It will be a year this Thursday when supporters of Donald Trump and members of the Republican Party attempted to overthrow the U.S. government.
The investigation by the bipartisan House Select Committee has made that statement not an opinion but a fact. Members of then President Trump’s administration, with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows increasingly looking to be the centerpiece, were actively seeking ways to install Trump for another four years with the help of a rogue’s gallery of outside advisors including Stephen Bannon, Alex Jones and Roger Stone as well as key members of far right organizations such as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers.
All you need to know is the words and actions of those centrally involved already uncovered by the committee or said themselves.
Bannon has confirmed on his own podcast that he met up with Trump and discussed how to “kill the Biden presidency” because of the supposed illegitimacy of now-President Joe Biden’s win over Trump in 2020, a claim that has been debunked multiple times.
Meadows received the text from an organizer of the Jan. 6 rally outside the White House that, ”[t]hings have gotten crazy and I desperately need some direction. Please.”
And while running the White House for Trump, Meadows responded to messages about plans for Republican state legislators to send purported “alternate slates” of electors to Congress that he “love(d) it,” and “Have a team on it.”
Both men have been charged with Contempt of Congress for taking the 5th Amendment in front of the panel charged with investigating what happened on Jan. 6. And what has their former boss said in the past about people taking the 5th Amendment? Oh yeah, “If you’re innocent, why are you taking the 5th Amendment?”
But like everything else in America, what happened on Jan. 6—including the 140 or so Capitol and D.C. Police Officers who were bludgeoned with poles and bats, pushed and trampled, and sprayed with chemical irritants as well as the physiological trauma many have since experienced—is unfortunately seen through Red or Blue glasses.
A recent Quinnipiac poll found that 93% of Democrats and 56% of Independents considered it an attack on the government, while only 29% of Republicans said the same. A Pew Research Center poll showed a declining share of Republicans who believe it is important that rioters be prosecuted, with 57% expressing support in September, down from 79% in March—while Democrats were steady at 95%.
We are hesitant to go down the slippery slope but believe it is necessary that Congress uses all its means to compel their colleagues to testify because of the enormity of what happened. When a credible member of Congress such as Rep. Mikie Sherrill recounts how she saw members of the House leading recon missions in the days leading up to the rally, we believe this invokes a national security threat that mandates appearances before the committee.
After all, if Hillary Clinton can be questioned by a House committee for 11 hours for the 2012 attacks in Benghazi that led to the deaths of four Americans, so can Rep. Jim Jordan who was on the other side of the table in 2015.
Democracy is at stake here. Let’s be clear and honest: except for a handful of GOP lawmakers, actions by Republicans who have cast their lot with Trump show they care nothing about the institution they were elected to serve in. They had their chance to be part of a bipartisan, bicameral committee in both Houses and they passed. Democrats must be willing to pay a political price to get to the truth of happened.
Even in an election year where the control of Congress may change hands, we believe the most important political story to watch will be the House’s investigation of Jan. 6. Committee members are following the facts and attempting to hold those responsible in the political world accountable. All Americans should want to get to the bottom of what happened and deliver punishment for those responsible for organizing it.
Good to see a simple statement of a plain, sensible, and responsible opinion that such undemocratic behavior demands to be confronted and dealt with in order to preserve our republic. This type of explicit statement is an example of why “a free press” so critical and is explicitly stated in the First Amendment.
In the past year:
Ghislane Maxwell: arrested, tried, convicted. The crimes were sexual and widespread, awful and heinous, affecting a proven few and likely many more, but not millions.
The Insurrectionists: thousands involved, few arrested, fewer tried and convicted, and the ringleaders are still roaming free and spouting lies. Approximately 360 million affected in the US, potentially billions worldwide.
What’s wrong with this picture? Where to begin?!?
This article is so full of lies. Please stop this crap already. We know that FBI informants were in the crowd encouraging people to go in. The cops were waving people in. Antifa dressed in Trump gear were causing a lot of the violence. The whole thing was a setup. There’s tons more of evidence that shows the left were instigating this whole thing so stop spreading the lies. But I guess you get to hold the microphone Eh?
Everybody that starts a riot should be held liable regardless of it that was for political or for example racial protests. If they are causing damage and stealing they are a riot not a protest. The difference between the Washington insurrection was the people damaged government property that they technically own in other riots it’s personal property and peoples livelihood that is destroyed. This needs to stop all over and all people should be charged.
I just hope the same standard applies to the revolutionists that destroyed, burned and looted our cities during the “summer of love” ! Remember Ashli Babbitt, a black cop killed an unarmed, white female veteran. Not a peep from anybody. Reverse the players and just imagine.
