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The January 6th Report
This program includes a preface read by David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker, and an epilogue read by Congressman Jamie Raskin.
Celadon Books and The New Yorker present the report by the Select Committee to Investigate the Jan 6 Attack on the United States Capitol.
On January 6, 2021, insurgents stormed the U.S. Capitol, an act of domestic terror without parallel in American history, designed to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power. In a resolution six months later, the House of Representatives called it "one of the darkest days of our democracy," and established a special committee to investigate how and why the attack happened.
Celadon Books, in collaboration with The New Yorker, presents the committee's final report, the definitive account of January 6th and what led up to it, based on more than a year of investigation by nine members of Congress and committee staff, with a preface by David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker and a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and an epilogue by Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland, a member of the committee.
Celadon Books and The New Yorker present the report by the Select Committee to Investigate the Jan 6 Attack on the United States Capitol.
On January 6, 2021, insurgents stormed the U.S. Capitol, an act of domestic terror without parallel in American history, designed to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power. In a resolution six months later, the House of Representatives called it "one of the darkest days of our democracy," and established a special committee to investigate how and why the attack happened.
Celadon Books, in collaboration with The New Yorker, presents the committee's final report, the definitive account of January 6th and what led up to it, based on more than a year of investigation by nine members of Congress and committee staff, with a preface by David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker and a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and an epilogue by Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland, a member of the committee.
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First published December 23, 2022
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February 24, 2023
Why haven't he and his cronies been indicted??
This is the first time I made a New Year's Resolution and though it was made tongue-in-cheek in a review, I failed.
A 2021 study found that about two-thirds of people abandon their New Year's resolutions within a month. I guess at least I can say I stuck to it for longer than the average person.
My resolution was not to read any more books about the Orange Ogre (henceforth OO). Earlier this month (February), I read a book about the Insurrection (police officer Michael Fanone's Hold the Line: The Insurrection and One Cop's Battle for America's Soul) so I probably broke the resolution then.
If not though, I certainly did with this one. But I had to read it. I had to. As a United States citizen, I feel it is my duty to learn about that day and how close we came to losing our democracy.
I didn't realize just how violent the insurrectionists were until reading Hold the Line, and I didn't realize the lengths He Who Shall Not be Named went to overturn the election, how he and his accomplices had been plotting this even before the November election.
The Select January 6th Committee found and demonstrated that OO and his allies had "crafted at least eight distinct plans to overturn a loss," though they did not execute all of them.
Some of these were unconstitutional, others were illegal. "He kept his dogged focus on plots that he believed could overturn the election. That suggests a criminal intent spanning months."
The Committee shows that OO called a mob to Washington DC on January 6th and used his speech at the Ellipse to incite them to violence, telling the angry horde of his supporters, "And we fight. We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore."
He also told them, "When you catch somebody in a fraud, you’re allowed to go by very different rules", telling them lie upon lie that there was rampant voter fraud and that the election had been stolen from him. Rudy Giuliani, one of his staunchest supporters in government, claimed, "Let’s have trial by combat".
The Committee examined his actions and words on that day, and how he chose not to call off the mob until it became clear to him - 2 1/2 hours later - that the insurrection would fail.
He not only didn't call it off, he used Twitter to further incense the crowd, encouraging their anger at Pence, who he felt betrayed him. The mob shouted Hang Mike Pence as they stormed the Capitol, and OO watched on, responding that it was "common sense" and that perhaps Pence deserved to be hanged.
There is a lot of information I was not aware of and I'm glad I read this, though it wasn't fun to read. There is some repetition as the Committee interviews various people about that day, and about the months leading up to it.
I was shocked to learn just how many weapons white supremacist groups had brought and how many were stashed across the border in Virginia, waiting to be used. It is terrifying. It left me cold.
If you have any doubt that OO was responsible for the Insurrection and the violence -and deaths- that happened because of it, you need to read this report. Don't let the length deter you - it's something important for all United Statians to read.
This is the first time I made a New Year's Resolution and though it was made tongue-in-cheek in a review, I failed.
A 2021 study found that about two-thirds of people abandon their New Year's resolutions within a month. I guess at least I can say I stuck to it for longer than the average person.
My resolution was not to read any more books about the Orange Ogre (henceforth OO). Earlier this month (February), I read a book about the Insurrection (police officer Michael Fanone's Hold the Line: The Insurrection and One Cop's Battle for America's Soul) so I probably broke the resolution then.
If not though, I certainly did with this one. But I had to read it. I had to. As a United States citizen, I feel it is my duty to learn about that day and how close we came to losing our democracy.
I didn't realize just how violent the insurrectionists were until reading Hold the Line, and I didn't realize the lengths He Who Shall Not be Named went to overturn the election, how he and his accomplices had been plotting this even before the November election.
The Select January 6th Committee found and demonstrated that OO and his allies had "crafted at least eight distinct plans to overturn a loss," though they did not execute all of them.
Some of these were unconstitutional, others were illegal. "He kept his dogged focus on plots that he believed could overturn the election. That suggests a criminal intent spanning months."
The Committee shows that OO called a mob to Washington DC on January 6th and used his speech at the Ellipse to incite them to violence, telling the angry horde of his supporters, "And we fight. We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore."
He also told them, "When you catch somebody in a fraud, you’re allowed to go by very different rules", telling them lie upon lie that there was rampant voter fraud and that the election had been stolen from him. Rudy Giuliani, one of his staunchest supporters in government, claimed, "Let’s have trial by combat".
The Committee examined his actions and words on that day, and how he chose not to call off the mob until it became clear to him - 2 1/2 hours later - that the insurrection would fail.
He not only didn't call it off, he used Twitter to further incense the crowd, encouraging their anger at Pence, who he felt betrayed him. The mob shouted Hang Mike Pence as they stormed the Capitol, and OO watched on, responding that it was "common sense" and that perhaps Pence deserved to be hanged.
There is a lot of information I was not aware of and I'm glad I read this, though it wasn't fun to read. There is some repetition as the Committee interviews various people about that day, and about the months leading up to it.
I was shocked to learn just how many weapons white supremacist groups had brought and how many were stashed across the border in Virginia, waiting to be used. It is terrifying. It left me cold.
If you have any doubt that OO was responsible for the Insurrection and the violence -and deaths- that happened because of it, you need to read this report. Don't let the length deter you - it's something important for all United Statians to read.
