The Progressive Populist Today Blog: Editorial: Republicans Obstruct Truth

Saturday, May 29, 2021

Editorial: Republicans Obstruct Truth

The Republican Party is now the Grand Obstructionist Party, as its leaders refuse to cooperate in setting up a bipartisan commission to examine the Jan. 6 violent attack on Congress. House Democrats should proceed to set up a select committee to come up with the truth.

After Republican negotiators reached a deal with House and Senate leaders on an independent commission, Donald J. Trump released a statement May 18 slamming the bill as a “Democrat trap” and urging Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to start “listening.”

McCarthy had authorized Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.) to negotiate with House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), after discussions with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi broke down this spring over disputes regarding the commission’s composition and scope. Democrats wanted to focus on the right-wing groups that promoted the Jan. 6 demonstrations, while Republicans demanded the panel look into left-wing “extremism” at racial justice rallies in the summer of 2020 as well.

Thompson and Katko agreed on legislation that would give the proposed 10-member commission the power to subpoena witnesses on a bipartisan basis. Five commissioners, including the chair, would be appointed by Democratic congressional leaders, while five, including the vice chair, would be picked by Republican leaders.

McCarthy rejected the compromise out of hand May 18, saying the deal was “shortsighted,” “duplicative” and “potentially counterproductive.”

McConnell at first said his members were open to voting for the plan but needed a chance to read the “fine print.” After Trump came out against the commission, McConnell said he opposes the bill to set up the commission because it is a “slanted and unbalanced proposal.”

On the Senate floor May 19, McConnell said, “It’s not at all clear what new facts or additional investigation yet another commission could actually lay on top of existing efforts by law enforcement and Congress.”

The bill setting up the commission passed the House 252-175, with 35 Republicans voting for it, but its chances in the Senate, where it would need at least 10 Republican votes to pass, were all but obliterated by the opposition of McConnell and Trump.

Republicans claim we already know everything there is to know, but they know there are plenty of questions that need to be answered, and the truth about Jan. 6 that a commission would reveal would not help their cause or that of their Great Misleader.

Among the questions that need to be answered (working off a list developed by Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post):

• Who organized the Jan. 6 rally at the Ellipse, where Trump told the crowd to march on the Capitol?

• Who paid for buses to get participants to the event?

• What role did Trump or the White House play in organizing the rally?

• What happened at a Jan. 5 meeting of Trump family members, Trump administration officials, Trump campaign advisers, Jan. 6 rally organizers and at least one US senator at the Trump International Hotel in Washington the night before the insurrection?

• How many members of the military, law enforcement or federal, state and local officials were involved in the insurrection?

• Who were the violent insurgents? Where did they come from, how were they organized and what motivated them? Were any of them identified as leftists?

• Did members of Congress have communications with the insurrectionists? Who were they, and what role, if any, did they play? Did they give tours of the Capitol in the days before the insurrection?

• What was Trump doing during the riot?

• Who contacted the president during the riot? What requests or demands were made for him to call off his supporters? What did he say? Who witnessed these communications?

• Did Trump or his aides prevent any law enforcement agency from responding to appeals for backup?

• Who was responsible for restricting the DC National Guard from responding to the riot? Why was Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy “not available” for a call when Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund was pleading for help when rioters were minutes away from the House Chamber? Why did the Army initially falsely and repeatedly deny that Lt. Gen. Charles Flynn (brother of disgraced former national security adviser Michael Flynn) was on the call?

• What did Vice President Mike Pence know about the Jan. 6 event? Was he requested to overthrow the election results? What did he know about efforts to target him for refusing to steal the election?

• What errors did the Secret Service make? Did the vice president’s security detail request assistance? What errors did the FBI make? Capitol Police? DC Metro police?

• What contact did former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen have with Trump, Pence, or White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows about events of Jan. 6 and overturning election results?

• What trauma was inflicted on those who experienced the Capitol invasion? What resources were available to them?

These questions need to be answered for authorities to consider how the Capitol can be defended without compromising public access to the seat of government.

Congress also needs the information to help law enforcement track, understand and stop violent insurrectionists.

Congress also must consider whether to change the Presidential Transition Act to ensure an orderly transition when a president refuses to admit defeat.

How can we restore trust in the electoral system when one party claims the election was stolen, without any evidence to back up their claims?

If Republican leaders don’t want to cooperate on a commission, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should set up a Select Committee on the Insurrection, with Democrats controlling subpoena power to bring witnesses on everything from the conduct of the presidential election and efforts to overturn the election results to the insurrection and the refusal of Trump to cooperate with the presidential transition.

The committee should compel testimony from House Minority Leader McCarthy, as well as the former president and vice president, former Trump aides, members of Congress and their staffs, Capitol Police officers and other law enforcement and Defense Department officials who can shed light on what happened and what was not allowed to happen. Witnesses who refuse to appear or refuse to answer questions could be held in contempt, which the Biden administration could actually enforce in federal court.

While Republicans have stalled, the Department of Justice has been investigating the insurrection and compiling evidence. Attorney General Merrick Garland should name a special prosecutor to handle the Jan. 6 probe, regardless of what Congress does, and release the full Mueller Report that former Attorney General Bill Barr covered up. Whatever happens, Donald Trump likely will spend years fighting civil lawsuits as well as criminal charges in D.C., New York and Georgia.

What does the “GOP’ have to hide? Let the sun shine. — JMC