Voting fraud, tens of thousands walking around protesting, imprisoned, not pardoned — Both China and Russia cry foul and complain they are sanctioned for far less than what the government did to stop the protests over voting irregularities, fraud and more as made clear by Texas AG Ken Paxton with 6 states, Judicial Watch Tom Fitton with many suits making the irregularities clear, and hundreds of congressmen and senators voting to stop but ignored by Mike Pence — Thomas Jefferson said to pardon and forgive and set straight the Shays’ Rebellion and they were pardoned, and they were armed. Jefferson also said we should not go 20 years without a revolution or rebellion, or our democracy would fail and lead to tyranny. This country was founded on rebellion and revolution and inspired the French Revolution. Yet look at the totalitarianism, censorship and fake news by the left politicians and media — authoritarianism at it’s worst in front of the world stage — the world will never go along with a country that persecutes those who protest as happened on January 6th, and shot one to death, those who have committed the persecution of protestors and do not pardon them will face the music, I would hope with Title 18s242 Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law (Amendment I and others) and international law under the UDHR and ICCPR — the actions of the persecutors against the people of the United States will not go without answer, redress and relief.
I’m more affected by what happened on January 20th at 12 noon. Sleepy Joe and his handlers running us into the ground. Where to begin??
Take it easy Karen
I agree that criminal prosecutions should be pursued aggressively, for rioting, assault and trespassing among other crimes. But Jan. 6 wasn’t a coup attempt: do you really think that the military and Federal bureaucracy would have surrendered and gone along? A coup results in the insurgents controlling ALL the levers of power and there is no doubt that the Federal bureaucracy was (and is) anti-Trump and would have not recognized Trump as President. Similarly, the military takes seriously its oath to protect the Constitution. Characterizing a badly organized riot as a coup or insurrection does a disservice to the English language.
They were trying to stop the newly elected President from being recognized as the winner of a fair election. They should be held accountable.
Anyone not complying with opinion is moderated/censored — the very point of the censored replies.
The idea that Jan 6 riot was some court of coup or “insurrection” is insane nonsense. There were a few hundred people who rioted and trespassed, the other few hundred thousand people were peaceful protests. one person was murdered by a capitol police officer. Im all liklihood there were agents in the crowd that actuallty facilitated the entry into the capitol so the dems could use the whole event as fodder for propaganda.
Fair election???? I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to sell you. Fair elections don’t stop counting votes at midnight. Unless, they’re running out of votes to count. You’re so concerned with these supposed “insurrectionists”, but you don’t give a damn about the rioters that burned and looted most major cities in America, destroying businesses and murdering innocent citizens. Stop being so hypocritical by picking and choosing who to bring to justice and then, maybe, we can have a conversation.
You folks are all pretty sick puppies. Some coup. nobody, except the feds brought guns. Last count 46 people in the slammer, without bond or charges for 10 months. Sounds like Soviet Russia to me. Guess Stalin was right. Tell the BIG LIE long enough and peeple (sheeple?) will believe it!
Based on Fascist republican attitudes I think it is about time we issued pardons to all the members of SDS, Weather Underground, Black Panthers, etc. for their actions in the ’60’s and 70’s. After all they were just exercising their First Amendment rights too.
I respectfully must disagree. If you watched the Cheney and Thompson interviews on ABC and CNN respectively, it is clear that there were multiple avenues toward keeping Trump in power. People who were there on January 6 are coming forward…specifically someone with first hand knowledge said that Ivanka went into see her father twice about stopping the insurrection. It was also intimated that Jeffrey Rosen will be among those testifying in public. To subvert our democracy and attempt to keep someone in power instead of a peaceful transfer of power is indeed an attempt at coup.
This is one of the the most non-fact-based accounts of what happened on January 6 I’ve seen yet. You know perfectly well that Nancy Pelosi wouldn’t allow any Republicans on the Committee who actually wanted to investigate all the issues surrounding that day. Why won’t the Committee investigate and charge numerous clearly identifiable instigators? Why does Ashli Babbitt’s killer go unpunished? Why did police beat people mercilessly in that tunnel? Why are hundreds of imprisoned Americans being held in horrendous conditions, deprived of their Constitutional rights? Why did Nancy Pelosi leave the Capitol grounds so poorly protected that day? There are so many unanswered questions that the Committee cares nothing about. Its only goal is to destroy Donald Trump. The truth of that day is irrelevant to them.
