Let’s Start with the Facts
By Ken Zino
The way you pose a question sometimes dictates the answer, but not always the final result. Given our critically wounded democracy, I have little confidence in the politicians, most -- if not all of them Republicans -- who are presiding over our decline into fascism. They doth protest too much, after initially condemning January 6. Then claiming it was a peaceful demonstration, a legitimate political protest. And now, given the current political winds, seeing the chance that – maybe, just maybe – a coup isn’t needed to seize the power they lost, they are claiming that they are shocked, yes shocked that politics is actively in the background of the January 6 committee.
The remit of the committee seems clear (full resolution here https://january6th.house.gov/about) excerpted:
“Whereas January 6, 2021, was one of the darkest days of our democracy, during which insurrectionists attempted to impede Congress’s Constitutional mandate to validate the presidential election and launched an assault on the United States Capitol Complex that resulted in multiple deaths, physical harm to over 140 members of law enforcement, and terror and trauma among staff…
“Whereas, on January 27, 2021, the Department of Homeland Security issued a National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin that due to the “heightened threat environment across the United States,” in which “[S]ome ideologically-motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence.” The Bulletin also stated that:
“(1) “DHS is concerned these same drivers to violence will remain through early 2021 and some DVEs [domestic violent extremists] may be emboldened by the January 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. to target elected officials and government facilities.”; and…
Whereas, on April 15, 2021, Michael Bolton, the Inspector General for the United States Capitol Police, testified to the Committee on House Administration of the House of Representatives that --
(1) “The Department lacked adequate guidance for operational planning. USCP did not have policy and procedures in place that communicated which personnel were responsible for operational planning, what type of operational planning documents its personnel should prepare, nor when its personnel should prepare operational planning documents.;” and
(2) “USCP failed to disseminate relevant information obtained from outside sources, lacked consensus on interpretation of threat analyses, and disseminated conflicting intelligence information regarding planned events for January 6, 2021”; and
Whereas the security leadership of the Congress under-prepared for the events of January 6th, with United States Capitol Police Inspector General Michael Bolton testifying again on June 15, 2021, that --
(1) “USCP did not have adequate policies and procedures for FRU (First Responder Unit) defining its overall operations…
(2) “The Department did not have adequate policies and procedures for securing ballistic helmets and vests strategically stored around the Capitol Complex.;” and
(3) “FRU did not have the proper resources to complete its mission.”: Now, therefore, be it resolved…
1) To investigate and report upon the facts, circumstances, and causes relating to the January 6, 2021, domestic terrorist attack upon the United States Capitol Complex … and relating to the interference with the peaceful transfer of power, (emphasis added) including facts and causes relating to the preparedness and response of the United States Capitol Police and other Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies...
(2) To examine and evaluate evidence developed by relevant Federal, State, and local governmental agencies regarding the facts and circumstances surrounding the domestic terrorist attack …. on the Capitol and targeted violence and domestic terrorism relevant to such terrorist attack…
What I expect of the House panel are: Questions answered under oath by the House members who have publicly implicated themselves as "persons of fascist interest." Since this is our burning of the Reichstag moment -- Hitler used it as an excuse to suspend civil liberties -- I think we must follow our law here. How this plays out, we will see, but first as Badge 714 often said, “just the facts.” There is a tangled web here that's needs elucidation by the persons involved.
But you might say “this is a dangerous precedent,” claiming this will weaponize congressional subpoena power. Well, let’s begin at the beginning. A lot of what happened on January 6 is on camera, but that’s just the culmination of what appears to be a long and deliberate attempt to keep Trump in power at any cost. Including mobilizing our police and armed services to seize power, declare martial law and nullify an election he lost.
Here’s the Joint Chief of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, describing the Capitol attack, six days after it occurred -- eight days before President Biden’s inauguration: “The violent riot in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021 was a direct assault on the U.S. Congress, the Capitol building, and our Constitutional process. We mourn the deaths of the two Capitol policemen and others connected to these unprecedented events.
“We witnessed actions inside the Capitol building that were inconsistent with the rule of law. The rights of freedom of speech and assembly do not give anyone the right to resort to violence, sedition and insurrection.”