A Republican-controlled subcommittee of the U.S. House Oversight Committee has unleashed an attack on the peaceful transfer of power in federal government.
Led by Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R.-Ga., this subcommittee conducted its own investigation of the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol with an agenda to elevate Donald Trump’s grievance that the official January 6 committee was wrong to accuse Trump and his allies of inciting the riot.
Now, the four Republicans on this subcommittee have paved the way for the incoming Trump administration to use the power of federal law enforcement to get revenge on Trump’s perceived enemies — beginning with former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, who was vice chair of the January 6 Select Committee and lost her seat in Congress for standing up to Trump and his lies.
Loudermilk and his fellow Republicans used this new report to call for a criminal investigation of Cheney and others. Other Republicans on the subcommittee are Morgan Griffith of Virginia, Greg Murphy of North Carolina and Anthony Esposito of New York.
“Based on the evidence obtained by this subcommittee, numerous federal laws were likely broken by Liz Cheney, the former vice chair of the January 6 Select Committee, and these violations should be investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Loudermilk announced.
For his part, Trump has said Cheney — the daughter of former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney — should be sentenced to jail time for “colluding” to oppose him.
U.S. Rep Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) (R) delivers remarks alongside Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), Vice Chairwoman of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, during a hearing on the January 6 investigation in the Cannon House Office Building on October 13, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Why this matters
Loudermilk’s report has implications for how democracy works when there is a transition of power from one party to the other party. As Thomas Friedman points out: “The peaceful, legitimate transfer of power is the keystone of American democracy. Break it, and none of our institutions will work for long, and we will be thrust into political and financial chaos.”
Loudermilk’s move against Cheney conjures an image of Samson with this hands gripping the pillars of the pagan temple of the Philistines. In his Trump-driven anger, he is willing to tear the House down.
The rhetorical environment for Trump supporters in Congress has changed from logos — facts, rational thought, reasons and deliberation — to pathos. Now, emotions rule the rhetorical kingdom. Words do not seem to matter. Reasons are insufficient. Compromise is out.
Our politics have indeed “gone down the rabbit hole,” and Loudermilk appears as the Queen of Hearts in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
The queen shouts at three knaves: “Off with their heads!”
Someone needs to be like Alice, though, and protect the unfortunate victims from senseless attack.
“Trump and his MAGA evangelical horde already have proved they are sore losers. Now, they are showing they are even worse winners.”
With any decent luck, Loudermilk’s vacuous protest will become a whisper, then a back page notice, and then disappear. The subject du jour will become the next outrageous proposal from a Trump minion. Hopefully Cheney will be safe from the wrath of Trump and democracy will resume its usual hazardous journey on the highway of politics.
But maybe not.
While the chants of “Lock her up!” against Hillary Clinton seemed almost comical in the 2016 Trump campaign, the idea of imprisoning a former member of Congress for serving on a committee is symptomatic of a greater evil — Trump’s stated desire to incarcerate his enemies. Never lose sight of the reality that political opponents of Vladimir Putin go to jail or they are murdered.
Trump and his MAGA evangelical horde already have proved they are sore losers. Now, they are showing they are even worse winners.
However, revenge is not a democratic virtue.
Deus Vult, An Appeal to Heaven, and other flags among the crowds at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. (Source: Uncivil Religion, The Smithsonian Institution and the University of Alabama)
The facts are not in dispute
Loudermilk’s callous, theatrical move attempts to shut down democratic deliberation by scapegoating Cheney and making a mockery of the facts and truth about January 6. His willingness to be one of Trump’s lap dogs of authoritarianism requires lying and intimidation in pursuit of power. He is ravaging democratic norms, undermining public confidence and elevating revenge to a virtue.
Despite what Loudermilk says, there are no facts in dispute about January 6. The insurrection was carried live on all the major networks plus the cable channels. As many as 160 million people watched the live coverage of January 6.
Here is what we heard Trump say: “Today we will see whether Republicans stand strong for (the) integrity of our elections, but whether or not they stand strong for our country, our country. Our country has been under siege for a long time, far longer than this four-year period. Our country has had enough. We will not take it anymore and that’s what this is all about. And to use a favorite term that all of you people really came up with: We will stop the steal.”
A gallows erected outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, by supporters of Donald Trump. (Photo by Tyler Merbler via Flickr; used by Creative Commons licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license)
Here is what we saw Trump supporters do: Between 2,000 and 2,500 people entered the Capitol on January 6 and engaged in vandalizing and looting. We saw windows smashed and people climbing into the Capitol. The offices of Nancy Pelosi and other House members were looted. Capitol Police were assaulted. A gallows was erected with rioters chanting, “Hang Mike Pence.” Rioters occupied the empty Senate chamber.
We watched this unfold on television as Trump, from the safety of the White House, also watched and did nothing. We witnessed white “American patriots,” some of whom carried Confederate flags, protest he certification of a free and fair election. Trump told them, “I love you” as the rioters committed insurrection and roamed unfettered in the halls of the Capitol.
This is not something we saw later on what Trump calls “fake news.” This was live television. We were eyewitnesses to an insurrection. Five people died. One hundred seventy-four police officers were injured. Damage caused by attackers exceeded $2.7 million. More than 460 rioters have been convicted and sentenced for participating in the insurrection.
Even Republicans condemned January 6
At the time, even Republican elected officials condemned the events of that horrible day:
Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee: “These actions at the U.S. Capitol by protestors are truly despicable and unacceptable. While I am safe and sheltering in place, these protests are prohibiting us from doing our constitutional duty. I condemn them in the strongest possible terms.”
Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming: “Call it what it is: An attack on the Capitol is an attack on democracy.”
Sen. Rick Scott of Florida: “No one has a right to commit violence. What happened today at the Capitol is disgraceful and un-American. It is not what our country stands for.”
Rep. Cathy Rodgers of Washington: “What we have seen today is unlawful and unacceptable.”
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida: “There is nothing patriotic about what is occurring on Capitol Hill. This is third world style anti-American anarchy.”
Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky: “Former President Trump’s actions preceding the riot were a disgraceful, disgraceful dereliction of duty. There’s no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day.”
Cheney response
For her part, Cheney said Loudermilk’s report “intentionally disregards the truth and the Select Committee’s tremendous weight of evidence and instead fabricates lies and defamatory allegations in an attempt to cover up what Donald Trump did.”
“It is clear the revenge motif, so prominent with Trump, has infected Loudermilk.”
She described the report as “a malicious and cowardly assault on the truth,” adding that “no reputable lawyer, legislator or judge would take this seriously.”
It is clear the revenge motif, so prominent with Trump, has infected Loudermilk. More than anything, Loudermilk — once a target of the select committee himself for a Jan. 5, 2021, tour he gave of the Capitol campus — aims to present January 6 as an unsettled matter. Loudermilk has a grudge, a score to settle.
Not since the caning of Sen. Charles Sumner by Rep. Preston Brooks on May 22, 1856, has there been such a vicious attack by a member of the U.S. House on a former colleague.
This entire case is sour grapes. If Loudermilk has fired the opening salvo of a multitude of lawsuits and criminal charges, we know our democracy is in peril.