That would be the first “coup attempt” or ” insurrection” in history where not one firearm was found/used….except for the unarmed veteran that was shot and killed by a DC cop. I know this is an opinion piece, but you should still not lie or misrepresent facts.
Brilliant analysis! Now, tell me when the Jan 6th mob burned the capitol to theground, killed someone or blew up a townhouse in Greenwich village. Learn some history!
Someone said, probably the same someone who was soo frigging sure of Russia, Russia, Russia. Tell me who was that guy Epps, inciting people to march INTO the Capitol. on tape the day of and day before that is STILL walking around free as a bird?
Glad to see that was just a time delay, comments from all sides are present. New Jersey is odd, most states don’t require voting registration to specify party and roughly 40% of voters are independent with about 40% registered Democrat and about 20% registered Republican, yet often Republican governors are elected. I believe better needs to step forward and lead this country out of the divisive, polarized and deceptive rhetoric, misconstruction of our Constitution and abuse of power that runs throughout every local, county and state level in every branch — if there’s a silver lining to the pandemic is that that people are beginning to see that is true and today there are no good effective alternatives. Murphy’s “The Constitution is above my pay grade” and anyone running against him or not voting for him “is a white supremacist” and more is so far over the top the need for real change and the best of us to step up and set this state — and country — back on course to our founding principles and virtues of freedom, liberty and equality and limited government as a ‘necessary evil’ and instituted to secure our unalienable rights by our consent — principles long lost behind a veil of concealment, censorship and propaganda. I’m an ambassador at America United International and CEO of The Foundation for the Protection of Constitutional Rights, trying to help those suffering and most in need.
Chalkline is brainwashed. The result of the right wing’s war on education.
Not a veteran, but a traitor who should be tried as a war criminal for trying to overthrow the gov’t.
It would have triggered a civil war because the military would have had to forcibly remove Trump and the republican fascist supporters.
“Fair” is right. All the republicans that were caught committing election fraud means trump received even less votes than he claims.
Meet Ray Epps, Part 2: Damning New Details Emerge Exposing Massive Web of Unindicted Operators at the Heart of January 6
Everything you need to know about the January 6th breach of the Capitol building.
Out of all of the thousands of January 6 protesters, and the thousands of hours of publicly available footage from that fateful day, Ray Epps has turned out to be perhaps the only person nailed dead to rights confessing on camera to plotting a pre-planned attack on the Capitol. On both January 5 and January 6, Epps announced multiple times, at multiple locations, his upcoming plot to breach the US Capitol. He then spent hours attempting to recruit hundreds of others to join him. On top of it all, Epps was seen leading key people and managing key aspects of the initial breach of the Capitol grounds himself.
The FBI responded to these important media stories the very next day. But their response was to quietly purge all online Ray Epps files from their website, then switch to a posture of “What? Who? Ray Epps? Never heard of him.”
Agents of the FBI Field Office in Phoenix (where Epps lives) have gone so far as to explicitly deny knowledge that Ray Epps even exists. Instead of pursuing Epps, FBI agents have instead pursued journalists who had the temerity to ask Epps in person if he was a government operative. “I understand that, but I can’t say anything,” is all Epps would tell them.
https://www.revolver.news/2021/12/damning-new-details-massive-web-unindicted-operators-january-6/
Who is Crybaby “Redneck” Capitol Cop Michael Fanone Really?
https://clarion.causeaction.com/2021/08/10/exposed-the-elite-beltway-pedigree-of-officer-redneck/
I agree. All of the rioters. Starting with those in Portland. The only person killed on Jan 6th was Babbit. Let’s prosecute that officer as well!
Sure 80 million voted for him. Better to believe in big foot
This is another Democrat WHICH HUNT TO TRY AND MAKE IT SEEM THAT PRESIDENT TRUMP IS RESPONSIBLE FOR IT
I don’t see BIDEN Jr . with the smoking gun computer being even accused of any deals with China that happened etc
NOTHING MORE THEN FAKE NEWS FROM THIS BS JERSEY NEWS ! o
AND; Since when is participating in an active Protest NOW Grounds for’n prostitution’s by those same people that Help cause this frucus in the 1st place!! So much for’n freedom & Democracy, since they 0bviouly are 0nly meant for’n the RICH & those Elitist’s.. NOW; Take heed 0f these immortal words, “Let my People G0”!!//
Really, make an effort to give a balanced, intelligent presentation. Choose an author with at least some ability to be objective and honest. Printing such an Op-ed makes it look like you’ll print anything to generate conflict. A proper, mature, intelligent media operation would not print such a polar, obviously partisan and inaccurate article. Not that there are many out there today. So I guess you’re just like all the rest….