January 15, 2023
The evidence is overwhelming and entered into the official, historical record now. Deniers can be damned to whatever fantasyland hell they fear the most, because you are all domestic terrorists and seditious traitors brainwashed by weaponized lies propagated by profiteering grifters. The blame falls on the GOP, its media outlets, and the social media giants and their f-ing algorithms. It also falls on anyone who supported the “Big Lie” after every single instance of malfeasance was utterly disproved (https://www.propublica.org/article/bi...). We can thank Elon Musk for making such things so rabidly apparent, being voted off his own island and winning the Nimrod of the Year award (https://newrepublic.com/series/28/sco...). We knew his psychological makeup years ago, just as we knew Trump’s decades ago. We need to be vigilant against entitled ego-centric narcissists. Everyone involved in the election denial and the assault on the Capitol should ALL be serving prison terms for conspiracy and sedition, their wealth liquidated into the public coffers, and every single “militia member” never allowed to stroke a gun again.
As the report cites, “[t]here is an essentially immovable forty per cent of the country whose loyalty to Donald Trump [and “Trumpism”, the newest incarnation of racist, xenophobic, white nationalism] cannot be shaken by anything (p. 25), anchored to the bedrock of their delusional ideology, cognitive dissonance, and willful ignorance. It doesn’t matter how our military generals barely held T-dawg back over and over again (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...). It doesn’t matter that T-dawg and some of his cronies flirted with obtaining and selling VA medical records for personal greed (https://www.propublica.org/article/tr...). It doesn’t matter that T-dawg has always been a sociopath, pathological liar, and career fraudster. The pathological lies of the GOP and its media outlets don’t matter. Their grift and greed don’t matter. Their moral hypocrisy beholden to Christian teachings doesn’t matter. They don’t care that Walmarts, churches, night clubs, and elementary schools are massacre sites. I doubt it would even matter if Vice President Pence’s bloated body was hanging from a railing inside the Capitol, or if Representative Ocasio-Cortez was filmed by Majorie Taylor Green being gang-raped by MAGAt incels. We cannot expect these people—from the billionaires and their media outlets to the yokels and their Confederate flags and Viking garb—to willingly flush out the flotsam that’s clogging their grey-matter. Research shows how hard it is to deprogram racist ideologies, and this is where I embrace the computational theory of mind coupled with B. F. Skinner’s radical behaviorism to make sense of this nearly incomprehensible brainlessness in the twenty-first century. These toxic demographics must be suffocated politically, and to do that we need every clear-headed citizen getting people to vote for the greater good and the future of all those generations yet born. Nihilism, defeatism, and hopelessness will help no one.
This report is obviously free to anyone, but I purchased The New Yorker’s version from Barnes & Noble for two reasons: I support true journalism and consider the staff of The New Yorker’s to be second to none, and this is one simple way to show that; and, I respect David Remnick and Congressman Jamie Raskin and believe them both to be upholders of progressive ideologies who wish to see this country transform in dynamic ways towards a better future for all. Remnick’s preface and Raskin’s epilogue are solid bookends to the report and they carry no illusions about the commission, acknowledging “[t]he committee and its work were far from apolitical, and yet to dismiss the report as merely political would be a perilous act of resignation and defeatism” (p. 24). This line is crucial to all. This nation faces a schism in ideology, nearly militantly divisive by certain factions who are psychologically unhinged and mentally prepared to do whatever it takes to control the levers of power while they can. In a parallel universe, this report could be erased from the historical record, Orwellian style. Now comes the incredibly tough part of prosecution in such a political climate with the GOP being so deranged.
Look, I have no love for the Cheneys or the Clintons or Congresswoman Pelosi or any politician who has ever favored CEOs and stockholders and Wall Street over the labor force. As an Iraq Vet and the son of a Vietnam vet, I hate the warmongers that keep the military-industrial-congressional complex fat and happy while dehumanizing and vilifying other cultural groups in all too simplistic terms. I hate corporate welfare, the tax-evaders, the wealth-hoarders, the fact that billionaires are even allowed to exist, and everyone who enables it all. That leaves very few standing morally upright in my view. The lower classes must come first in a representative democracy, and we must be focused on creating a new system to replace vampiric capitalism, but the status quo has been corrupted by special interests and corporate entities for a very long time. Perhaps it is beyond hope, but burning it to the ground will forever doom the entire world in the face of slow-motion but catastrophic climate change. Time is not on our side. An idiocracy like Atwood’s Republic of Gilead would be disastrous.
NPR (https://www.npr.org/2022/12/23/114520...) and The New Yorker (https://www.newyorker.com/news/americ...) both give thoughtful breakdowns of this momentous report, saving me the time and granting more authority to the sentiments I share. This battle for representative democracy is far from over, and every single citizen needs to be awakened to the reality of it all. I’m aware that 60% of Americans cannot afford a $500 emergency bill, that too many are chained to credit-card debt, that inflation has millions of families on the brink of economic poverty in the wealthiest nation on Earth, that our education system has left too many without the skills to critically analyze anything or vet their sources of information, and that screens have captured our brains with Pavlovian addiction, our attention spans suffering from that poisonous overdose. We need drastic changes. The first will be to hold insurrectionist liars and their foot-soldiers accountable. We’ll see if even that can be adequately accomplished and go from there.
Next up: the antiquated Electoral College system needs to be aborted completely. Guardrails need to be reinforced with severe, punitive consequences to those who seek to usurp them. We need national voting standards that are enforceable, Election Day a national holiday, and a nation-wide voting system that is secure, accessible, and irreproachable.
Much work to do, little time to produce it, and monstrous forces of opposition to all of it.
Wish I could see what historians a hundred years from now have to say about all of this. Every day is one of history. What role are you playing in it?
*Addendum to my review, 15 JAN 2023:
Historian, professor, and journalist Jill Lepore gives a harsh critique on the commission report, comparing it to similar reports of the past, and condemning it for its utter lack of teeth (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...) regarding causality, blame, and indictment: “As a brief for the prosecution, it’s a start. As a book, it’s essential if miserable reading. As history, it’s a shambles.”
