Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When they say they’re pro-life, they don’t mean yours.

Let’s show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

People identifying as christian while ignoring christ and his teachings is a strange thing indeed.

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

Republicans in disarray!

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

Washington Post’s Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

“Joe Biden deserved better than he got from some folks in his own party.”

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Nothing worth doing is easy.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

You are here: Home / Balloon Juice / Anti-Insurrection Open Thread: The Jan 6 Committee Rides Again

Anti-Insurrection Open Thread: The Jan 6 Committee Rides Again

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I had this in draft last night, and decided I’d wait for just the right time to hit post…

… The five sessions have revealed a storyteller’s eye, with focus, clarity, an understanding of how news is digested in modern media, and strong character development — even if former President Donald Trump’s allies suggest there aren’t enough actors…

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy’s decision not to participate gave the committee a gift, the chance to craft hearings as a unicorn of sorts in today’s political age.

The hearings are concise, no more than 2 ½ hours, each day with a specific theme. It goes like this: First, viewers are told at the outset what they’re going to hear. Then they hear it. Then they are told at the end what they just heard. Usually there’s a preview of what’s next — a trick that likely reflects the advice of James Goldston, a former ABC News producer hired as a consultant…

“It’s just focused on the witnesses and the evidence,” said Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California, a member of the panel who also led the second Trump impeachment hearings. “We know we have a precious opportunity to get this information to the American people, and we don’t want to waste a minute of it.”

The committee uses clips from taped testimony like a journalist would include quotes in a story. Questioning of live witnesses doesn’t wander.

Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Republican Vice Chair Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., question witnesses alongside one other member who is in charge of each hearing…

Each day’s hearing fits the overall theme — that the plot to nullify the 2020 election was multi-faceted, with the events of Jan. 6, 2021, only one part, and that many of the people surrounding Trump didn’t believe his claims of election fraud.

Witness testimony gains power because it mostly comes from Republicans, Trump’s former aides and allies, Jamieson said. It’s one thing to have Schiff declare Trump’s rigged election claims were bull, quite another to have it come from the former president’s attorney general, with an Ivanka Trump endorsement…

The hearings also command the attention of journalists by consistently offering something new or unexamined, such as Thursday’s revelation of congressmen who pleaded for presidential pardons, or the extent of Trump’s fundraising off his false claims of fraud…


There’s so much material to review!

Last week:

Today:

Another strong contender:

A sample — hey, those Danes have a documentary to promote! — from the Independent:

… In an interview with The Independent, Mr Holder said Trump family members — and Eric Trump in particular — were unbothered by the idea that the often violent rhetoric they and their patriarch espoused after his loss to now-president Joe Biden would inspire his supporters to act out.

“When I asked Eric about the potential danger of sort of rhetoric and the sort of the belligerence, he felt that it was … fair game in that it … was sort of the equivalent on the other side of the political discourse, or he felt that it was the right thing to do … because the election was stolen,” he said.

Mr Holder said he had a foreboding feeling about the chance for violence as filming went on and the former president and his family continued to claim the 2020 election was stolen, even as courts rejected at least 60 lawsuits seeking to invalidate the results…

The filmmaker said his Trump-focused documentary, which is titled Unprecedented and will be released this summer “chronicle the events leading up to the Capitol attack” and serves also as a “fascinating insight into the Trump dynamic” that “shows a sort of Succession type vibe between the three siblings and who potentially could one day take over from their father in terms of heading that sort of Trump dynasty”.

Back story:

Also relevant:

You can’t cheat turn an honest man (into a grifter)…

… For most of his 76 years, Trump has attracted operators, wannabes and seemingly strait-laced people who, once they enter his orbit, become unusually craven. It happened when he was an aspiring real estate and casino mogul, when he was a reality-TV celebrity and, with much greater and lasting consequence, when he was president.

Michael Cohen, a former Trump lawyer and enforcer, is someone who well understands Trump as a manipulator. He is familiar with the triggers that Trump is able to pull when he so desires. I gave Cohen a call to ask him about what lessons he drew from Thursday’s congressional hearing — and what life is like as a Trump co-dependent.

