Amid much fanfare and with the help of leftists in the media, soon-to-be-replaced House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's partisan committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol released a report insisting the U.S. Justice Department investigate and charge President Donald Trump.
Its claims include making a false statement, defrauding the U.S., conspiracy, and inciting insurrection.
Constitutional expert Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School, said, however, there simply is no "compelling criminal case."
"The committee repackaged largely the same evidence that it has previously put forward over the past year. That is not enough. Indeed, the reliance on a new videotape of former Trump aide Hope Hicks seems a case of putting 'hope over experience' in the criminal justice system," he explained.
He noted members like Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who long claimed he had seen evidence of the "collusion" with Russia by the 2016 Trump campaign, a conspiracy theory that long since has been debunked, insist that the committee presented "new evidence" of crimes.
Instead, Turley said, "The committee continued its pattern of rehashing previously known evidence with network-quality videotapes."
He explained, "The failure of the committee to offer any new and direct evidence of criminal conduct was obvious at the outset. Vice Chair Liz Cheney began her remarks by again detailing what Trump failed to do. It was a repeat of the prior hearings and for some likely left the impression of actors who are refusing to leave the stage long after the audience departed."
The "one piece" of new evidence was a statement for former aide Hope Hicks, but it ended up being "duplicative," he said.
"The fact is that the J6 Committee failed to change many minds largely because of what was on display in the final public meeting. It was the same highly scripted, one-sided account repeated mantra-like for months. There is justifiable anger over these accounts, but this hearing was billed as presenting the case for criminal charges. It missed that mark by a considerable measure," he concluded.
He cited other comments that Trump could be charged with attempted murder or manslaughter.
"The problem is that crimes actually require satisfaction of underlying elements and cannot be proven by soundbite or desire alone," he said.
Further, the committee repeatedly ignored some evidence, such as that "Trump told his supporters to go to the Capitol 'peacefully' to support Republicans challenging the election," he said.
When the committee, which is likely to be dissolved as soon as the GOP takes the House majority in January, released its report, many pointed out it essentially was "meaningless."
"In likely its final public convening, the nine-member committee recommended to the DOJ that Trump should be charged with violations of 18 U.S.C. 1512(c), obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress; 18 U.S.C. 371, conspiracy to make false statements and defraud the United States government; and 18 U.S.C. 2383, to 'incite,' 'assist,' or 'aid and comfort' an insurrection. Each lawmaker on the nine-member committee voted 'aye' in favor of the referrals," the Washington Examiner reported.
The panel was partisan from its outset as Pelosi refused to seat members nominated by the then-minority GOP. Instead, she chose two GOP members who already were open opponents of Trump. One of those, Liz Cheney of Wyoming, was made deputy chair of the committee, and repeatedly has attacked Trump.
She, in fact, was thrown out of office by her own voters, however. And a commentary at Twitchy pointed that out.
"Liz Cheney is having her last big hurrah today as part of the Democrat’s committee to blame Trump for everything that transpired on January 6th, 2021. Nancy Pelosi needed a couple of Republicans to sit on her committee to pretend it wasn’t a total Kangaroo Court … but anyone who thinks Liz and Adam Kinzinger are actually Republicans probably thinks it’s normal for the FBI to work with Twitter to hide the Hunter Biden laptop story. In other words, they’re not all that bright. Ahem. Glenn Greenwald took a swipe at Liz and we kinda sorta totally love it."
This might be your last chance to see the extraordinary, heroic, noble, inspiring High Priestess of Ethics and Democratic Values, Elizabeth Cheney, speak in the august Committee rooms of the House!
Who would want to miss this? https://t.co/zjqbHeqh8a
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 19, 2022
(For those who missed the news or forgot: the reason Liz Cheney is leaving the House is her own constituents voted against her, in favor of her primary challenger, by more tha 35 points, one of the most humiliating defeats a House incumbent ever suffered in US history).
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 19, 2022
The work of the Democrats appointed by Pelosi was further made partisan by the fact that members studiously refused to even hear information about Pelosi's own liability for the events of Jan. 6, as she is at least partly responsible for the security of the Capitol. She had refused Trump's offer of more National Guard troops to be on hand that day, and that decision never has been adequately explained.
The Examiner explained a referral "is a recommendation that the Justice Department investigate whether to charge the people in question, but the move is largely symbolic because it doesn’t require federal investigators to bring the case. Attorney General Merrick Garland said whether the Justice Department brings charges will depend on whether the facts and the evidence support a prosecution. Garland will make the ultimate call on any charging decisions."
Democrats have been harping on the riot, describing it as an "insurrection" although it was more or less a riot, ever since it happened. That's because a conviction for insurrection would prevent Trump from ever being in office again – one of the major goals of the entire Democrat party.
In fact, members already have launched in Congress a bill especially targeting Trump and announcing he never could be in office.
via wnd