What the Jan. 6 Hearings Accomplished – WSJ

Rep. Liz Cheney justified an extraordinary subpoena to a former President by saying that more than 30 witnesses in our investigation have invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. They include John Eastman, who told Mr. Trump that Vice President Mike Pence could derail the Electoral College count, as well as Jeffrey Clark, who tried to get the Justice Department to legitimize dubious fraud claims.

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has refused to testify. Outside adviser Steve Bannon also refused and was convicted of contempt of Congress, for which he ll soon be sentenced.

Getting direct evidence of Mr. Trump s action and inaction was always going to be a challenge. There is no evidence so far that Mr. Trump was communicating or coordinating with the Proud Boys or other nefarious elements in the runup to Jan. 6. On Thursday the committee played video of foolish talk by Roger Stone, another Trump flunkie who also took the Fifth. I say f the voting, let s get right to the violence, Mr. Stone said on Nov. 2, which was the day before the election.

What the committee has accomplished, however, is to cement the facts surrounding Mr. Trump s recklessness after Nov. 3 and his dereliction of duty on Jan. 6. The Justice Department and Mr. Trump s own campaign repeatedly told him that his fraud claims were without basis. Whether it was willful blindness or an intentional strategy, he kept repeating them.

via www.wsj.com

When I was a little kid, I watched a lot of TV on our old black-and-white. Everything I watched anyway seemed to be about fighting the fascists, whether Nazis or Japanese. I used to hope I got to fight the fascists when I grew up. Now 50 years later, I have the chance. Fascists on Right. Fascists on the Left. But I don’t really want to fight anymore. Can’t we all just get along? Evidently not. So I guess I’ll fight, for all I’m worth.