As someone who has regularly walked the halls in the Capitol building that were terrorized on January 6, when I watched the news coverage that afternoon I knew that I was witnessing history. That evening, I hurriedly drafted a sign-on letter that 15,805 of you joined, calling for the impeachment and removal of Trump for his actions that lead to the insurrection. In it, I included the following text:
In the weeks and months ahead, Congress and the Executive Branch must enact a truth commission to investigate the unlawful activities of any person who contributed to these profoundly damaging crimes and to make referrals to law enforcement where appropriate.
After four years of Trump and his over 30,000 false or misleading claims, my gut immediately told me that what the country needed was a truthful narrative about what happened that all sides could agree on. We also needed an investigation into whether people in positions of authority abused their powers, after all, the Sunday before the insurrection former Republican Vice-President Dick Cheney seemed to see the turmoil coming, leading the ten living former Defense secretaries to threaten “criminal penalties” against civilian and military officials who tried to interfere with the outcome of the election.
This month saw the bipartisan introduction of the H.R. 3233, a bill that would create a January 6 Commission, modeled on the successful September 11 Commission. It was drafted together by the House Homeland Security Committee Chair Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and Ranking Member John Katko (R-NY). It was what our country needed. I personally reached out to every member of the House and Senate to tell them that our community supported the bipartisan commission.
But this month we also saw Liz Cheney removed from her leadership role in the House GOP because she dared to speak the truth that we all saw on January 6. And then late last week, we saw Senate Republicans filibuster the bipartisan commission, effectively killing the bill.
Supporting “the Big Lie”, Trump’s baseless claims against our election is anti-democratic and damaging to our democracy. Being apologists for insurrectionists and gaslighting the nation by calling them “normal tourists” is anti-democratic and damaging to our democracy. Being against the truth, and a bipartisan commission designed to determine the truth is anti-democratic and damaging to our democracy.
We all saw January 6 unfold before our eyes. Five people died. For the first time in America’s history the peaceful transition of power was interrupted. But we still need to investigate the truth behind the headlines, what Trump knew and when. What former Vice-President Cheney knew that led him to caution the military from interfering on the eve of the insurrection. Whether any members of Congress deliberately aided the insurrectionists.
These are questions vital to the continuation of our democracy, but they are not things that criminal investigations into the insurrectionists are likely to uncover. As a nation, we can’t heal from a wound as damaging to our democracy as the January 6 attack, without investigating what led to it and directly addressing those root causes.
As such, we won’t stop fighting for the truth. Our sights are now set on a new target that can help us uncover the truth: the creation of a House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack.
We will keep you informed about opportunities to help along the creation of such a committee in the days and weeks ahead and hope you’ll join us when the time comes. If you’re interested in supporting our 503(c)4 advocacy work, like what we do to bring you opportunities to organize in favor of a truth commission, please consider a donation below.
Thank you,
Adam Fernandez
Vice President of Policy and Strategic Engagement
Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG) and the L4GG Foundation