It would be an unparalleled spectacle: Donald Trump being cross-examined in front of the cameras, the notorious liar in the witness chair, under oath. Trump would be in the dock if there were one before this House special committee investigating the storming of the Capitol. But he does not bring any charges, he only clarifies what exactly happened on and around January 6th.
To that end, one would like Trump to answer some very uncomfortable questions: Why was he talking about alleging irregularities even before the November 3, 2020 election? Why did he send his supporters to the Capitol on January 6, 2021 to confirm Joe Biden’s election? How long in advance had he planned this coup attempt?
With the prospect of this spectacle, the committee reported back from a long summer slumber on Thursday. At the end of a hearing, the nine members unanimously decided to formally summon the ex-president to an oath-taking. After more than a thousand interviews, the central voice is still missing, said Bennie Thompson, the chairman.
The committee wants to send a signal
The symbolic power of the summons is huge; Since Richard Nixon in 1974, no president has been given a so-called subpoena by Congress. According to Thompson, the committee wants to send a signal that such events should not be repeated in the USA.
Liz Cheney proposed the subpoena. “We have an obligation to demand answers directly from the man who set all this in motion,” she said. “And every American is entitled to those answers.” It’s about accountability to the American people, Thompson said.
Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney.
(Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/dpa)
Whether the spectacle will take place, however, is more than doubtful. The committee’s mandate is likely to end if the Republicans win a majority in the House of Representatives in the midterm elections. Trump can now confidently defend himself against the subpoena with legal means until the deadline has passed and he is off the hook. Even the risk of a fine would be low if Trump simply ignored the subpoena. His chief ideologist Steve Bannon did that, but he has since been convicted and is still awaiting his sentence.
The former president shared his reaction on his social network Truth Social. In it, he did not comment directly on whether he would comply with the subpoena. But he left little doubt that he would not dream of working with the “Select Committee”, which he only calls the “Unselect Committee”. “Why did you wait until the very end, until the last minutes of your last session?”
Trump rightly asked why the committee hadn’t summoned him months ago. Of course, MPs had to get an idea before they could even think about questioning Trump. But they probably didn’t want to offer him a platform to stage himself as a martyr either. Now they could let off a bang with the summons – without any risk that Trump would trot forward.
The facts were presented in a highly political manner
“This inquiry is not about politics or about parties, just facts,” said Chair Bennie Thompson at the start of the latest hearing. But these facts were presented in a highly political way. The committee actually wanted to complete its work before the summer break and had staged a grandiose finale in July, which became a major media event – only to announce another hearing in the fall, which is said to have been the final one, although the committee Yes, Trump has just been summoned.
Exactly what another hearing was needed for was hardly revealed on Thursday — apart from the fact that it took place almost exactly a month before the midterm elections on November 8th. The committee was instrumental in increasing skepticism about Trump, along with concerns about the state of democracy, among Republicans and independents ahead of the summer vacation. Now he wanted to make sure that voters have their arguments against Trump in front of them when they fill out their ballots.
After being voted out of office in Wyoming, Liz Cheney vowed to fight Trump by any means possible. Of course, this includes mobilizing against candidates in the upcoming elections who support Trump and believe or at least spread his election lies.
Cheney said the additional hearing could be explained by new findings from documents that the Secret Service had delivered in recent weeks. All that emerged from this was what has long been known: Donald Trump deliberately sowed his election lie, he tried in various ways to prevent Joe Biden from being elected and to hold on to power, and he was prepared to at least accept violence to do so , unless he actually used them actively. However, this has been made very clear in eight previous hearings.
Perfectly orchestrated media events
These were perfectly orchestrated media events, accompanied by testimonies that moved you to tears, loosened up with videos and funny scenes. It was intelligent entertainment, professionally prepared for an American audience. In this most recent hearing, however, it became clear that the committee was only continuing to cook the soup that had already been made.
The committee can claim to have made significant advances in writing the history of January 6, 2021. He understood how to deal with the facts of the political hearings. That’s important, even if Trump’s supporters will never accept it. The findings were processed in messages that reached the American population not only via mass media but also via social media.
In this way, tens of millions of Americans heard Trump’s register of sins in detail. It has resonated with independents, but also with Republicans: Concern about the state of US democracy has increased as the hearings have progressed. However, the committee jeopardizes the trust it has gained in this way if it no longer presents any new facts but, above all, repeats what is already known.
A final report is still pending, which should be published by the end of the year. At the same time, he wants to propose some changes in the law that would make attempted coups even more difficult. However, it remains to be seen whether criminal charges will be brought against Trump. The Department of Justice is responsible for this, which is eagerly interviewing witnesses and collecting material, much of it the same that the committee has now processed. Its members have made it clear that they would welcome criminal proceedings.