RedDirtGirl sent me this great primer from Just Security. Here’s the introduction:
Nearly 11 months into its inquiry, the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol already represents among the most complex and sprawling investigations in congressional history. In light of the volume and complexity of information, this resource is intended to organize and distill key prongs of the multifaceted campaign to overturn the 2020 election. Particularly in advance of this month’s public hearings, it also highlights key facts and findings that are already known, as well as important unanswered questions.
The resource is structured around the key prongs of the investigation itself — how the Select Committee has organized its investigative work — which mirror the key prongs of the campaign to overturn the election. The Committee’s investigative teams are color-coded in name (Gold, Blue, Purple, Red, and Green); this primer has in turn highlighted key facts and findings according to that same organizational structure.
Critically, “January 6th” has, like “Watergate,” become a useful shorthand. But as with Watergate, January 6th represents neither a single nor isolated event, but instead a much broader and more multifaceted effort to stop the transfer of power. We hope this resource is useful in distilling those components and what we critically know — and don’t yet know — about each. This resource was produced as a collaboration between Just Security and Protect Democracy
For each team, they break it into two parts:
– What We Know
– What to Look For
Gold Team
Efforts by Trump and close associates to pressure federal, state, and local officials to overturn the election.
Blue Team
Law enforcement and intelligence agency failures.
Purple Team
Domestic extremist groups, QAnon, and online misinformation.
Red Team
Jan. 6 Rally planners and the Stop the Steal Movement.
Green Team
Following the money behind efforts to overturn the election.
Ann Marie
Anyone have a recommendation as to which channel to watch the hearings on? I rarely watch news on television and I don’t know which group of commentators will be least annoying.
SiubhanDuinne
I am really eager to hear from the Green Team in particular. Not as sexy as Gold and the others, but it might well end up being the most productive approach.
Follow the money….
Baud
@Ann Marie:
Definitely not Balloon Juice.
Omnes Omnibus
@Ann Marie: C-SPAN?
NotMax
‘@Ann Marie
C-SPAN.
CaseyL
@Ann Marie: Probably MSNBC, since they have a good roster: Wallace, Hayes, Maddow, and possibly O’Donnell. Maybe more.
For a very different kind of coverage, Stephen Colbert and The Late Show will be live right after the hearings (CBS), if you want a humorous (though still intelligent, serious, and seriously angry) take.
I’ll be more or less at my neighbor’s mercy, since we’ll be watching at her house. I’ll advocate for Colbert, and settle for MSNBC.
Ann Marie
@Baud: But at least Balloon Juice jackals are informative and/or amusing, unlike the television people.
Ann Marie
@CaseyL: Thanks. MSNBC sounds good. I may switch between that and C-SPAN and see which works best for me.
HRA
Testing to see if I am out of purgatory now.
Tony Jay
RAINBOW TEAM
Specialist distraction unit tasked with pre-trolling GOP obstruction efforts by being so fabulous that the Wingnutosphere’s agents simply cannot think straight.
Scout211
@Ann Marie:
I read yesterday that most networks are using the C-Span feed for the actual hearings, so you can’t go wrong with C-Span for the 2 hour hearing.
The commentary before and after. . . Ugh. I may just avoid that and read the comments here.
Wyatt Salamanca
New court filings raise questions about Sen. Mike Lee’s involvement in attempts to overturn the 2020 election
https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2022/06/09/new-court-filings-raise/
James E Powell
Some of us are not able to watch – for work, domestic obligations, or mental health reasons. We will be checking in here later for observations & cogent commentary. We are all counting on you.
VOR
@Ann Marie: Supposedly it is a pool arrangement – CSPAN runs the cameras and each network can do their own commentary.
HRA
How long is moderation?
Scout211
Some of the jackals might be interested in this new development in the Washington Post reporters’ big social media feud:
Felicia Sonmez was fired.
zhena gogolia
@Ann Marie: even MSNBC would annoy me. But I’m too nervous to watch in real time. I’ll get it from BJ like watching an eclipse in a bucket of water
Omnes Omnibus
One of Meadows’ aides is getting new counsel. Probably means she is cooperating.
Another Scott
It seems like there is some overlap in the Red and Gold teams. E.g. Grassley (from January 5, 2021):
(Emphasis added.)
Why didn’t they expect him to be there??
They need to follow the evidence, even if it points to “my good friend and colleague…”
Cheers,
Scott.
Mousebumples
I don’t have cable, and while I like most of the NBC commentators, Chuck Todd is a hard pass from me. Probably going with PBS? Might catch Colbert tonight – or on YouTube tomorrow.
zhena gogolia
@Another Scott: they expected him to be dangling as they say in British mysteries
Ann Marie
@zhena gogolia: Honestly, that’s what I usually do. I just feel compelled to watch at least some of this tonight.
