Trump does not cooperate with commission of January 6 and appeals to Supreme Court 1:32
Editor's Note: Christine Todd Whitman is a former Governor of New Jersey and a former Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (APA) of the George W. Bush Administration. Norman Eisen, former ambassador to the Czech Republic and special counsel for former President Barack Obama on ethics; He was special impeachment counsel for the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Democrats in 2019-2020. Joanna Lydgate is the former Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Todd Whitman and Eisen are serving as co-chairs of the Center for United States Democracy (@StatesUnited) with Lydgate serving as executive director. The opinions expressed in this comment are those of the authors.
(CNN) -
The anniversary of the assault on the Capitol is coming up on January 6, and we still don't know the full truth about the events that occurred and led up to that day.
While there has been progress toward accountability - among other things, we at the Center for Democracy in America recently filed a lawsuit on behalf of the District of Columbia against the Proud Boys and other conspirators who invaded the Capitol - overall, our democracy may be more vulnerable than last year.
That's why the Jan. 6 House Select Committee is right to host bipartisan hearings and release an interim report for this summer.
The sooner it happens, the better, and the less stuck you will be in politics and the midterm elections.
That is not to say that the pace of the investigation has been lacking. Those who were critical of Congress on that front neglect the reality of good research, which is shaped like a pyramid. At the bottom, investigators gather a wealth of information through tactics ranging from informal interviews to official statements and document subpoenas. All that information is then reduced and concentrated through hearings, where key facts are analyzed and hypotheses are tested. Finally, investigators issue a report or reports, presenting a clear fact-based narrative and presenting conclusions and proposals for correction.
We are now substantially in the first phase of the commission's in-depth investigation.
The commission received thousands of documents and interviewed more than 300 witnesses.
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The select commission investigating the assault on the Capitol was formed 6 months ago.
This is what he discovered
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Pro-Trump protesters pushed through barriers along the perimeter of the Capitol building, clashing with police, the full riot gear, and some calling the officers "traitors" for doing their jobs.
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The protesters pushed the metal fences and the police.
They also used the fences to push the protesters back.
(Credit: SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)
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Police officers were seen leaning over metal fences to beat people trying to cross them.
(Credit: SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)
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The session to count and certify Electoral College votes for president and vice president was suspended.
This photo shows Senators Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConell before the suspension.
(Credit: KEVIN DIETSCH / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
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A Capitol police officer confronts a horde of pro-Trump protesters as they entered the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The protesters broke through security barriers and entered Congress debating the certification of electoral votes.
(Credit: SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)
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An agitator enters the Senate compound and sits on the main podium.
(Credit: Igor Bobic / Huffington Post)
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Security agents point their weapons at a door that was vandalized in the House of Representatives, during the session to certify the electoral votes of President Joe Biden.
(Credit: Drew Angerer / Getty Images)
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A crowd of Trump supporters gather outside the Capitol, as seen from inside the building, on the afternoon of January 6, 2021 in Washington.
(Credit: Cheriss May / Getty Images)
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This was the situation in the Capitol on January 6 in the afternoon, when protesters stormed the premises of Congress and confronted the police.
There was tear gas.
(Credit: SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)
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A Capitol police officer wears a gas mask during armed protesters' rampage into Congress.
(Credit: SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)
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A protester is seen hanging from the balcony of the Senate Chamber amid riots at the Capitol.
(Credit: Win McNamee / Getty Images)
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Capitol police officers detained several protesters outside the House of Representatives after they stormed a joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021 in Washington protesting Biden's victory.
(Credit: Drew Angerer / Getty Images)
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Some people in Congress use plastic bags as armed protesters stormed the joint session of Congress to ratify Biden's victory as president.
(Credit: Drew Angerer / Getty Images)
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A man sat on the main Senate podium as the Capitol was closed and police tried to contain the escalation of protests.
(Credit: Win McNamee / Getty Images)
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Outside the Capitol, pro-Trump protesters continued their protest to prevent the victory of President-elect Joe Biden from being certified.
(Credit: Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images)
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Police throw water at protesters who clashed to try to enter the Capitol in Washington.
(Credit: JOSEPH PREZIOSO / AFP via Getty Images)
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Protesters enter the United States Capitol building on January 6, 2021 in Washington.
(Credit: Win McNamee / Getty Images)
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(Credit: SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)
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Supporters of US President Donald Trump protest in the Capitol Rotunda on January 6, 2021. (Credit: SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)
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Demonstrators protest outside the United States Capitol in Washington, after rioters stormed the Congress building.
(Credit: Samuel Corum / Getty Images)
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Trump supporters clash with police and security forces outside the Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021. (Credit: JOSEPH PREZIOSO / AFP via Getty Images)
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Pro-Trump protesters broke through security and entered the Capitol as Congress debated Electoral College certification.
(Credit: ALEX EDELMAN / AFP via Getty Images)
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Crowds gather outside the United States Capitol on January 6 amid clashes with police.
(Credit: ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP via Getty Images)
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A Capitol police officer looks out of a broken window as protesters gather at the building on January 6, 2021 in Washington.
(Credit: Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images)
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Pro-Trump protesters gather outside the US Capitol building.