“If you’re going to report on the facts, circumstances, and causes of an event, the natural way to do it is to write a story that is both painstakingly researched and kept kissing-close to the evidence—a story, in other words, that is also a history. A history has to be true, to the best of your knowledge at the time of the writing, and it ought to be riveting. The Warren Commission Report (1964) reads like a mystery novel: ‘In the corner house itself, Mrs. Barbara Jeanette Davis and her sister-in-law, Mrs. Virginia Davis, heard the shots and rushed to the door in time to see the man walk rapidly across the lawn shaking a revolver as if he were emptying it of cartridge cases.’ The Starr Report (1998), an investigation of a real-estate deal that ended up exposing Bill Clinton’s relationship with Monica Lewinsky, often reads like porn: ‘In the course of flirting with him, she raised her jacket in the back and showed him the straps of her thong underwear, which extended above her pants.’ The 9/11 Commission Report (2004) reads like an international thriller: ‘Tuesday, September 11, 2001, dawned temperate and nearly cloudless in the eastern United States.… In Sarasota, Florida, President George W. Bush went for an early morning run. For those heading to an airport, weather conditions could not have been better for a safe and pleasant journey. Among the travelers were Mohamed Atta and Abdul Aziz al Omari, who arrived at the airport in Portland, Maine.’ The January 6th Report reads like a prosecuting attorney’s statement to a jury: ‘President Trump’s decision to declare victory falsely on election night and, unlawfully, to call for the vote counting to stop, was not a spontaneous decision. It was premeditated.’ A page-turner it is not.”
“But the stakes are high; they tower. Trump might get reëlected. Or he might get indicted. Both could happen. Even if he were to die tomorrow, the attempt to overturn the election would require an accounting of its deeper roots in American political behavior and discourse, of the anti-government takeover of the G.O.P., and of the role played by the hundred and forty-seven Republicans who, in the early morning of January 7, 2021, only hours after the Capitol had been cleared of rioters, voted against certifying the results of the election. The siege of the building is, in the end, the least of it.”
This was a concerted conspiracy—granted a conspiracy performed by halfwits—to deny the results of the election and egg-on a hostile takeover of the White House and the Capitol by a mob of morons. They still hold power at local, state, and federal levels. Lepore’s main point is this: “The January 6th Committee Report, for all its weight and consequence, never asks why anyone believed Donald Trump, which is why it is unlikely to persuade anyone not to.” She then finishes with six reasons why, and those six reasons should have been woven into the report: the necrotic decay of the American political system, the erosion of trust in the American political system, the effects of the pandemic on society, that abnormal election season, the doleful nature of “news” networks and cycles, and a surgically harsh look into how American society has deteriorated so quickly and deeply in the wake of Trumpism.
As the report cites, “[t]here is an essentially immovable forty per cent of the country whose loyalty to Donald Trump [and “Trumpism”, the newest incarnation of racist, xenophobic, white nationalism] cannot be shaken by anything (p. 25), anchored to the bedrock of their delusional ideology, cognitive dissonance, and willful ignorance. It doesn’t matter how our military generals barely held T-dawg back over and over again (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...). It doesn’t matter that T-dawg and some of his cronies flirted with obtaining and selling VA medical records for personal greed (https://www.propublica.org/article/tr...). It doesn’t matter that T-dawg has always been a sociopath, pathological liar, and career fraudster. The pathological lies of the GOP and its media outlets don’t matter. Their grift and greed don’t matter. Their moral hypocrisy beholden to Christian teachings doesn’t matter. They don’t care that Walmarts, churches, night clubs, and elementary schools are massacre sites. I doubt it would even matter if Vice President Pence’s bloated body was hanging from a railing inside the Capitol, or if Representative Ocasio-Cortez was filmed by Majorie Taylor Green being gang-raped by MAGAt incels. We cannot expect these people—from the billionaires and their media outlets to the yokels and their Confederate flags and Viking garb—to willingly flush out the flotsam that’s clogging their grey-matter. Research shows how hard it is to deprogram racist ideologies, and this is where I embrace the computational theory of mind coupled with B. F. Skinner’s radical behaviorism to make sense of this nearly incomprehensible brainlessness in the twenty-first century. These toxic demographics must be suffocated politically, and to do that we need every clear-headed citizen getting people to vote for the greater good and the future of all those generations yet born. Nihilism, defeatism, and hopelessness will help no one.
This report is obviously free to anyone, but I purchased The New Yorker’s version from Barnes & Noble for two reasons: I support true journalism and consider the staff of The New Yorker’s to be second to none, and this is one simple way to show that; and, I respect David Remnick and Congressman Jamie Raskin and believe them both to be upholders of progressive ideologies who wish to see this country transform in dynamic ways towards a better future for all. Remnick’s preface and Raskin’s epilogue are solid bookends to the report and they carry no illusions about the commission, acknowledging “[t]he committee and its work were far from apolitical, and yet to dismiss the report as merely political would be a perilous act of resignation and defeatism” (p. 24). This line is crucial to all. This nation faces a schism in ideology, nearly militantly divisive by certain factions who are psychologically unhinged and mentally prepared to do whatever it takes to control the levers of power while they can. In a parallel universe, this report could be erased from the historical record, Orwellian style. Now comes the incredibly tough part of prosecution in such a political climate with the GOP being so deranged.
Look, I have no love for the Cheneys or the Clintons or Congresswoman Pelosi or any politician who has ever favored CEOs and stockholders and Wall Street over the labor force. As an Iraq Vet and the son of a Vietnam vet, I hate the warmongers that keep the military-industrial-congressional complex fat and happy while dehumanizing and vilifying other cultural groups in all too simplistic terms. I hate corporate welfare, the tax-evaders, the wealth-hoarders, the fact that billionaires are even allowed to exist, and everyone who enables it all. That leaves very few standing morally upright in my view. The lower classes must come first in a representative democracy, and we must be focused on creating a new system to replace vampiric capitalism, but the status quo has been corrupted by special interests and corporate entities for a very long time. Perhaps it is beyond hope, but burning it to the ground will forever doom the entire world in the face of slow-motion but catastrophic climate change. Time is not on our side. An idiocracy like Atwood’s Republic of Gilead would be disastrous.