“I believe that everyone in Trump’s inner circle are all fundamentally missing something in their lives. For me, I had just come off a series of health issues when I was asked to join the Trump Organization. I had missed the excitement,” Cohen told me. “There’s an excitement in being around the celebrity of Donald Trump. He has a great ability to make those around him feel that they’re part of that moment — even if it’s not for a good thing.”

“It’s intoxicating,” he continued. “Until things go bad with Trump, then they go really bad. Ultimately, those who were his inner circle all end up having their lives turned upside down. And for what, for who?”…

There is a long parade of people, past and present, who have indulged their inner Donalds once the former president tapped them on the shoulder. Some of them were already steeped in the dark arts: Roy Cohn, Roger Stone and Steve Bannon come to mind. Others went rogue once Trump showed them the way. Jeffrey Clark counts as one of those, I think. The Jan. 6 hearings have proven that lots of others joined Clark’s ranks during Trump’s White House years.

The list of Trump’s corruptibles may include several Republican legislators. Representatives Andy Biggs, Mo Brooks, Matt Gaetz, Louie Gohmert, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Scott Perry all lobbied Trump for presidential pardons after the Jan. 6 siege, according to hearing testimony. Perhaps none of them did anything wrong, but people don’t typically seek a pre-emptive presidential pardon unless they believe they might be charged with a crime.

Whatever comes of the Jan. 6 hearings, at least two things are already evident. First, there was a clear line between those who knew right from wrong in the Trump presidency, and those who didn’t. Second, Trump made a home in the White House for legions of lawyers, legislators and lackeys inclined to grift — or even undermine democracy. That was to be expected. After all, Trump has spent a lifetime recruiting those kinds of people.

Reader Interactions

63Comments

  1. 1.

    Old School

    I first read “MSNBC sources” as people who worked at MSNBC.  It took a beat to realize it was “people MSNBC has talked to.”

  2. 2.

    Baud

    Mark Meadows in an interesting guess.  There was speculation as to why he wasn’t prosecuted.

    This is more exciting than finding out who shot JR?

  4. 4.

    Another Scott

    I haven’t heard people speculate about the raw video from Alex Holder (which will be in the 3-part “Unprecedented” series on Discovery+ “later this summer”). Is that old news now? Couldn’t that be part of what we see Tuesday?

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  8. 8.

    Jackie

    Oooooh… Ali Alexander would be awesome! From the sounds of it, whoever it is, lots of popcorn is needed!

  9. 9.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I think the congressional ballot has been better than it should be (given Biden’s terrible polling) for a little while now – something is holding it up – it never really dropped sharply like one would expect. The gap didn’t get really wide.

  12. 12.

    Skepticat

    Ah, another afternoon during which I shall have to sign out of paying work to be riveted by these hearings. I don’t own a television or watch movies, but these hearings outdo all of them. I remember the Watergate hearings, and these put them in the shade. But these go beyond real life and to the core of our country’s survival. If I weren’t an atheist, I’d be praying that they result in consequences for some of these seditionist criminals.

  14. 14.

    zhena gogolia

    As I said earlier today, the Jan 6 committee knows I’m recovering from hip surgery, and they didn’t want me to have to watch Get Back for a third time.

  15. 15.

    Baud

    Roger Moore posted this in the prior thread.

    It sounds like it’s very likely to be Ali Alexander.  He apparently posted something on Twitter about flying to DC to make a surprise appearance tomorrow

  17. 17.

    zhena gogolia

    @Skepticat:

    I remember the Watergate hearings, and these put them in the shade.

    They really do. I love the two steely-eyed Repubs up there, it really enhances the drama. Bennie has this soft-spoken, gentle style, and then Adam or Liz steps in with the Jack Bauer glare. ETA: I never watched a single episode of 24, but I’m just extrapolating from what I’ve read.

  18. 18.

    Redshift

    “When I asked Eric about the potential danger of sort of rhetoric and the sort of the belligerence, he felt that it was … fair game in that it … was sort of the equivalent on the other side of the political discourse”

    What a shock that Eric is so unimaginative he doesn’t have anything better than “he started it!”

    But I guess the whole family never got beyond third-grade taunts…

  20. 20.

    Jackie

    From the WaPo:

    “The decision announced on Monday was shrouded in secrecy, with staff and committee members explicitly asked to go dark and not speak with media, according to two people involved with the investigation.

