PLEASE, DEMOCRATS, NO SHOWHORSES AT THE JAN. 6 HEARINGS
For the House select committee’s Jan. 6 hearings slated to start Thursday evening to have lasting impact on the American people and lay the groundwork for reforms and safeguards to our democratic process, the committee must stick as closely as possible to journalism’s five W’s and one H: Tell the public the who, what, when, where, why and how of the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
What isn’t needed during the hearings is a sensation-seeking, look-at-us production aimed at capturing and focusing the nation’s attention exclusively on former president Donald Trump and his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
We need the whole, broader story — built on the facts.
Carefully assembled findings stemming from the 11 months of investigations, including more than 1,000 depositions and interviews and more than 140,000 documents, should provide the entire account of what led a mob of men and women to descend on Washington and violently storm the nation’s seat of democracy to disrupt the count of the electoral college ballots during a joint session of Congress.
Hyping the upcoming hearings as blockbuster, designating materials as explosive, predicting a captivated viewing audience — all before the gavel falls — is a recipe for losing American eyeballs. The country has been down this road before. Think two Trump impeachment proceedings in the House.
Admittedly, both of those proceedings had the added ingredient of Republican members who debased themselves trying to obstruct the probes and protect Trump. This time, however, the boycott of the House select committee, led by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has shorn the panel of all Republicans except Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, the only GOP members to vote to form the committee.
Still, the House select committee ought to make sure its Democratic members don’t become part of the show. There will be, if the hype holds up, plenty of live witnesses and preproduced video for viewers to chew over. But please hold the dramatic background music.
The public would benefit from hearing directly from officials and staff within the Trump administration, Trump’s campaign advisers, and other credible on-the-scene witnesses about coordinated actions aimed at preventing the transfer of presidential power on Jan. 20, 2021.
The insurrection story cannot be told by members preening for minutes before live cameras. Their job is to restrain themselves and act as a committee to leave no questions hanging or accounts open to doubt or speculation.
Because the Jan. 6 hearings are not a show.
The country needs to know who, both in Washington and beyond, was involved in the events leading up to and including the storming of the Capitol. What were they seeking to achieve? How was the plan hatched, coordinated and, if paid for, how and by whom?
We might think we know this story — who hasn’t seen images of the assaults on Capitol and D.C. police, the rampage inside the building, the Senate chamber’s desecration? But how did the mob get rolling? Was it planned? Was it spontaneous? Was there more to the attack? And, finally, what was the full, unvarnished role of Donald Trump in an indisputable and ghastly assault on American democracy? And what steps need to be taken to prevent such a dastardly deed from ever happening again?
If it does that, the House select committee will not only have achieved its mission but have earned the nation’s gratitude as well.