NPR (https://www.npr.org/2022/12/23/114520...) and The New Yorker (https://www.newyorker.com/news/americ...) both give thoughtful breakdowns of this momentous report, saving me the time and granting more authority to the sentiments I share. This battle for representative democracy is far from over, and every single citizen needs to be awakened to the reality of it all. I’m aware that 60% of Americans cannot afford a $500 emergency bill, that too many are chained to credit-card debt, that inflation has millions of families on the brink of economic poverty in the wealthiest nation on Earth, that our education system has left too many without the skills to critically analyze anything or vet their sources of information, and that screens have captured our brains with Pavlovian addiction, our attention spans suffering from that poisonous overdose. We need drastic changes. The first will be to hold insurrectionist liars and their foot-soldiers accountable. We’ll see if even that can be adequately accomplished and go from there.
Next up: the antiquated Electoral College system needs to be aborted completely. Guardrails need to be reinforced with severe, punitive consequences to those who seek to usurp them. We need national voting standards that are enforceable, Election Day a national holiday, and a nation-wide voting system that is secure, accessible, and irreproachable.
Much work to do, little time to produce it, and monstrous forces of opposition to all of it.
Wish I could see what historians a hundred years from now have to say about all of this. Every day is one of history. What role are you playing in it?
*Addendum to my review, 15 JAN 2023:
Historian, professor, and journalist Jill Lepore gives a harsh critique on the commission report, comparing it to similar reports of the past, and condemning it for its utter lack of teeth (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...) regarding causality, blame, and indictment: “As a brief for the prosecution, it’s a start. As a book, it’s essential if miserable reading. As history, it’s a shambles.”
“If you’re going to report on the facts, circumstances, and causes of an event, the natural way to do it is to write a story that is both painstakingly researched and kept kissing-close to the evidence—a story, in other words, that is also a history. A history has to be true, to the best of your knowledge at the time of the writing, and it ought to be riveting. The Warren Commission Report (1964) reads like a mystery novel: ‘In the corner house itself, Mrs. Barbara Jeanette Davis and her sister-in-law, Mrs. Virginia Davis, heard the shots and rushed to the door in time to see the man walk rapidly across the lawn shaking a revolver as if he were emptying it of cartridge cases.’ The Starr Report (1998), an investigation of a real-estate deal that ended up exposing Bill Clinton’s relationship with Monica Lewinsky, often reads like porn: ‘In the course of flirting with him, she raised her jacket in the back and showed him the straps of her thong underwear, which extended above her pants.’ The 9/11 Commission Report (2004) reads like an international thriller: ‘Tuesday, September 11, 2001, dawned temperate and nearly cloudless in the eastern United States.… In Sarasota, Florida, President George W. Bush went for an early morning run. For those heading to an airport, weather conditions could not have been better for a safe and pleasant journey. Among the travelers were Mohamed Atta and Abdul Aziz al Omari, who arrived at the airport in Portland, Maine.’ The January 6th Report reads like a prosecuting attorney’s statement to a jury: ‘President Trump’s decision to declare victory falsely on election night and, unlawfully, to call for the vote counting to stop, was not a spontaneous decision. It was premeditated.’ A page-turner it is not.”
“But the stakes are high; they tower. Trump might get reëlected. Or he might get indicted. Both could happen. Even if he were to die tomorrow, the attempt to overturn the election would require an accounting of its deeper roots in American political behavior and discourse, of the anti-government takeover of the G.O.P., and of the role played by the hundred and forty-seven Republicans who, in the early morning of January 7, 2021, only hours after the Capitol had been cleared of rioters, voted against certifying the results of the election. The siege of the building is, in the end, the least of it.”
This was a concerted conspiracy—granted a conspiracy performed by halfwits—to deny the results of the election and egg-on a hostile takeover of the White House and the Capitol by a mob of morons. They still hold power at local, state, and federal levels. Lepore’s main point is this: “The January 6th Committee Report, for all its weight and consequence, never asks why anyone believed Donald Trump, which is why it is unlikely to persuade anyone not to.” She then finishes with six reasons why, and those six reasons should have been woven into the report: the necrotic decay of the American political system, the erosion of trust in the American political system, the effects of the pandemic on society, that abnormal election season, the doleful nature of “news” networks and cycles, and a surgically harsh look into how American society has deteriorated so quickly and deeply in the wake of Trumpism.
Read
January 26, 2023I’m not going to rate this, because I feel like that would be weird, but I do think this final report was very well done and extremely exhaustive. I listened to the audiobook, which I would recommend. It’s much easier to get through this by listening.
I do have some advice for if you’re planning on reading this. I would read either the executive summary + the intro, appendices, and conclusion OR read the intro, full report, appendices, and conclusion. If you just want the gist, the executive summary should be plenty for you. If you want all the details, there’s no reason to read the executive summary because you’ll get all the details in the actual report. That should save you some time.
I do have some advice for if you’re planning on reading this. I would read either the executive summary + the intro, appendices, and conclusion OR read the intro, full report, appendices, and conclusion. If you just want the gist, the executive summary should be plenty for you. If you want all the details, there’s no reason to read the executive summary because you’ll get all the details in the actual report. That should save you some time.
December 29, 2022
A must-read for every US citizen.
Accepting facts and acknowledging objective reality is patriotic. To quote someone who is actually loyal to American values, Judge Stephanos Bibas, "calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here." But we do have proof of horrifying conduct by Trump and his supporters such as Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman. The January 6th Report lays out overwhelming evidence for all of its allegations and any rational person must take that seriously.