    The news was so closely guarded that even some senior committee staff and aides to lawmakers were kept out of the loop as of Monday afternoon. Three people familiar with the investigation said that the secrecy is in part due to credible security threats to a witness.”

  25. 25.

    Geminid

    @Baud: Meadows would be big. He dished a lot before he decided to clam up. A lot of the texts and emails the Commitee has released came from him. I remember Joyce Vance White assuring people who were alarmed at Meadows’ decision to stop cooperating, not to worry, Meadows is already under the bus.

    Meadows has been pretty quiet in public these last months. I did read a report that in April Meadows told a semi-private gathering that he and his wife “have been humbled.” They ought to be. Meadows really threw a lot away when he decided to work for Trump. He was a senior Congressman in a safe seat. Now his future is precarious even if he stays out of prison.

  30. 30.

    CaseyL

    @Kay: It’s great to see Dem numbers improve, but this is a national poll.  National polls don’t mean much when the elections are state-by-state.

    I’d be more interested in seeing (for example) the numbers for PA, GA, and AZ.  Has Dobbs impacted the voters in those states?

  31. 31.

    mrmoshpotato

    “There’s an excitement in being around the celebrity of Donald Trump.”

    Oh Michael Cohen…  You sad, sad sack.

  33. 33.

    Kropacetic

    @Redshift: When I asked Eric about the potential danger of sort of rhetoric and the sort of the belligerence, he felt that it was … fair game in that it … was sort of the equivalent on the other side of the political discourse

    Citation needed. For the Eric Trumps out there, a citation is when you provide an example or official source for a claim.

    @mrmoshpotato: There’s an excitement in being around the celebrity of Donald Trump.

    There’s excitement in jumping naked into the Grand Canyon too.

  35. 35.

    Kay

    @CaseyL:

    Yeah, I disagree. I think generic polls are good to look at to see if the House flips. You wouldn’t need “state polls” in the (I’m assuming) senate races you mentioned because you have a better measure-  one candidate for the whole state – Fetterman, Kelly, Warnock, etc.

    They just need a bigger number than the other side in the House to hold it. It doesn’t matter if the number they need comes out of NY or CA or PA.

  36. 36.

    different-church-lady

    The thing is, these guys are so dumb that Alexander would probably “flip” without realizing that’s what he was doing. They’re such sociopaths that they don’t even realize they’re describing crimes, they think they’re exonerating themselves. Remember that when Frost asked Nixon why he didn’t burn the tapes, Nixon said he thought maybe there’d be something in them that exculpated him.

  39. 39.

    Kent

    @Kay: @Baud: I think the congressional ballot has been better than it should be (given Biden’s terrible polling) for a little while now – something is holding it up – it never really dropped sharply like one would expect. The gap didn’t get really wide.

    I expect it is because Biden’s polling is just about Biden whereas the generic Congressional polls are about Democrats vs Republicans and the Republicans are just as much “on the ballot” as Democrats.

  41. 41.

    Kent

    @Geminid:

    @Baud: Meadows would be big. He dished a lot before he decided to clam up. A lot of the texts and emails the Commitee has released came from him. I remember Joyce Vance White assuring people who were alarmed at Meadows’ decision to stop cooperating, not to worry, Meadows is already under the bus.

    Meadows has been pretty quiet in public these last months. I did read a report that in April Meadows told a semi-private gathering that he and his wife “have been humbled.” They ought to be. Meadows really threw a lot away when he decided to work for Trump. He was a senior Congressman in a safe seat. Now his future is precarious even if he stays out of prison.

    Yeah, unlike a lot of other Trumpers, he didn’t really come from Trump world.  He was a long-time DC tea-partier.  He pissed all of that away by getting in bed with Trump.

    You would think  people would start learning the lesson.  Trump is basically toxic kryptonite that diminishes and corrupts everything it touches.  No one gets out of Trump’s orbit with their reputation intact.  NO ONE.

  43. 43.

    NotMax

    ‘@Kent

    Would posit the committee being much more interested in meeting with Meadows as a witness over multiple hours in private session before giving him essentially an open mic for an hour or two on live TV.

  46. 46.

    Another Scott

    @Another Scott: I now see that Marcy Wheeler talked about what I speculated about, in a tweet, that was included above.  That’s what I get for skimming too quickly.  ;-)

    Of course she, and AL, would be there first.