(Credit: Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images)
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The image shows the deployment of tear gas as pro-Trump protesters enter the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. (Credit: Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images)
What we know from the investigation of the assault on the Capitol on January 6
We know more about the dire events that led up to January 6, including the January 5 "war room" at the Willard Hotel, where Trump loyalists like Steve Bannon and Rudy Giuliani planned to overturn the legitimate election result. We know more about the extensive reach of Trump's campaign to state representatives asking them to name bogus lists of "alternate" voters. We know that on January 6, the defeated president and his team watched the violence and chaos on Capitol Hill for more than three hours, responding to desperate requests for help, without then-President Donald Trump speaking.
When witnesses refused to cooperate in the first phase of fact-gathering, Congress resisted, referring Bannon and former White House Secretary General Mark Meadows to the Justice Department for their blatant and dismissive refusal to cooperate. After surrendering in contempt, Bannon compared the charges to a witch hunt. Meadows, on the other hand, claimed that executive privilege protects him from testifying. And when Trump brought a meritless executive privilege argument in an attempt to conceal his administration's records, the commission litigated fiercely and swiftly: it won in district court and at the appellate levels in just three months, and now it has requested one. expedited decision in the Supreme Court.
As the commission's investigation moves into its next major chapter, those Trump administration documents will be needed for the hearings, which we can logically expect to begin as early as the first quarter of this year if a report is to be issued for summer. The hearings will be vitally important to sharpen the commission's own investigation and to focus the country's attention on the truth. We've seen it many times before, from the Watergate hearings to the Iran-Contra hearings to Trump's first impeachment.
Then the third phase will come: the reports.
The interim report is scheduled to follow earlier this summer, with a final report later.
The commission's calendar reflects the reality that the closer we get to the midterm elections in November, the more politicized the perception of each of its acts will be.
The bipartisan nature of the commission's operations is critical to the legitimacy of its work, and they are likely to recognize that issuing a report before the start of the fall campaign will maintain that record.
Commission investigating Capitol robbery votes to recommend charges against Mark Meadows for contempt
Watch the assault on the Capitol from the middle of the crowd 0:42
Research, the key to knowing the truth
Above all, we need to know more about why Trump failed to quell the insurrection for so long after the Capitol broke down. Investigating the report on that and many other topics will be instrumental in helping the American people understand the truth about January 6 and in helping leaders at all levels of government take action to prevent another insurrection.
While little more than a majority of Republicans in a recent CBS poll said the criminal invasion of the Capitol was appropriately characterized as "defending freedom," there is a chance for truth: According to an NPR / PBS NewsHour / Marist poll , 62% of Americans, and even 29% of Republicans, believe that the investigation is appropriate. Bipartisan leaders in Congress and the state and local officials who oversee our elections have been fighting the "Big Lie" for more than a year. They demand action from all levels of government, and speaking the provisional truth promptly can help.
But the commission must stay there.
Once you find the facts, you must consider their importance in light of the law.
Part of that is looking ahead and recommending new legislation to prevent something like January 6 from happening again.
And the other equally important part is looking back and making criminal referrals to federal and state prosecutors if the evidence supports it.
There is a long and bipartisan history of such references.
The committee's interim report should detail all possible violations and ask prosecutors to investigate.
After all, the possibility of prosecution is also an important part of accountability.
New video on the insults in the assault on the Capitol 1:31
We do not agree with people who, in the name of the appearance of nonpartisanship, urge Congress to stay away from criminal references. Congress was one of the victims of the January 6 attack and, like any victim, it has the prerogative, and here, the responsibility, to tell the authorities what happened.
There are many reasons to believe that the conspirators against our democracy may have violated federal law. Among other applicable provisions, the commission's vice president, Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming, pointed to 18 USC 1512, which prohibits conspiracies to "corruptly obstruct ..." official proceedings. And a federal judge (appointed by Trump) has already held that Congress's Jan. 6 electoral vote count was in fact an official procedure under statute.
State and local prosecutors may also be looking at the January 6 report to learn of the various efforts by the conspirators to disrupt and steal the election. Fani Willis, Georgia's Fulton County District Attorney, announced an investigation into Trump's alleged attempt to interfere in the Georgia election, including his call to ask Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find 11,780 votes" that did not exist. to change the state. The commission's investigation may well provide Willis with more information about Trump and his associates, and in fact, we know that Fulton's prosecutors are already reaching out to commission staff. Trump denies all wrongdoing.
Georgia is also not necessarily the only state where Trump and his allies tried to improperly influence election officials and obstruct the vote count.
For example, in November 2020, Trump summoned Michigan lawmakers to the White House in an attempt to convince them to overturn Biden's roughly 154,000-vote victory in the state.
The commission may have evidence of that remarkably blatant overreach, or evidence of soliciting voter fraud in other states.
Federal officials warn that the anniversary of the assault on the Capitol may be exploited by certain actors, but they do not cite specific or credible threats.
What to expect after the report is published
Once the interim report is released, referrals will be in the hands of federal, state and local prosecutors. A referral is not an order, of course: Prosecutors have yet to conduct independent investigations and make their own prosecution determinations. For careful prosecutors like US Attorney General Merrick Garland that independent investigation takes time, so referrals must be made sooner rather than later.
We understand the impatience with Garland in some quarters, but his deliberate approach makes sense.
He lowered the political temperature in the Justice Department and restored order.
You're carefully researching hot topics, letting the commission do its job and then picking up the strings and following where they lead.
We are confident that you will take any referrals seriously, and we believe your handling of the Bannon case proves it.
Bannon was found in contempt of Congress in November.
One year after January 6, we finally got closer to clarity on what Trump and his allies were willing to do to steal an election.
But we need more information and more responsibility.
The interim report cannot come soon enough.
Assault on the Capitol