Title: The January 6th Report
Authors: The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, David Remnick (Preface), Jamie Raskin (Epilogue)
Year 2022
Genre: Nonfiction - Politics, true crime
Page count: 1,388 pages
Date(s) read: 12/23/22-12/27/22
Reading journal entry #335 in 2022
Some quotes:
“While the danger to the Capitol posed by an armed and angry crowd was foreseeable, the fact that the President of the United States would be the catalyst of their fury and facilitate the attack was unprecedented in American history. If we lacked the imagination to suppose that a President would incite an attack on his own government, urging his supporters to 'fight like hell,' we lack that insight no more. And the best defense against that danger will not come from law enforcement, but from an informed and active citizenry.” (p. 1119)
“Judge Bibas wrote in his decision that ‘calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here.’” (p. 88)
“In the Committee’s judgment, based on all the evidence developed, President Trump believed then, and continues to believe now, that he is above the law, not bound by our Constitution its explicit checks on Presidential authority.” (p. 299)
“As we’ve shown previously, this plan faltered at several points because of the courage of officials (nearly all of them Republicans) who refused to go along with it. Donald Trump appeared to believe that anyone who shared his partisan affiliation would also share the same callous disregard for his or her oath to uphold the rule of law. Fortunately, he was wrong.” (p. 43)
“President Trump repeatedly lied about the election, after he had been told by his advisors that there was no evidence of fraud sufficient to change the results of the election.” (p. 218)
“President Trump angrily said, ‘I don’t fucking care if they have weapons. They’re not here to hurt me. They can march to the capitol from here.” (p. 1088)
The “evidence has led to an overriding and straight-forward conclusion: the central cause of January 6th was one man, former president Donald Trump, whom many others followed. None of the events of January 6th would have happened without him.” (p. 71)
The report shows the “thuggish behavior from President Trump’s team, including efforts to intimidate described elsewhere … gave rise to many concerns about [Cassidy] Hutchinson’s security, both in advance of and since her public testimony….[we] note that multiple members of the Committee were regularly receiving threats of violence during this period.” (p. 366)
“In the Committee’s judgment, based on all the evidence developed, President Trump believed then, and continues to believe now, that he is above the law, not bound by our Constitution and its explicit checks on Presidential authority.” (p. 299)The January 6th Report proves beyond any reasonable doubt that President Donald Trump and his closest supporters knowingly betrayed the United States to keep him in power against the will of the majority of American voters. Whatever your political alignments, the evidence makes clear that Trump is unfit for office. I think of a famous quote from the American founding father John Adams:
“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”
Accepting facts and acknowledging objective reality is patriotic. To quote someone who is actually loyal to American values, Judge Stephanos Bibas, "calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here." But we do have proof of horrifying conduct by Trump and his supporters such as Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman. The January 6th Report lays out overwhelming evidence for all of its allegations and any rational person must take that seriously.
Title: The January 6th Report
Authors: The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, David Remnick (Preface), Jamie Raskin (Epilogue)
Year 2022
Genre: Nonfiction - Politics, true crime
Page count: 1,388 pages
Date(s) read: 12/23/22-12/27/22
Reading journal entry #335 in 2022
Some quotes:
“While the danger to the Capitol posed by an armed and angry crowd was foreseeable, the fact that the President of the United States would be the catalyst of their fury and facilitate the attack was unprecedented in American history. If we lacked the imagination to suppose that a President would incite an attack on his own government, urging his supporters to 'fight like hell,' we lack that insight no more. And the best defense against that danger will not come from law enforcement, but from an informed and active citizenry.” (p. 1119)
“Judge Bibas wrote in his decision that ‘calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here.’” (p. 88)
“In the Committee’s judgment, based on all the evidence developed, President Trump believed then, and continues to believe now, that he is above the law, not bound by our Constitution its explicit checks on Presidential authority.” (p. 299)
“As we’ve shown previously, this plan faltered at several points because of the courage of officials (nearly all of them Republicans) who refused to go along with it. Donald Trump appeared to believe that anyone who shared his partisan affiliation would also share the same callous disregard for his or her oath to uphold the rule of law. Fortunately, he was wrong.” (p. 43)
“President Trump repeatedly lied about the election, after he had been told by his advisors that there was no evidence of fraud sufficient to change the results of the election.” (p. 218)
“President Trump angrily said, ‘I don’t fucking care if they have weapons. They’re not here to hurt me. They can march to the capitol from here.” (p. 1088)
The “evidence has led to an overriding and straight-forward conclusion: the central cause of January 6th was one man, former president Donald Trump, whom many others followed. None of the events of January 6th would have happened without him.” (p. 71)
The report shows the “thuggish behavior from President Trump’s team, including efforts to intimidate described elsewhere … gave rise to many concerns about [Cassidy] Hutchinson’s security, both in advance of and since her public testimony….[we] note that multiple members of the Committee were regularly receiving threats of violence during this period.” (p. 366)
January 18, 2024
I’m not really sure how to rate a government document, but I commend the House January 6 Committee for the investigation they conducted to definitively prove the following facts:
1.) Donald Trump knew the 2020 US Presidential election was NOT stolen but continued to pedal lies about voter fraud and election interference to stoke his base.
2.) Donald Trump encouraged his supporters to march on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 in hopes of overturning the election results and/or stalling the count of the Electoral College votes.
3.) Donald Trump did NOTHING for 187 minus while rioters staged an insurrection by breaking into the Capitol building. Law enforcement were viciously attacked while senators ran for their lives. Donald Trump watched this all on Fox News while his advisors and kids begged him to tell the angry mob to go home.
4.) Donald Trump is a liar and a danger to our democracy.
Despite knowing a lot about Jan 6 (hell, I watched it all unfold on TV), I thought this was still an interesting read. And because of the damage he’s already done to our country, I’m always down to read more of Trump getting dunked on with FACTS.
1.) Donald Trump knew the 2020 US Presidential election was NOT stolen but continued to pedal lies about voter fraud and election interference to stoke his base.
2.) Donald Trump encouraged his supporters to march on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 in hopes of overturning the election results and/or stalling the count of the Electoral College votes.
3.) Donald Trump did NOTHING for 187 minus while rioters staged an insurrection by breaking into the Capitol building. Law enforcement were viciously attacked while senators ran for their lives. Donald Trump watched this all on Fox News while his advisors and kids begged him to tell the angry mob to go home.
4.) Donald Trump is a liar and a danger to our democracy.
Despite knowing a lot about Jan 6 (hell, I watched it all unfold on TV), I thought this was still an interesting read. And because of the damage he’s already done to our country, I’m always down to read more of Trump getting dunked on with FACTS.
March 1, 2023
I try not to wander into politics online, but it would be difficult to review this volume without doing so. Apologies in advance, and death to all trolls.
I will note that I'm the kind of person who reads such things. I have read the Warren Report, I've read the 9/11 Commission Report, I've read the report on the Iowa turret explosion, I have the Parliamentary Report on the sinking of the Belgrano, and I have (but only read parts of) the Mueller Report. I wonder how small a group that puts me in?
First off, in reading this it can be difficult to remember that this is purely a case for the prosecution, not a so-called "balanced" account. It is, however, based on testimony and evidence. Still, it's selected evidence, and we should hear the various defenses that are likely to be forthcoming.
