Michael Ingmire: The Failure of the January 6th Committee

As the January 6th Committee prepared its final report I found myself preparing for a disappointment. After all, they started their hearings with diminishing returns and have slid downward like a greased pig ever since. Clarity, discernment, bipartisanship and an investigative integrity are arcane myths to this committee. I wrote about this partially in the December 2021 Politichicks article, Commission Con Game. The failure of the January 6^thCommittee is a failure of character. Their process and activities as a committee remain a Dereliction of Duty. They have not done their job.

On a related front, what follows next is an example of an award as politics:

On December 7, Speaker Nancy Pelosi awarded the January 6th Capitol Police Officers with a Congressional Gold Medal. The four medals are to be displayed in the four different Capitol Police facilities in D.C.: At the U.S. Capitol Police Headquarters, the Metropolitan Police Department, the Capitol and the Smithsonian Institution.

Pelosi and Biden honoring the January 6th Capitol Police makes me uneasy. In regards to the referenced Congressional Gold Medal, I am not completely convinced that the Capitol Police behaved honorably on January 6. I have seen a clear video of the murder of Ashli Babbit. This 14-year Air Force Veteran did not appear to present any clear and present danger to the Capitol Police or Congressional Representatives on that day. Knowing the facts, it is delusional to paint this American Patriot with insurrectionist colors.

The investigation is far from complete. The January 6^th Committee has not been a serious investigative body but rather a continual “I-hate-Trump” rally, a third impeachment trial and a third installment of Clown World. The Committee has failed to ask few serious questions. Please consider the following:

1. Why were the National Guard not called in as, at least, a precaution on January 6?
2. Who opened the door letting protestors into the Capitol?
3. Why was deadly force used on at least one of the protestors?

The American people have the right to confront our accusers. We also have a right to see which group of us are being accused or labeled unfairly. That leads to a fourth and final question:

4. When can we see the video(s) of the protests on January 6?

The Capitol is surrounded with cameras. Surely there are videos. Who are the Defense Attorneys for the jailed protestors? If subpoenas have been issued for the aforementioned videos, is there a failure to comply on the Speaker’s part? Pelosi’s House is claiming that they have “Sovereign Immunity” so that they don’t have to release the videos from January 6. They say the videos are of no interest to the public. They are wrong. Whoever is voted in as House Speaker needs to do the right thing and release the videos. In addition, Alexandra Pelosi, Nancy’s daughter, was allegedly filming at the Capitol on January 6. Perhaps her film from that day should also be subpoenaed.

Nancy is deluded about her ultimate authority. The jailed protesters have every right to obtain the  videos to build their defense. The legacy of Nancy Pelosi is one of extreme liberalism and an elitist protection of her base. Her recent farewell speech as House Speaker demonstrates how truly mean spirited she is. Pelosi is, without a doubt, the worst House Speaker in my lifetime. By my observation, a Mafia Dowager in training.

Let us consider the Civil Rights of some of our fellow citizens:

Why are the jailed protestor’s rights to due process seemingly being violated? Why has medical care supposedly been withheld from at least one seriously ill protestor?

Why are three dozen of the jailed January 6 protesters petitioning the presiding Judge for a transfer to Gitmo? How does that reflect on the conditions of the D.C. jail?

I have no problem honoring our valiant men and women in Blue. But honors should come after the heavy lifting of an actual honorable act or, in this case, after a thorough investigation. If an honor is bestowed, then we need to make sure that the recipient(s) behaved honorably.

Joe Biden signed a bill to honor the Capitol Police last year. Now he totes it out like a fraternal celebratory gesture in his giddiness of the recent Democrat Senate win. Pelosi treats it like her farewell coronation.

The facts are that people died on the protestor’s side and they died by natural causes on the police side. A small amount of decorum is in order. Additionally, there is an inappropriate blaming by the January 6th Committee to all involved in the “protest” for the suicides of four Capitol police officers in the aftermath of the protests. This is, no pun intended, a cop out and a diminishment of these officer’s service.

