Think of two snakes, one with scales and rattles that go on for yards and another one a burlap bag in the shape of a snake, with a couple of slinky toys animating it. There you have the image for the actual January 6 Committee and the shadow committee, helmed by Jim Jordan, Jim Banks and other rejects who couldn’t make the cut to get on the real thing.
The shadow committee is Kevin McCarthy’s brainchild, which tells you everything you need to know. Last July when the bipartisan January 6 Committee was being formed, McCarthy wanted Jordan, Banks, Rodney David, Kelly Armstrong and Troy Nehls to serve. Nancy Pelosi refused to seat Banks and Jordan, for the simple reason that they were participants in the insurrection and therefore could hardly be objective participants on the Committee. But this upset McCarthy and in a huff he said, “We’ll run our own investigation.”
Lordy, we hope there will be tapes. We know there is no funding, staff or any other usual resources that comprise a congressional committee but maybe there will be tapes.
Additionally, if this has slipped your mind, at the time it was thought that McCarthy botched this matter thoroughly. If he had gone along with Pelosi to some extent and they had agreed on some not so controversial appointees, at least he would have somebody with his interests in mind on the J6 Committee and would know now what is happening from day to day, rather than waiting for newspaper stories like everybody else.
Here’s a hint of what the shadow committee is ready to reveal: the insurrection was not Donald Trump’s fault, surprise, surprise. Axios:
House Republicans, conducting their own investigation of the Jan. 6 insurrection, plan to accuse the Capitol security apparatus of “negligence at the highest levels,” Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) tells Axios.
Why it matters:Â By placing blame on the building’s top security officials, this shadow investigation gives the GOP an alternative frame for discussing the 2021 Capitol assault.
Banks told us the GOP investigators — who consist of exiles denied seats on the formal Jan. 6 committee, controlled by Democratic leaders — have “absolutely” uncovered new information.
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The group plans to issue a report, including legislative recommendations, before this fall’s midterms.
Reality check:Â The strength of security surrounding the Capitol building had been enough to protect it from assault since the British burned it in 1814.
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That period encompassed the Civil War, the civil rights and Vietnam protests, as well as the disputed 2000 presidential election.
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The only time it was breached, and the Confederate flag carried through its corridors, was after President Trump encouraged a crowd on the Ellipse to march on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
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[…]
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Members have met between committee work and other official business, they said.
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Without subpoena power, their interviews have been voluntary. Many have been limited to Capitol Police officers, a source said.
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They’ve been focused on what members say are failures by Capitol Police leadership, as well as the ongoing need for security improvements.
Context: A bipartisan Senate report last year concluded federal agencies and the Capitol Police failed to properly act upon intelligence pointing to violence on Jan. 6.
- That, they said, left law enforcement unprepared for the deadly assault.
It remains to be seen what the GOP group’s report will add to those findings.
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Nehls told Axios he expects the report to include information not previously made public.
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Davis told Axios the group has sought to determine “if decisions were made in a political sense, rather than a security sense.”
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Among the lingering criticism is that Pelosi and other Democrats didn’t want a heavy law enforcement presence outside the Capitol after the scenes outside the White House following George Floyd’s murder the prior May.
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Alright, class, pop quiz time:
What is the shadow committee going to prove?
- It was all Nancy Pelosi’s fault because she is always supposed to prepare for rioting MAGAs?
- The fact that the Capitol Police are governed by a board and not under Pelosi’s control is meaningless to the shadow committee?
- Donald Trump and his supporters were only engaging in legitimate political discourse, gee whiz, what’s everybody upset about?
- Whatever the shadow committee reveals, Jim Jordan’s phone calls to Trump won’t be part of it?
- All of the above.
It will be particularly interesting to see what new and previously unrevealed information the shadow committee comes up with. Maybe Q really hasn’t disappeared, maybe he’s just working with the shadow committee when he’s not busy scanning the horizon with binoculars looking for signs of JFK, JFK, Jr., Michael Jackson and Lady Diana.
5. All of the above, and no doubt, a lot more as well.
They need to release their farce of a report before the real J6 committee starts holding primetime hearings. Once the hearings start, no one is even going to bother to read their report, let alone debunk it.
Geez if I werJimmie. f the student wrestlers raped by gymbo’s buddy & gymbo helping to cover it up, well…I might organize a reckoning with gym & see if his memory improves. He seemingly forgot all those boys telling him about the abuse just like he forgot that 10min phonecall with the traitor. Better yet put him in prison & maybe he would take male rape more seriously along with his insurrection phone calls. My guess is no con with self respect would want to touch him other than rearranging his teeth. Just a wild guess jimmie. Go ahead with ur little plans but be very careful u don’t get ur nuts in a bind. U sweat & stammer enough as it is.
Sorry the phone decided to garble my sentence but I would love to see those guys sue his ass.
That there were failures in the command & control apparatus of the various entities who could have and should have protected the Capitol that day has already been established. I suspect the REAL Jan. 6 Committee will provide some of the details on orders that were given or not given in the days leading up to the riot and of course that day itself. The question is whether Trump or his closest advisors can be nailed to the wall with good enough evidence of Trump telling his team to make sure the crowd was able to do what they did. We’ll see, but it’s been clear for a year now that some major ass covering has been going on.