I have two suspicions about the structure of this report. Though the Committee took depositions about a number of issues -- like police training and preparedness, private tours of the Capitol arranged by various Members, detailed steps to the National Guard and military response, and so forth -- this report is entirely focused on the evidence that Trump devised a whole catalog of schemes to retain the Presidency despite the outcome of the election. Most importantly, it makes the case that he had given up on actually winning the election several months before the election. He decided to fake it from the beginning. Why this singular focus?
First, I think that the Committee summoned witnesses and almost universally discovered that DOJ had not yet interviewed them. Indeed, all those fights over subpoenas should not have had to take place, because the DOJ -- you would think -- should already have subpoenaed those characters first. The Committee would begin to assume that DOJ was refusing to address the beneficiaries of the conspiracy, and failing to press them for the truth about the conspiracy. I suspect the Committee had ceased to trust DOJ, which was why they also refused to turn over testimony until they had made their case. This report, and its focus on the central seditious conspiracy, is the result of their distrust of DOJ.
It is truly daunting when you hit the first set of footnotes, and begin to realize that this 700-some page report is a tiny tip of a huge mountain of testimony and evidence. Many of the single footnotes link to documents that are longer than this is.
It is clear that some of this was composed in haste, and printed in haste. My volume is blurry, like it was printed with low-quality dot-matrix input rather than type. There are typos, grammar issues, minor errors of usage and idiom usage. I understand why (given the subject) they give no maps of the interior of the Capitol, but a map of the area from the Ellipse to Capitol Hill, with indications of where the entrances referred to in the text are, that would have been useful. I'm also amused by some oddities of nomenclature. I suspect they had to come up with names for some things. There are a number of references to the Ohio Clock Tower, and I am unaware of such a tower. You can find all sorts of descriptions of the so-called Ohio Clock when you look online, but where's the tower???
To sum up: Melber's foreword is good at summarizing why the Report indicates a crime. The Report is clear, thorough, and damning. It's a depressing read. If one isn't in denial, then the likely reaction is, "Why aren't these conspirators in prison yet?"
I will admit that this is my question, as well.
Recommended.
I will note that I'm the kind of person who reads such things. I have read the Warren Report, I've read the 9/11 Commission Report, I've read the report on the Iowa turret explosion, I have the Parliamentary Report on the sinking of the Belgrano, and I have (but only read parts of) the Mueller Report. I wonder how small a group that puts me in?
First off, in reading this it can be difficult to remember that this is purely a case for the prosecution, not a so-called "balanced" account. It is, however, based on testimony and evidence. Still, it's selected evidence, and we should hear the various defenses that are likely to be forthcoming.
I have two suspicions about the structure of this report. Though the Committee took depositions about a number of issues -- like police training and preparedness, private tours of the Capitol arranged by various Members, detailed steps to the National Guard and military response, and so forth -- this report is entirely focused on the evidence that Trump devised a whole catalog of schemes to retain the Presidency despite the outcome of the election. Most importantly, it makes the case that he had given up on actually winning the election several months before the election. He decided to fake it from the beginning. Why this singular focus?
First, I think that the Committee summoned witnesses and almost universally discovered that DOJ had not yet interviewed them. Indeed, all those fights over subpoenas should not have had to take place, because the DOJ -- you would think -- should already have subpoenaed those characters first. The Committee would begin to assume that DOJ was refusing to address the beneficiaries of the conspiracy, and failing to press them for the truth about the conspiracy. I suspect the Committee had ceased to trust DOJ, which was why they also refused to turn over testimony until they had made their case. This report, and its focus on the central seditious conspiracy, is the result of their distrust of DOJ.
It is truly daunting when you hit the first set of footnotes, and begin to realize that this 700-some page report is a tiny tip of a huge mountain of testimony and evidence. Many of the single footnotes link to documents that are longer than this is.
It is clear that some of this was composed in haste, and printed in haste. My volume is blurry, like it was printed with low-quality dot-matrix input rather than type. There are typos, grammar issues, minor errors of usage and idiom usage. I understand why (given the subject) they give no maps of the interior of the Capitol, but a map of the area from the Ellipse to Capitol Hill, with indications of where the entrances referred to in the text are, that would have been useful. I'm also amused by some oddities of nomenclature. I suspect they had to come up with names for some things. There are a number of references to the Ohio Clock Tower, and I am unaware of such a tower. You can find all sorts of descriptions of the so-called Ohio Clock when you look online, but where's the tower???
To sum up: Melber's foreword is good at summarizing why the Report indicates a crime. The Report is clear, thorough, and damning. It's a depressing read. If one isn't in denial, then the likely reaction is, "Why aren't these conspirators in prison yet?"
I will admit that this is my question, as well.
Recommended.
January 2, 2023
This will take some time to get through but so far it looks like a stupendous work of investigation and analysis by some very smart, dedicated public servants. Ari Melber's intro is very compelling and clear. More comments when I have read further.
A couple of complaints: Book ordered via Amazon delivered in a thin envelope resulting in a bent/creased cover. The printing is rather light making it harder to read than desired. And, btw, the rear cover is offset printed so text runs off the edge and some words are missing.
I get that this is a quickly printed item but still I wish some quality control had been done.
A couple of complaints: Book ordered via Amazon delivered in a thin envelope resulting in a bent/creased cover. The printing is rather light making it harder to read than desired. And, btw, the rear cover is offset printed so text runs off the edge and some words are missing.
I get that this is a quickly printed item but still I wish some quality control had been done.
January 2, 2023
Obligatory reading for engaged citizens. One thing I concur with the 45th president- we can never forget January 6th, 2021. It was history in our faces.
December 31, 2022
Reading this report was a chilling experience. I kept imagining what might have happened if the mob had grabbed Mike Pence, one of the senators or representatives, or some poor young staffer. A mob fueled by lies and violence is capable of any atrocity. Now we must wait for the Justice Department to act.
Don't let the length of the report deter you from reading it. More than half of it consists of footnotes.
Don't let the length of the report deter you from reading it. More than half of it consists of footnotes.
February 16, 2023
I don’t follow politics closely, and I know a lot of people who believe that the attack on January 6th was either correct, innocent, or a setup to frame President Trump. However, the case laid forth in this report is unimpeachable, with its incredible thoroughness and clarity of communication.
