Establish a 1/6 Commission - Rob Horowitz
Rob Horowitz, Guest MINDSETTER™
Establish a 1/6 Commission - Rob Horowitz
“The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president,"said the Senate Republican Leader. “And their having that belief was a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories, and reckless hyperbole which the defeated president kept shouting into the largest megaphone on planet Earth. Former President Trump's actions preceding the riot were a disgraceful dereliction of duty.”
Senator McConnell also joined the House Managers in decrying President Trump’s complete failure to act to stop the violence once it began, pointing out that he appeared to revel in it instead. For example, Trump responded with indifference to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s impassioned plea for help. As recounted by Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) and admitted into evidence on Saturday before closing statements, Trump remarked, "Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are."
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTAs predicted, the House Managers did fall short of the just about impossible goal of securing the 17 Republican votes needed to reach the 67- vote threshold for conviction. Still, the 7 Republican votes they did win made this the most bi-partisan impeachment vote in presidential history and many other Republican senators who voted to acquit echoed McConnell in sharply criticizing the former president. Most importantly, the House Managers assembled a written and video record that will serve us well as the “first draft of history.”
The first draft the House Managers leave us with, however, as spectacular as it is, contains the limitations of any first draft of history.. Many questions about the events leading up to and including January 6 remain unanswered. Also, since the impeachment proceedings are perceived at least by many through a partisan lens, the work of the House Managers no matter its soundness and factual basis was viewed skeptically by a substantial minority of the nation.
For these reasons, it remains imperative to establish a 1/6 Commission modeled after the 9/11 Commission. In a letter to President Biden and Congressional leaders, Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton, the co-chairs of the 9/11 Commission, call for just that: “The shocking and tragic assault of Jan. 6th on the U.S. Capitol requires thorough investigation, to ensure that the American people learn the truth of what happened that day. An investigation should establish a single narrative and set of facts to identify how the Capitol was left vulnerable, as well as corrective actions to make the institution safe again.”
Kean, a former Republican governor of New Jersey, followed up the letter by telling The Washington Post’s Dan Balz that, “The Capitol attack “was a wound to democracy itself. . . . If the people we elect cannot be safe when they’re trying to do their work, then the country’s in trouble and will remain in trouble, and we’ve got to therefore get to the bottom of it.”
Establishing a 1/6 Commission is picking up broad bi-partisan support. Congress should move quickly to vote to establish it, ensure the appointment of respected leaders that are evenly divided in partisan affiliation, fund it adequately, and give it a sufficiently broad mission. The Commission’s charge should include an in-depth investigation into all the major causes of January 6, including, but not limited to: the advancement and amplification of false information about the election results and the power of Congress and the Vice-President to reverse the results; the role of militias, QAnon, and other extremist groups; the role of social media; and the failures in intelligence and security.
Just as importantly, the Commission should also be responsible for making a series of recommendations to ensure that an event like January 6 never happens again. It is essential that the peaceful transfer of power--a bulwark of our democracy-- is preserved and that the mechanisms designed to ensure it are strengthened. The events since election day have driven home the point that it can no longer be taken for granted.
The Commission must be given complete independence, subpoena power, and no artificial time limitations on its work. It is the work of preserving and renewing our democracy. There is nothing more important.