As for this ersatz committee I’d say it’s a fucking joke but it’s anything but. Bogus? Well duh! Of course it is. However, it will get a ton of attention on Faux Nooz and other right wing outlets and then there’s talk radio, a medium almost exclusively composed of RWNJ hacks. Even for anyone telling the truth on a talk radio program, it’s TALK and with no documents or other stuff for people to look at. Oh sure, they can mention this or that place a person can go to in order to see “receipts” for the bullshit being slung but the listeners won’t bother. And that’s assuming they have the time and internet connections to do so. Internet is expensive in a lot of rural/small town America and if some radio host they listen to regularly says it then it’s more than good enough for these people.
So, much as I’d like to dismiss this as some meaningless stunt (and it IS a stunt) we do so at our peril.
Whatever peril they stir up will do nothing to save them. It might be a fundraising ploy in an attempt to chase MAGA dollars for legal defense funds.
With no budget to hire staff or investigators IF they are telling the truth about having interviewed “witnesses” that means they’ve been diverting staff from things like constituent services which I can’t imagine will wear well with the folks back home for very long. It takes money to do anything substantive and I think you’ve hit on that key point. Frankly, I’m surprised there hasn’t already been reporting about fundraising appeals being made to staff up their “investigation.” But I agree that if they do create Super PAC for it that it will be a scam. However, they would be dancing along the edge of the razor blade because their fake gold plated Turd Emperor wants all the money to go to him, and then he will decide who’s worthy of some support. In which case they will have virtually no budget but I think they’ve tipped their hand. They’ve already decided on the “bullet points” that will form the core of their “report” and it’s just a matter of fleshing it out. They can probably find some idiots to turn their already made conclusions into their final product on spec, then like Trump that person(s) will get stiffed when final payment for their time and effort is due. There’s plenty of bogus stuff that got tossed/laughed out of court that can be cited as “facts” and/or “evidence” already. But none of them are say a Bilrubin Barr and I expect their report such as it will be easily refuted. Not that refuting it will matter to the MAGA crowd who will wave it around like it’s their new bible.
Mostly I think it’s an attempt at distraction – a “Look over there – SQUIRREL!” exercise that as you say will maybe let them rake in a little coin in the process.
I suspect these are congresscritters who provide very little actual service to constituents.
Never forget that fear of them is what these people want, even more than power, which they often equate it with. Their moves will fail to save them or whatever goal is the impetus behind this asinine stunt. It’s a bad gambler bluffing with a pair of face cards because he lacks any idea on what he could do next.
They are the ones afraid. I bet Liz Cheney grilling some folks on TV will make them sweat. Once these hearings start, goodbye stunts. Hello to not understanding the question or simple words. Remember how jowls couldn’t figure out what ‘suggest’ means? I never knew law school was for the students who couldn’t pass english.
Oh, that’s just as true. But I must rather rudely point out that watching too many of us cower on several occasions over the last year may have also given them the notion that they could scare us yet again.
Don’t know who u r referencing, but I haven’t seen anyone ‘cower’ here. Maybe in ur home state. Didn’t Tennessee just lock up a woman for trying to straighten out her voting registration? She got 6 years. Rachael Maddow showed 4 Republicans that actually did deliberately perform voter fraud, all probation except one got 3 days. If, by cowering u mean raising the alarm over fascism, I beg to differ. Cowering is more connected to DENIAL of danger. Go ask that lady if it’s an idle threat. When our ‘democracy’ was essentially saved by pence, then those who deny the possibility of a fascist takeover are stupid & ignorant of history. Period. So next time be more specific who u are calling out.
Ah, the argument of “vigilance”, which, I’m sorry to say, is basically a rebranding of being a Cassandra. At this point, anyone who ISN’T aware what these people are all about never will get that memo. But personally, I am tired beyond words of the rescue fantasies, the magic bullet solutions and other unrealistic garbage that is being pushed along with the supposed “raising of the alarm.” The ultimate effect on the folks doing such is to conclude “We’re doomed” and squat in a corner…AKA COWERING.
Amazing, really, how many folks keep missing other, more important developments like the GQP takeover of Shasta County or bother working towards getting ready to fight like hell for the midterms. Your awareness is only useful in proportion to your response to it.
Wouldn’t it be funny if the J6 Committee demands ALL the records the “Shadow” committee comes up with and then demand that ALL the members be subpoenaed to testify before the real committee?
I cannot see ANY legal reason that the real committee shouldn’t make these (and any other) demands of the “Shadow” committee and its members.
I’m waiting for their ‘witnesses’ to tell them “Yes sir, I’m really a member of BLM/Anti-Fa/whatever but I dressed as a supporter of our great president just so we could shift the blame”
The old ‘I’m Spartacus’ defense. The romans knew how to solve the cover-up. Crucify all of them.
Instead of Two Ferns with President Obama we have 2 Tards with russian blowing idiots.