The sheer amount of evidence presented here is staggering, and I found myself feeling quite despondent seeing the number of people who attempted to overthrow our republic or stood idle while others did the work. There was unfortunately, far too many people in positions of power who demonstrated contempt for the rule of law, the US Constitution, and the basic philosophy of American democratic values.
However, towards the end of this very lengthy report, I started to see things a little differently, and it gave me some hope for my country. There were many points where the actions of a single person could have easily tipped this from a failed attempt at a coup to a successful one, and every single one of those held. Not one state agreed to invalidate their election, Vice President Pence didn’t attempt to break precedent with his role in the vote certification, and the Secret Service refused to bring President Trump to the Capitol over his strenuous efforts.
In particular, I was impressed with the clear course of events this report laid out, showing exactly how the timeline leading up to January 6th and the event itself occurred, and how various factors contributed to each other in this failed coup. I was surprised by how well the actions of President Trump and the attackers aligned, communication by communication from him to them.
I can only hope and pray that the warnings of this report are heeded and we never find ourselves so close to the brink again.
The sheer amount of evidence presented here is staggering, and I found myself feeling quite despondent seeing the number of people who attempted to overthrow our republic or stood idle while others did the work. There was unfortunately, far too many people in positions of power who demonstrated contempt for the rule of law, the US Constitution, and the basic philosophy of American democratic values.
However, towards the end of this very lengthy report, I started to see things a little differently, and it gave me some hope for my country. There were many points where the actions of a single person could have easily tipped this from a failed attempt at a coup to a successful one, and every single one of those held. Not one state agreed to invalidate their election, Vice President Pence didn’t attempt to break precedent with his role in the vote certification, and the Secret Service refused to bring President Trump to the Capitol over his strenuous efforts.
In particular, I was impressed with the clear course of events this report laid out, showing exactly how the timeline leading up to January 6th and the event itself occurred, and how various factors contributed to each other in this failed coup. I was surprised by how well the actions of President Trump and the attackers aligned, communication by communication from him to them.
I can only hope and pray that the warnings of this report are heeded and we never find ourselves so close to the brink again.
Read
October 28, 2024If there is such a category as "non-fiction horror" this qualifies.
Once again, I find I cannot rate this book properly. (see reviews on the first impeachment report and the second impeachment report) Do I give it a single star because the narrative was revolting or do I give it a 5 star because of its importance? I can't give a rating without that rating being easily misinterpreted.
I would encourage anyone concerned with the decline and active undermining of democratic values in the United States or the world more generally to read this. Yes, it's a tome at 756 pages but half of that number is page after page of documentation (end notes) so it's only 350-400 pages of sworn testimony, evidence, and quotes from the main actors from Jan. 6. It's a powerful testament to the events of that day and the planning that went into it as well as the actions, thoughts, and beliefs of those who played central roles in it.
Once again, I find I cannot rate this book properly. (see reviews on the first impeachment report and the second impeachment report) Do I give it a single star because the narrative was revolting or do I give it a 5 star because of its importance? I can't give a rating without that rating being easily misinterpreted.
I would encourage anyone concerned with the decline and active undermining of democratic values in the United States or the world more generally to read this. Yes, it's a tome at 756 pages but half of that number is page after page of documentation (end notes) so it's only 350-400 pages of sworn testimony, evidence, and quotes from the main actors from Jan. 6. It's a powerful testament to the events of that day and the planning that went into it as well as the actions, thoughts, and beliefs of those who played central roles in it.
January 9, 2023
They give away the bad guy on page one!
December 28, 2022
Must read
This report is easy to read, coherent, and fact based. It should be required reading for every American. It is truly chilling how close we all came to a Trump planned and organized coup. Knowledge is power.
This report is easy to read, coherent, and fact based. It should be required reading for every American. It is truly chilling how close we all came to a Trump planned and organized coup. Knowledge is power.
January 22, 2023
Extremely well written, comprehensive and detailed account of the disgraced twice impeached ex-president’s multi-step plan to turn our democracy into an autocracy and remain in power after losing the election. Most of us are familiar with the 1/6 report’s findings, but this full report really digs deep into all the details of Trump’s illegal plan that failed every step of the way, eventually leading him to incite an insurrection and direct his loyal republican Proud Boy/Oath Keeper/Three Percenter constituents to lead the coordinated attack on the Capitol. The section detailing the failed fake electors scheme was the most eye-opening to me, and Ari Melber’s intro is excellent. Looking forward to the sequel: The Trump Indictment.
January 25, 2023
A tough but worthwhile read
This report is relatively short, and I learned some facts I wasn’t aware of, even though I’ve been following this investigation closely.
Each chapter is self-contained, which means things can be a little repetitive, but I appreciate the effort to report what happened as accurately as possible.
This report is relatively short, and I learned some facts I wasn’t aware of, even though I’ve been following this investigation closely.
Each chapter is self-contained, which means things can be a little repetitive, but I appreciate the effort to report what happened as accurately as possible.
January 13, 2023
Admittedly I only read the introduction, prefaces, executive summary (130 pages) and the afterward.
A must read for every American who still has doubts about the efforts to steal the election or Trump's direct role in them.
A must read for every American who still has doubts about the efforts to steal the election or Trump's direct role in them.
July 7, 2023
https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/final-report-of-the-select-committee-to-investigate-the-january-6th-attack-on-the-united-states-capitol/
Like the rest of you, I was utterly appalled by the extreme right wing attack on the Capitol on 6 January 2021, a direct attempt to overturn the 2020 election result by violence. What was not clear on the evening, but has now been made very clear by the labours of the Select Committee set up by the House of Representatives to look into the events, is the extent to which this was a part of a premeditated and criminal plan by Trump to illegally remain in power.
The evidence is clear. Most of those who testified to the Select Committee were Republicans, a number of them working directly for Trump in the White House. I myself said on the record to Bloomberg News, the day after the election, that there was little chance of the election result being overturned in the Supreme Court because there was no case. Eight leading conservative American lawyers have reported clearly and succinctly on the justified failure of all of Trump’s legal challenges. Nobody who has looked into it can seriously maintain, in good faith, that there is any doubt about the legitimacy of Biden’s win in the election.
