, to cede power, after so many public citations and affidavits of wrongdoing, ballot tampering etc., is to basically approve of a corrupted election process.
Just because you believe it doesn’t make it true. There is no evidence of problems with the electoral result.
Jan: Laws were broken in WI in which recertification measures are being considered.
The highly partisan Wisconsin court ruled that the state didn’t have the power to use dropboxes, even though they have been used for years, because they are not directly authorized by statute. That doesn’t mean the ballots that were cast were in any way fraudulent.
Kash Patel, chief of staff for acting SOD under Trump, has stated Trump authorized (beforehand) as many as 20,000 national guard to be at the J6 protest. To be enforced the request needed to be approved by the DC mayor and the Speaker of the House, which it was not.
Regarding the rest of your post, the so
called evidence is mainly disputed by those (including many establishment
Republicans) who wanted Trump gone. Courts denied even hearing the evidence, basing such denials on process and standing technicalities, not on the content or substance of the plaintiffs evidence. Again, there is only a growing mistrust of the legitimacy of the 2020 election, not a decrease in the numbers believing Biden is an illegitimate POTUS. The lack of cooperation by Dominion and some
Soros-funded State SOS’s, plus the spate of election night irregularities, already noted, that go unexplained only fuels more election mistrust and speculation that the 2020 presidential election was unfairly processed.
Jan: Kash Patel, chief of staff for acting SOD under Trump, has stated Trump authorized (beforehand) as many as 20,000 national guard to be at the J6 protest.
No such order was ever made. Discussing things in vague terms is not a presidential order.
Jan: To be enforced the request needed to be approved by the DC mayor and the Speaker of the House, which it was not.
Neither the DC mayor nor the Speaker of the House have veto power over the national guard. Pelosi was not consulted. When push came to shove, and there were calls during the riot for the National Guard, Trump didn’t issue such an order even then. The Vice President ordered the National Guard into action—beyond his actual authority.
Jan: Courts denied even hearing the evidence
Valid cases can be brought about the balloting rules *before* the election, not after. Cases after the election can be brought to determine whether the rules were followed. In any case, if you mean no courts heard the evidence, that is false. For instance,
â€While Sund’s requests were getting punted around the Capitol bureaucracy, the Pentagon was moving ahead on Jan. 4, 2021, to get Trump to sign official authorizations to deploy the National Guard ahead of Jan. 6, 2021, promising as many as 20,000 troops if Congress asked. That was confirmed by then-acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller and his chief of staff, Kash Patel.
“We went to the Capitol Police and the Secret Service and law enforcement agencies and Mayor Bowser days before January 6, and asked them, ‘Do you want thousands of National Guardsmen and women for January 6?’†Patel said. “They all said no. Why did we do that? The law requires them to request it before we can deploy them. And the DOD IG found we did not delay, we actually prepared in a preemptive fashion, which is what we do at DOD.â€
“The Capitol Police timeline shows what we have been saying for the last year—that DOD support via the National Guard was refused by the House and Senate sergeant at arms, who reported to Pelosi,†Patel said. “Now we have it in their own writing, days before Jan. 6. And despite the FBI warning of potential for serious disturbance, no perimeter was established, no agents put on the street, and no fence put up.â€
https://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/uscp-timeline-exonerates-trump-national-guard-turned-down-prior-to-1-6/
Zach, all that was said above I’ve read about some time ago. The J6 event was orchestrated beforehand to exploit the ire of protesters, lure them into the Capitol by professional agitators, incarcerate lots of people who were mostly expressing their right to assemble and protest, while highlighting the few who were more unstable as representative of the majority.
Hopefully, more will be revealed as time goes on, accompanied by fairer and more accurate investigations of this event. But, for now it is useless to go back and forth anymore about something we view so differently.
Jan: “The law requires them to request it before we can deploy them.”
Except that’s not true. The DC National Guard does not report to the Mayor, but to the Secretary of the Army who reports to the President. Indeed, Trump even imported National Guard units from *other* states in the wake of the George Floyd protests without a request of the Mayor of DC. Furthermore, much federal property in DC is not even under the political jurisdiction of DC, including the Capitol.
Jan: But, for now it is useless to go back and forth anymore about something we view so differently.
Facts remain facts regardless of your viewpoint.
Jan: The J6 event was orchestrated beforehand to exploit the ire of protesters, lure them into the Capitol by professional agitators, incarcerate lots of people who were mostly expressing their right to assemble and protest, while highlighting the few who were more unstable as representative of the majority.
The J6 rioters were Trump supporters.