    Thanks.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  47. 47.

    Another Scott

    @NotMax: +1

    They’re not going to give anyone the floor without knowing exactly what they are going to be saying before-hand.  While the press and the rest of us like surprises, the Committee (and the DoJ) absolutely do not.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  48. 48.

    Redshift

    @CaseyL:

    It’s great to see Dem numbers improve, but this is a national poll. National polls don’t mean much when the elections are state-by-state.

    Yes and no. Remember that we are highly polarized these days, and despite the fascination of our political media with “swing voters” and “independents,” almost all of the swing between elections is about turnout. If our side is becoming more engaged and more motivated by Supreme Court disgrace and the insurrection facts that are circulating whether or not they watch them directly, that can matter more than whether they’re separately motivated by each individual congressional candidate.

  49. 49.

    Geminid

    @CaseyL: Since House elections are district by district, a national poll is an imperfect indicator of electoral prospects. But I think trend is the more useful factor in polling generally so I think this poll is a good one for us.

  51. 51.

    Geminid

    @NotMax: Do we know for sure  that Meadows has not met with the Committee’s investigators? Maybe lead investigator Tim Heaphy has interviewed him recently and it’s been kept quiet. Kinsinger might have sat in. Heaphy wouldn’t neccesarily have to get the whole story in detail as long as he’s sure of Meadows willingness to tell the story. I think that once Meadows decided to flip, if he decided to flip, he’d go all the way

    Note: Tim Heaphy is not so well known but he was U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia during the Obama administration. He has a very good reputation.

  52. 52.

    Ken

    The hearings also command the attention of journalists by consistently offering something new or unexamined

    If only this nation had some sort of profession which sought out new things and examined them. Other than entomologists, that is.

  53. 53.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Richard M. Nixon @dick_nixon 4h

    Cipollone or Meadows would surprise me. Alexander testifying as to where the money came from and went seems likely.

  55. 55.

    debbie

    @Black Onion:

    She’s the one who was listing all of the pardon requests, no

    ETA: It seems to me she’s the equivalent of Alexander Butterfield’s “Yes, he taped everything.”

  56. 56.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Black Onion: I think someone said on MSNBC that one of the reasons for the quick scheduling was concerns for teh witness’s security. I can’t imagine what kind of threats she’s been getting

  58. 58.

    prostratedragon

    Providing high-quality security is a growth industry now:<(

    I note  that she seems to have gone out and got a real lawyer.

  59. 59.

    Perilous

    Not that it matters really, but I haven’t seen the name of the platform it’ll be on, which from a marketing perspective seems… off.

  60. 60.

    lowtechcyclist

    For most of his 76 years, Trump has attracted operators, wannabes and seemingly strait-laced people who, once they enter his orbit, become unusually craven.

    “Wraithing,” Josh Marshall called this surrendering of dignity by people who hitched their wagons to Trump or wanted his approval.

  61. 61.

    J R in WV

    @CaseyL: ​

    It’s great to see Dem numbers improve, but this is a national poll. National polls don’t mean much when the elections are state-by-state.

    I got on a phone poll the other day. At first it sounded pretty straight, but after a few questions it turned into the kind of poll where they tell you something and ask if you agree. Something like how Biden is terrible, then ask you “Right”?

    It obviously became a RWNJ push-poll, and after a few questions where I stick to my Yellow-Dog Democrat guns, they wrapped it up and hung up on me.

    So these polls are probably as honest as the election results riot was. I have no idea how to combat fraudulent polls like those, I know they have always been out there, but now the MSM appear to be giving them oxygen when they used to run their own, I would think a little more honestly. i would hope, anyway.

  62. 62.

    thisismyonlinenym

    @mrmoshpotato: He was right about these people around TFG missing something in their lives. They never fully formed as human beings. Trump completes them.

    But we could see that every time we watched a Trump rally. It really is a cult.

  63. 63.

    thisismyonlinenym

    @Black Onion: from the CNN link:

    Another source told CNN that some of the people who had regular front row seats for hearings were told they likely will not get them on Tuesday for security reasons.

    Holy crap. How often is that done? For mob witnesses?

    Gotta wonder who those removed people are.

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