The January 6^th Committee released a summary of their final report on December 21, 2022. They have made four criminal referrals to the Justice Department against President Trump. The charges include the following:

1. Obstruction of an Official Proceeding (18 U.S.C. 1512)
2. Conspiracy to Defraud the United States (18 U.S.C. 371)
3. Conspiracy to Make a False Statement (18 U.S.C. 371, 1001)
4. Insurrection (18 U.S.C. 2383)

The details of these charges were recently distilled, with the upmost of clarity, in this December 19 article by Wall Street Journal writer Jan Wolfe: “The Four Criminal Charges in Jan. 6 Committee’s Trump Referral.” Well worth reading.

However, the filing of the charges against Trump allow him the right of discovery and the right to subpoena witnesses such as Pelosi and Schumer. It could get quite interesting when you turn Trump’s lawyers loose on this Confederacy of Dunces (apologies to John Kennedy Toole for that one.) If this was a fair bipartisan committee, they would site Nancy Pelosi’s Dereliction of Duty as House Speaker on January 6th. Pelosi and D.C. local government refused National Guard assistance on that date. On more than one occasion in this life, “blood spilled is blood shared”, as is blame.

There is enough blame to go around in this tragic fiasco. After all, President Trump was still the President. He should not have given Pelosi or D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser any latitude in regards to their refusing the National Guard. Trump planned for there to be 20,000 National Guard Troops surrounding the Capitol on January 6th. Perhaps that would have stopped someone, including Capitol Police personnel for example, from opening the doors and ushering the protestors in.

If their efforts, and those of Pelosi, are viewed from the clear eyed view of history, the January 6th Committee is actually a sanctuary for partisan hacks. They have not demonstrated any actual investigative skills nor demonstrated any sincere level of bipartisanship. I feel their determination to charge President Trump with the aforementioned four charges is an unconstitutional, misshapen mess.

I fail to see why they are issuing a final report when they have not done their full due diligence as a Committee. They have wasted the American public’s time, not to mention our dimes. Likewise the awarding of medals to individuals before a full and complete investigation is done is, at best, premature. That is typical of lifelong politicians, like Biden, who show a minimum amount of respect for our Constitutional and procedural processes.

As the January 6^th Capitol Police are honored as a total entity with the Congressional Gold Medal, I have to wonder does that include Capitol Police Officer Michael Byrd? Officer Byrd has admitted, without being charged with murder, that he killed the aforementioned protestor, Veteran Ashli Babbitt. That should be considered a killing without honor and does not deserve the Congressional Gold Medal. By my observation, Officer Byrd’s killing of Ashli Babbitt and the behavior of the Capitol Police on January 6 warrant the attention of a Special Prosecutor.

Ultimately, heroism is framed by heroic actions and reactions, not rhetoric. There is a redundant level of rhetoric that continues to be spouted by both Biden and Pelosi in regards to our country and our freedoms. They demonstrate no love of America nor it’s Constitution. The basic skills of leadership are honesty, decency and a desire to improve the lives of those around them. These principles are beyond Biden’s basic comprehension. The lack of a profound leadership in this country remains our greatest current tragedy.

The legacy of the January 6^th Committee is one of a profound failure. A mean spirited group of men and women who, like Biden, demonstrate no believable love for America nor its people.

Overall, the January 6th initial summary report, released on December 21, reads like another smear campaign against President Trump. I find the summary to be poorly structured. It reads like it was written by someone who has limited writing skills.

Perhaps, the full final report will be better written. But this is a waste of my tax dollars and yours. If this was a true investigative committee, they would be investigating the 2020 burning and looting of our various American cities, most of which were Democrat run. The true insurrectionists are Antifa, BLM and many members of the Republican & Democrat Party, not President Donald J. Trump.

At press time, the January 6^th Committee has withdrawn their subpoena that requested President Trump to appear and testify before their ranks. Makes me wonder if they are going to withdraw their partisan and unconstitutional criminal complaints against President Trump. I continue to pray for the clarity of truth.