Jan. 6 hearings illustrate Trump’s complicity in the riot

Thelatest hearings by the Jan. 6 committee detailed activities within the White House on that day. As the Capitol was being invaded, thenPresident Donald Trump watched the events on TV, ignoring pleas from staff, advisors, friends, and his family to intervene and tell the rioters to go home. Only when law enforcement officers had gained sufficient control to ensure that the insurrection would not be successful did he issue a tweet telling the rioters to go home. At that point, they did.

Several members of the committee spoke eloquently at the end of the hearing, and, for me, the most poignant remarks were those of Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL). He spoke forcefully and passionately about the oath he took as a USAF officer to “Support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” The President didn’t just fail to do that on Jan. 6, he declined to do so, thereby defining himself as the “domestic enemy.”

This same oath is administered to every senior government official and was referenced by Marie Yovanovitch, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, in her book, “Lessons From The Edge.” She was asked to pledge an oath of allegiance to the president but refused on grounds that she had already sworn to defend “the Constitution of the United States.” She was dismissed. This same principle was mentioned by Madeleine Albright in her book, “Fascism: A Warning.” Allegiance to a single individual is a common path to dictatorship.

Rep. Kinzinger noted that then-President Trump’s “Conduct on Jan. 6 was a violation of his oath and is a stain on our history.” He alluded to pending recommendations from the committee for laws to prevent another instance similar to Jan 6. He has also announced that he will not run for re-election. Perhaps it was the threatening letters to his family from other Republicans who disagree with him. Robert Burney

Sperryville