CaseyL
I’m watching the ongoing defenestration of Michigan’s Republican gubernatorial candidates (the latest front-runner arrested for involvement in the insurrection) and wondering if there’s some DoJ sleight of hand happening.
SpaceUnit
Official song of the Jan. 6 hearings:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9u2UssRhyk
Geminid
@Wyatt Salamanca: This will come up in Mike Lee’s reelection fight. A few weeks ago Utah Democrats made a controversial decision to not field their own Senate candidate but endorse independent Evan McMullin instead. They are still fielding a full array of Democrats in other races.
Utah is a very Republican state, but trump has never been as popular there as in states like Arkansas. For various reasons, the LDS Church members who dominate Utah politics have never been too keen on the MAGA movement.
band gap
The colors chosen for the various investigative avenues is perfect. Someone put some thought into those.
Wyatt Salamanca
@SpaceUnit:
My choice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0KQWTBljjg
HRA
I am going to watch it in the parlor along with my biggest spatula along side of me to use as needed.
NotMax
‘@Mosuebumples
Can go the online route for C-SPAN.
geg6
@Ann Marie:
CSPAN is great until there is a break and they open the phones. You’ll destroy neurons listening to that. MSNBC looks to have a pretty good roster for this. With the exception of Chris Hayes, of whom I am not fond.
SpaceUnit
@Wyatt Salamanca:
good one!
Scout211
@NotMax:
I think you need a subscription for their streaming channels but it says the website feed is free.
C-Span
hilts
@geg6:
What don’t you like about Chris Hayes? I think he’s the best of the bunch on MSNBC.
CarolPW
@Scout211: The committee also will be streaming it:
https://january6th.house.gov/
Anyway
I’m not planning on watching the hearings — can’t stand senators / politicians pontificating and holding forth.
I’ll get the highlights from you guys later.
Go Ds!
Dorothy A. Winsor
MSNBC has already started their coverage. Maddow is laying out how radical the Jan 6 events were.
UncleEbeneezer
For anyone wanting more prep reading, The Brookings Guide to the January 6th Hearings And the Question of Criminality report is a good read (though fairly long)
Geminid
@hilts: I don’t have cable TV anymore, so I wouldn’t know. But has Mr. Hayes ever publically accounted for his attempt to publicize Tara Reade’s scurrilous accusations against Joe Biden? I thought Hayes’ conduct in that matter was reckless and discreditable.
Cameron
@Anyway: Amen.
hilts
I don’t have a vivid memory of Chris Hayes’ coverage of Tara Reade’s accusation. From what I’ve seen of his program, he never struck me as reckless.
MagdaInBlack
@SiubhanDuinne: Me too.
UncleEbeneezer
Another good primer on what we already know about 1/6, going into the hearings:
“The committee is calling these proceedings hearings, but they shouldn’t be confused with a judicial hearing in which a court examines and weighs evidence and reaches a verdict. In the upcoming presentations, the judge and jury will be the American people.
…
What we won’t learn from the hearings is whether Trump or any other high-level politicians are definitively guilty of crimes. This is not a criminal trial. The select committee, as a legislative body, has different goals. Their stated goals are to learn the truth about what happened, to present that truth to the American people and consider legislation to prevent additional attacks.
The Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol was carried out with the intention of preventing the peaceful transfer of power and upending democracy. The American people therefore deserve to know the entire story of how it happened and who was responsible.
And indeed, while the committee has promised tantalizing new information, it’s worth refreshing our memories before the hearings start, because in fact, we already know a great deal about the lead-up to Jan. 6, and how the events unfolded.”
WaterGirl
@HRA: It takes until one of the front-pagers sees it. Sometimes 5 minutes, sometimes much longer.
O. Felix Culpa
@Scout211: Thanks for that link. I couldn’t get into the C-SPAN channel because I don’t have a television provider
@Geminid: Agreed. The Tara Reade thing was an obvious set-up, and Hayes went out of his way to publicize her lies. Don’t know if he ever apologized for his role in propping up that faux scandal.
MagdaInBlack
I just discovered Meidas Touch is streaming it live. I have it on Youtube
Geminid
@hilts: The junior Senator from Vermont brought out a dubious side in some people. The Tara Reade story gave his adherents hope of an 11th hour “victory,” despite the story’s flimsiness and her history as a liar and grifter. Hayes did not take it as far as did Ryan Grim and others, but it’s still something I think he should have addressed later. But maybe he has.
WaterGirl
@MagdaInBlack: Link?
MagdaInBlack
@WaterGirl: I’m defective at posting links, but lemme give it a try
https://youtu.be/ey8SxcRaoBM
( oh yay, it seems to have worked?)