Kremer’s Corner: Jan. 6 cuts many ways and many people

The Island Now

Everyone knows what happened on January 6, 2021.

Most Americans know it was an attempt to overthrow the government by stopping the certification of President Biden’s election.

The video clips from the event have become a common site in the media. A few Republicans have described it as “a typical Washington tourist day,” but as a practical matter, Jan. 6 could turn out to be the day that destroyed their party for decades to come.

Despite authorizing Republican New York Congressman John Katko to negotiate the makeup of a bi-partisan investigative commission, when the time came for a final vote, the vast majority of the Republican House members voted against the commission.

Having failed to get a commission formed, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi proposed a House only investigation. That passed with only two Republicans supporting it.

It is fair to ask why the Republicans are so adamantly against having a formal committee created to find out who and what was behind the January 6? It’s a two-word answer, McCarthy and Trump.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is deadly afraid of being forced to testify about his involvement on that ugly day. It is common knowledge that McCarthy called President Trump and screamed for the military to stop the slaughter of innocent Capitol policemen and that Trump refused to take any action.

There are also other reasons why the Republicans don’t want any type of formal investigation. It has been suggested that at least three Republican Congressmen were cooperating with the rioters and a deep look at the events could result in their being outed and possibly charged with criminal conduct.

On the day before the Congressional riot, some of those same members were alleged to have provided a private tour to some of the groups that were causing mayhem the next day.

And the last and possibly the most the serious fear of the angry minority is that any investigation into the insurrection could unearth a direct connection between President Trump and the rioters.

The media clips of the Trump rally that preceded the attack on the capitol show the President inviting the crowd to go down to the Capitol and “show them what democracy really means.”

The former president can claim that the rally did not spark any venom, but the remarks of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Congressman Paul Gosar (R-AZ) added fuel to the Trump fire. Gosar’s suggestion to the crowd was “it’s time to take down names and kick some butt” and Giuliani called for “trial by combat.”

On the subject of congressional investigations it is worthwhile recalling that in 2012, the Republican majority conducted ten investigations into the Benghazi attack. Despite allegations that the Obama administration was covering up the details of the attack, none of those probes came up with any proof of misconduct. You might also recall that then p voluntarily testified for eleven hours and nothing came out of her ordeal.

According to then-House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the hearing was a “success” because the panel had “knocked down her favorability ratings “ According to Politfact that investigation cost $7 million. So the partisan battle against an honest look into the January 6 riot is quite understandable. The newly formed House committee will have subpoena power and will have a chance to unearth critical facts about the Capitol break in.

To add to the Republican fears that all hell could break loose by mid-2022, Mr. Trump’s company and its chief financial officer, have been indicted by a New York City grand jury. There are no assurances that the former President will not eventually be caught up in those charges, considering the fact that District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. has the elusive Trump tax returns.

The year 2022 will be a critical year for both political parties. History usually works against the incumbent president’s party in a mid-term election, but the drip, drip, drip of bad news could change that trend. Serious charges against some Republican incumbents, proof of presidential involvement in the Jan 6 ugliness and investigations in Georgia and New York could unleash a torrent of bad news at the worst possible time. Politics and conjecture go together but so do truth and facts.

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