On this week’s episode of The Brief, host Markos Moulitsas spoke with Daily Kos senior staff writer and Jan. 6 expert Brandi Buchman as the investigative committee moves forward with arguments regarding former former President Donald Trump’s complicity in the events of the day.
As the Jan. 6 committee moves forward with its hearings, it is doing so with deliberateness and intentionality to achieve its aims of making an airtight case for Trump’s direct involvement—and orchestration—of the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol that day.
As Buchman explained, what the committee is trying to do is just get beyond the fact that Trump incited the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, to show that he did it for a specific reason, with a specific plan in place that was well-equipped, well-funded, and well-organized:
This is what they’re looking to uncover—that they had found evidence which they say suggests there is a criminal element involved here, that there’s criminal liability involved here. That [Trump] obstructed Congress, that he potentially defrauded the public by promoting the lie that he won the 2020 election while full well knowing that he had plenty credible evidence and information being given to him that no, he did not in fact win the election.
“So I think right now, what we’re seeing is the committee really starting to uncover what scheme was in place as all of this was happening. And that’s what’s important, because it goes to the DOJ next,” Buchman added, opining that the makeup of the investigative committee “is probably one of the best we could’ve gotten.”
Republican Rep. Liz Cheney has also been a key figure throughout the hearings, as one of the few Republicans willing to offer a full-throated attack on Trump and name the horrific nature of the events of Jan. 6. In particular, she specifically named Trump as the source and cause of the resulting lawlessness and violence. Buchman believes that having Cheney’s presence and sustained involvement on the committee has been important, as she has been able to use her voice as a Republican to communicate to more moderate members of her party who may not have completely given themselves over to the far right.
Buchman also dispelled doubts that some Democrats have been having over Cheney, naming the fact that she has proven herself time and time again in making sure the outcome of these hearings is just:
I think that having her there was good, to get certain centrists just to pay attention. I think having her as this dynasty Republican, having her name attached to it meant a lot to a lot of people. I think that she has shown herself, over the course of this hearing, as actually being devoted to getting to the bottom of things. I think that it’s really easy to lump every single politician, regardless of their party, into one category and assume that everything they’ve ever done is not credible, or genuine, or real, or that they don’t actually have the best interest in something. And I can tell you that it’s just not the case across the board in every instance. Sure, they’re politicians, they politic. But there are other lawmakers that, when the time comes, they actually do dig down, and they want to get down into the dirt. And I think that’s what has happened with her. And I think that her willingness to just sort of come out against Trump, come out against McCarthy, come out against other Republicans who don’t want to speak about it, says a lot.
Buchman was hesitant to heap praise on Cheney, not just because of her historical record, but because she does think there is certainly some political expediency there. “I think that she sees an opportunity, perhaps in her mind, that there is a whole untapped wealth of Republicans that are anti-Trump Republicans that she can bring into her fold more and more as we go. I mean, it’s cost her quite a bit, you know. She lost her leadership position in the [House Republican Conference], and she’s pretty much been cast aside by the Republican media and the rest. I think that having her there is important,” she noted.
Highly visible Republicans’ involvement in this investigation is crucial, and Buchman bemoaned fellow committee member and Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger’s decision to step down, adding that she wished he would stay around to see the effects of the policies he was putting into place.
Moulitsas agreed, as he has also noticed how “it really does seem like Liz Cheney is positioning herself to be on the right side of history, at least right now”:
She may be really awful on policy, but at least she’s not destroying our democracy. She’s really leaned into the job … it seems it’s always Cheney who comes in and says, ‘Why the hell not?’ Republican bare-knuckle tactics to push Democrats into doing the right thing.
While Congress is quite limited in its power when it comes to Jan. 6, Buchman asserted that all of the documents that they have put together time and time again show that there is an issue of criminality here.
Moulitsas added that “Republicans haven’t really found anything to sink their teeth into [to rebut the case],” noting that “just to be clear, intent is a key [component] of many crimes, you had to intend to commit the crime.”
“And it’s hard to prove, right?” Buchman said.
The charges being leveled (and that already have been leveled) against Trump and other actors from that day include sedition and conspiracy.
Buchman also reminded the audience that the events of that day—and the peaceful transition of power—could have turned out so differently had then-Vice President Mike Pence reacted differently: “So much of the elector gambit counted on Pence to ‘do his part’ and overturn the results of the election.” Pence himself was also at physical risk after Trump named and blamed him in a speech to the crowd on Jan. 6.
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