Committee Chairman Rep. Mississippi Democrat Bennie Thompson outlined how future hearings would focus on the details of the conspiracy and the careful construction of Trump’s knowledgeable lies – committee members explained that they saw in Trump’s behavior a “sophisticated” seven-step plan to overthrow the election – but Thursday’s hearing focused mostly on reminding Americans of the efforts involved. This was no ordinary political protest. This was no ordinary election loss. Instead, Donald Trump’s actions before, during and after the January 6 Capitol attack marked an end to America’s 240-year tradition of peaceful transitions of presidential power.
Instead, Donald Trump embarked on a concerted effort to use the tools of the presidency and the US government to overturn the legitimate, authentic election results – even though his own staff told him, according to their statement sent Thursday in the hearing, that “there was no there. “
First, Trump lied to the public. Then he tried to arm the Ministry of Justice to support his lies. He pressured state election officials and legislators to embrace far-reaching legal theories and change their states’ election results. His team worked to invent and send invalid ballot papers to Washington in the hope that Congress would recognize them and allow him to overturn his loss. He summoned supporters and urged armed groups to join him in DC on Jan. 6, promising in a tweet that it “will be wild.” He then pressured Vice President Mike Pence to violate his constitutional oath and refuse to certify the valid election results by January 6th. And in the end, he apparently refused to lift a finger – either to make a phone call or send a tweet – to summon federal assistance, as the Capitol and the Legislative Branch remained under violent assault for hours. Instead, according to the committee, only Vice President Pence, hiding himself at a secure loading dock inside the Capitol complex after being hastily evacuated from the Senate above, contacted the military and ordered them to respond and secure the Capitol.
Taken together, this is the most daring, calculated, and unconstitutional plot the United States has faced in its history – one that came far closer to success than anyone had imagined.
During these two hours, the committee succeeded in reformulating the national conversation and focused on the true horror of 6 January. In doing so, it certainly increased the pressure on the Ministry of Justice, which is conducting a seemingly slow-moving parallel investigation. who have seen hundreds of charges and low-level charges against Jan. 6 rioters – inclusive arrest just yesterday by a GOP gubernatorial candidate in Michigan – and a number of more serious “outrageous conspiracy”Accuses leaders of Oath Keepers and Proud Boys. So far, it has stopped penetrating Donald Trump’s motley collection of hermits, grippers and hangers.
Despite the shocking clarity of the committee’s opening presentation, it is uncertain at best whether it will be able to break through US political polarization and its increasingly separate and unequal media ecosystems. Fox News, alone among the major networks, refused to broadcast the hearings live and instead allowed its host Tucker Carlson, who increasingly has openly white nationalist views, to spray poison to his millions of primetime viewers during an hour-long show, unusually uninterrupted by advertisements.
In many ways, Fox’s decision to double Tucker Carlson’s lies on Thursday night is not surprising. The network’s decision in the weeks following the 2020 election – when Donald Trump built up the big lie and set the fire for January 6 – to embrace Trump’s lies and undermine the legitimacy of then – newly elected President Joe Biden’s victory does it all accused of conspiracy in the violence on Capitol Hill.
The challenge that the United States is now facing, heading into next week’s follow-up hearings, is that none of us know what part of Donald Trump’s story we live in – the beginning, the middle or the end? The committee’s work ahead is to convince the United States to see January 6 as a turning point, not a warning that we will later say was ignored.
After all, there is a saying that there is no such thing as a failed coup. A failed coup is just an exercise.