The Jan. 6 committee takes its place alongside the Watergate panel, the Truman committee and a few other congressional investigations that leave a profound historical mark.
While unique, it’s a case study in how to conduct a serious investigation. The careful, exhaustive and private preparation of interviews and gathering evidence set the stage for the compelling public hearings — which left no doubt that the President of the United States attempted a coup to remain in power and sabotage democracy.
The panel, led by Democratic chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Republican Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), showed that the Jan. 6 deadly mob assault on the Capitol was only the culmination of a corrupt conspiracy.
Too much attention has been paid to the committee’s referrals to the Justice Department to bring criminal charges against Donald Trump. That decision will be made by special counsel Jack Smith and Attorney General Merrick Garland. They’re already receiving all the committee’s files, which will be helpful, not determinative.
The essential service the Thompson-Cheney committee provided was the compelling evidence and testimony that altered public receptivity to any charges at all against the former president. Some of Trump’s rapidly diminishing standing is self-inflicted — entertaining white nationalists and holocaust deniers in one’s home isn’t such a good idea — but much of it was the cumulative impact of the Jan. 6 probe.
The power of the committee’s work is exemplified by the Republican/Trump response, starting with ‘It was a partisan witch hunt.’ Two Republicans — Cheney and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), not long ago considered among the party’s brightest lights — were two of the nine-member panel.
Moreover, almost all the damning evidence and testimony came from Republicans — many of them inside the Trump White House or Justice Department — or from prominent conservatives like former federal judge J. Michael Luttig.
There were very few Democratic witnesses.
Some of the Republican reaction is pathetic; there’s still some fear of the faltering and besieged Trump. Some in the about-to-be House majority talk about investigating the Jan. 6 committee itself. Bring it on.
A “shadow” GOP group charges the Thompson-Cheney committee failed to adequately investigate security failures on that infamous day, leaving the Capitol police vulnerable. The intelligence shortcomings weren’t adequately aired, but spare me the criticism from these self-styled “tough” law-and-order politicians: They all boycotted the House ceremony honoring the Capitol police who battled the violent Trump mob seeking to overturn a legitimate election. Five died and scores more were seriously injured, some long lasting.
The only two Republicans who showed up to honor those brave men and women who risked their lives to save these politicians were Liz Cheney and her dad, former Vice President Dick Cheney. (Kinzinger couldn’t attend because his wife was about to give birth.)
Republicans like Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) complain it all was too “one-sided.” Davis should be reminded there was a proposed bi-partisan commission; he was one of 35 House Republicans who voted for it, over the opposition of the GOP leadership. It then was killed in the Senate by Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) who didn’t want to further inflame Trump. These Republicans thought they could just hope Jan. 6 away without any real accountability.
They underestimated House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who created a House Committee and then rejected two of Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) choices: Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.). They were Trump loyalists, election deniers openly determined to sabotage any committee. Putting Jordan and Banks on a committee to investigate the Trump-inspired assault on the Capitol would be like putting Bernie Madoff and Enron’s Ken Lay on a committee investigating financial scams.
There have been thousands of congressional hearings over the last century, a number of them front page blockbusters; few have proven seminal.
One was the 1941 Senate Committee to Investigate the National Defense program aimed at rooting our corruption and profiteering to create more efficiency. It was embraced by President Roosevelt and estimated to have saved taxpayers $10 billion. More important was the recognition and respect given its chairman, Sen. Harry Truman. Three years later, he became FDR’s vice president and then succeeded him.
The 1973 Watergate committee was essential in paving the way for the House Judiciary Committee’s vote the next year to impeach President Nixon, and it laid the groundwork for the dozens of Watergate-related criminal convictions. The chairman, Sen. Sam Ervin (D-N.C.), a Harvard Law school educated, self-described “country lawyer,” became a political and cultural icon. The ranking Republican, Howard Baker of Tennessee, became his party’s Senate leader, later White House chief of staff and ambassador to Japan.
The parallels between the two select committees are striking, says Walker F. Nolan, a counsel on the Ervin committee. “They both built a case like a pyramid, and both provided a great public service by explaining what happened. The educational role was critical.”
And historic.
When descendants of Kevin McCarthy learn or read about the Trump presidency, the unpleasant facts established by the Jan. 6 committee will be a major focus.
Of course, four of the committee members won’t be returning next year. The five returning Democrats will be richly praised, but there’s no Harry Truman.
Sadly, House Republicans have no place for a smart, principled moderate conservative like Kinzinger.
Cheney is now a pariah to the MAGA crowd and those who will be running the House.
But she will not be going away.
As long as Donald Trump remains a clear and present danger, she’ll be there to take him on.
And hers will be one of the profiles in courage that the grandchildren of her erstwhile GOP “replacement” — Trump critic turned sycophant, Rep. Elise Stefanik (D-N.Y.) — will read about.
Al Hunt is the former executive editor of Bloomberg News. He previously served as reporter, bureau chief and Washington editor for The Wall Street Journal. For almost a quarter century he wrote a column on politics for The Wall Street Journal, then The International New York Times and Bloomberg View. He hosts Politics War Room with James Carville. Follow him on Twitter @AlHuntDC.