Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol: What are the main objectives of the House Select Committee?

The House Select Committee on Investigating the January 6th insurrection has two audiences they are trying to reach. One is the wider American public and the other the US Justice Department.

The proceedings will try to show that there was a concerted effort by former President Trump and his collaborators to overturn Joe Biden’s presidential victory both through lies and when that failed violence. The Republicans have already tried to undercut the validity of the panel which has been investigating the events that saw the United States come close to losing its democracy.

The main objectives of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th

The US has been becoming more polarized for so time, but Trump’s presidency put the forces tearing the nation apart into overdrive. The baseless lies about his election loss in 2020, which began before anyone started voting and continue to be perpetrated by Trump and his allies, created two alternate worlds.

Those that truly believe the tosh about ballot stuffing, Chavez-controlled Dominion voter machines and more seem to live in a hermetically sealed bubble and will most likely not be swayed by the evidence put forth by the January 6 panel. However, those that have not completely gone down the rabbit hole and rational Americans that would be willing to vote for Trump again, should he run in 2024 as he has hinted, might be convinced of his intimate involvement in the non-violent and violent parts of the attempted coup.

A need to prosecute those responsible for January 6

The presentation of the evidence and testimony, that is still coming in, will be designed to show the seriousness of Trump’s actions and those who helped carry out the plan. The graveness of the crimes committed against the US democratic system, it is hoped, will create a realization of the need for prosecution.

There has been no word on whether the committee will make a formal referral to the US Justice Department at the conclusion of the hearings, but the panel clearly feels that criminal acts were committed. Vice Chair Liz Cheney, Republican congresswoman from Wyoming, has even quoted specific felony criminal statute language when disclosing Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’ text messages with Trump Jr and Fox News personalities. The documented story of what happened on January 6 which the panel is presenting may help convince those who are reluctant in the DOJ that there is a valid case to be made and to file charges.

Dishonor for those that lie about the 2020 election and January 6 riot

The committee members will present evidence from their over 10-month-long investigation which has collected more than 125,000 documents and testimony from over 1,000 witnesses. They gathered the testimony and information from sources inside the Trump administration, from his family and other Republicans that agreed to talk with the investigators.

Another goal of the select committee will be to shame those that continue to perpetuate the “big lie” for political gain when it has been shown time and again, by Republicans, that the stories of irregularities was all fabricated. In the January 6 panel’s opening salvo of evidence, Attorney General William Barr, and Trump loyalist, made it clear to the former president that “the idea of saying the election was stolen and putting out this stuff which I call the ‘bullshit’.”

Likewise, those who try to rationalize or downplay the insurrection, which they have branded “legitimate political discourse,” should have to answer hard questions. They have also tried to say that what happened at the US Capitol were tourists, or a demonstration that became a riot. Warning the following video contains disturbing images.

January 6th was a premeditated

In a video shown at the first hearing images of the “Stop the Steal” rally at the Ellipse was overlapped with footage filmed by a documentarian embedded with the Proud Boys with a time stamp. It was pretty convincing evidence that the assault on the temple of US democracy was pre-planned.

That day, 80 Capitol police and 60 DC Metropolitan police were injured, and five officers died in the aftermath of the violent assault on the seat of US democracy. Brave officers fought hand-to-hand combat with insurrectionists for hours on end while Trump delighted watching the violence on TV in the White House not making any effort to put an end to it according to testimony presented at the first of the hearings.

“I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible,” said Cheney. “There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain.”