By Ken Zino
Pick your detective – Joe Friday of “just the facts” renown or Sherlock Holmes of “Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls into the pit which he digs for another.”
Both were present in spirit at the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol Thursday afternoon. Chairman Thompson (D-MS) and Vice Chair Cheney (R-WY) foreshadowed what was an inevitable move by the panel in their opening remarks after a summer filled with uncontested new information about extreme, pre-meditated and ultimately violent attempts to reverse the legal outcome of the 2020 election by former President Donald J. Trump and his political sycophants.
First, Thompson: “So, I’ll say to you again as I did in June: this investigation is not about politics. It’s not about party. It’s about the facts, plain and simple. And it’s about making sure our government functions under the rule of law as our Constitution demands. … We will also take a step back and look at that evidence in a broader context providing a summary of key facts we have uncovered. Facts relevant to President Trump’s state of mind. About his motivations and about his intent.
“What did President Trump know? What was he told? What was his personal and substantial role in the multi-part plan to overturn the election?” Thompson said.
Thompson’s Points:
•Most of this evidence comes from Republicans, not from Democrats or Donald Trump’s opponents.
•They are aides who worked loyally for Donald Trump for years: Republican state officials and legislators. Republican electors. The Chairwoman of the Republican National Committee. Political professionals who worked at the highest levels of the Trump Campaign. Trump appointees who served in the most senior positions in the Justice Department. President Trump’s staff and closest advisors in the White House. Members of President Trump’s family. His own White House counsel.
Cheney’s points:
•“The violence and lawlessness of January 6th was unjustifiable, but our nation cannot only punish the foot soldiers who stormed our Capitol. Those who planned to overturn our election, and brought us to the point of violence, must also be accountable. With every effort to excuse or justify the conduct of the former President, we chip away at the foundation of our Republic...
•“He admitted he had lost the election. He took actions consistent to that belief. Claims that President Trump actually believed the election was stolen are not supported by fact and lack evidence. There is no defense that Donald Trump was duped, or irrational. No President can defy the rule of law and act this way in a constitutional republic. Period.” Cheney said.
No surprise then that at the close of the business meeting (formally, it was not a hearing) Cheney proposed the committee subpoena the ex-president. The resolution passed 9-0.
Insurrectionist in Chief Trump no doubt will contest the subpoena. In the unlikely event he does appear, he will take the Fifth like the 30 other witnesses when asked about Trump’s role and their own in this plot to overthrow the government.
No matter what occurs with the committee, yet another unresolved question lingers. It’s the biggest one now that the game is afoot in this Shakespearean tragedy. In my mind, it is only a matter of time before the Department of Justice indicts the Insurrectionist in Chief. Trump will fall into a pit of lies. The pit he dug to try and bury a lawfully elected current president will be his fate in court; United States v. Donald J. Trump.