Bad faith is a different matter, and the Report lays out how Trump cast aside the sensible lawyers and started to take advice from those who told him what he wanted to hear, culminating in the massive effort on 6 January to intimidate Vice-President Mike Pence into breaking the law and disqualifying enough valid votes for Biden to enable Trump to remain in office. I must admit that Pence comes out of it rather well, sticking to his position even when the mob came within a few metres of the office were he was being protected.
The Republican National Committee does not come out looking as good. They supported Trump’s hopeless legal challenges to the election results in the states, and also legitimised his shameless and aggressive personal bullying towards election workers – some senior state officials, some just ordinary folks who happened to attract the president’s ire. They also benefited from the fraudulent fund-raising to “Stop the Steal”, which continued long after the result was beyond any doubt. It is sickening that the mayhem and deaths of 6 January were instrumentalised as a marketing tool.
The National Guard also comes out looking bad. Although there had been internal discussion of how to use them in support of public order, delays in the command chain meant that by the time they got authorisation to assist the hard-pressed police, the riot was over because the President had called it off. There are also constitutional ambiguities about Trump’s role as commander-in-chief, but the report is clear that this was not the problem on the day.
But it all comes back to Trump. There is no smoking gun demonstrating that he had operational command and control over the mob. But there is plenty of evidence that they thought they were taking orders from him. For three hours they rampaged through the Capitol while friends, allies and family begged Trump to speak out against the violence; and as soon as he told them to disperse and go home, they did. The evidence from White House staffers who were there on the day is particularly chilling.
Anyone who defends Trump, let alone the rioters, over 6 January 2021 is not worth listening to. He decided that he did not like the election results; he desperately looked for legal ways to overturn the vote, and did not find any; and he attempted to use mob violence to cling to power. He is not fit for office, and nor is anyone who supports him.
Like the rest of you, I was utterly appalled by the extreme right wing attack on the Capitol on 6 January 2021, a direct attempt to overturn the 2020 election result by violence. What was not clear on the evening, but has now been made very clear by the labours of the Select Committee set up by the House of Representatives to look into the events, is the extent to which this was a part of a premeditated and criminal plan by Trump to illegally remain in power.
The evidence is clear. Most of those who testified to the Select Committee were Republicans, a number of them working directly for Trump in the White House. I myself said on the record to Bloomberg News, the day after the election, that there was little chance of the election result being overturned in the Supreme Court because there was no case. Eight leading conservative American lawyers have reported clearly and succinctly on the justified failure of all of Trump’s legal challenges. Nobody who has looked into it can seriously maintain, in good faith, that there is any doubt about the legitimacy of Biden’s win in the election.
Bad faith is a different matter, and the Report lays out how Trump cast aside the sensible lawyers and started to take advice from those who told him what he wanted to hear, culminating in the massive effort on 6 January to intimidate Vice-President Mike Pence into breaking the law and disqualifying enough valid votes for Biden to enable Trump to remain in office. I must admit that Pence comes out of it rather well, sticking to his position even when the mob came within a few metres of the office were he was being protected.
The Republican National Committee does not come out looking as good. They supported Trump’s hopeless legal challenges to the election results in the states, and also legitimised his shameless and aggressive personal bullying towards election workers – some senior state officials, some just ordinary folks who happened to attract the president’s ire. They also benefited from the fraudulent fund-raising to “Stop the Steal”, which continued long after the result was beyond any doubt. It is sickening that the mayhem and deaths of 6 January were instrumentalised as a marketing tool.
The National Guard also comes out looking bad. Although there had been internal discussion of how to use them in support of public order, delays in the command chain meant that by the time they got authorisation to assist the hard-pressed police, the riot was over because the President had called it off. There are also constitutional ambiguities about Trump’s role as commander-in-chief, but the report is clear that this was not the problem on the day.
But it all comes back to Trump. There is no smoking gun demonstrating that he had operational command and control over the mob. But there is plenty of evidence that they thought they were taking orders from him. For three hours they rampaged through the Capitol while friends, allies and family begged Trump to speak out against the violence; and as soon as he told them to disperse and go home, they did. The evidence from White House staffers who were there on the day is particularly chilling.
Anyone who defends Trump, let alone the rioters, over 6 January 2021 is not worth listening to. He decided that he did not like the election results; he desperately looked for legal ways to overturn the vote, and did not find any; and he attempted to use mob violence to cling to power. He is not fit for office, and nor is anyone who supports him.
June 19, 2023
Disclosure: I am a card carrying Republican who voted for Mr. Trump in both of the last two presidential elections. With that being said, I was thoroughly unimpressed with this report. The narrative is stilted against Republicans in general and MAGA Republicans in particular. The most interesting part of the report was the brief glimpse we got inside the organizational structure of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boy groups. Other than that, and the fact that the report is considered a historical document by some, it wasn't very good.
Read
April 3, 2023The Executive Summary to this report should be required reading in high schools.
There are a lot of useful, practical insights into the everyday operations of running an Administration, and what kinds of jobs people do when they work at the White House and in Congress.
My guess is that most high schoolers can expect to encounter a protest or civil disturbance at some point in their lives. It would be very useful to have discussions as a high schooler on why this particular protest turned into a riot, and about what regular people can do to keep things peaceful, so that riots aren't happening. Going along with your buddies can definitely get you in trouble sometimes ... and there's a lot of food for thought in this report on what happens when you have a really stubborn person who refuses to listen to anybody else.
Remnick's preface is worth reading on its own. It's articulate, with top-notch literary style, and works well as an audiobook or in print.
Started reading this on the Paperwhite, but decided to wait for the Kindle Scribe to see how it works on a long report.
Update: My Scribe has arrived, and is a noticeable improvement over the Paperwhite, with fewer page turns.
That said, I'm sticking with the Audible version for now. The Executive Summary has been a bit like listening to an old-fashioned radio soap opera or old detective show. Once I get through this drier section covering the referrals to DOJ, I anticipate the soap opera aspect will return, as the various witnesses say their bit.
At this point, I'm estimating at least 200 people who pushed back against attempts to reverse election results, many to the point of possibly losing their careers. Would be interesting for someone to go back through the text and actually count them up.
There are a lot of useful, practical insights into the everyday operations of running an Administration, and what kinds of jobs people do when they work at the White House and in Congress.
My guess is that most high schoolers can expect to encounter a protest or civil disturbance at some point in their lives. It would be very useful to have discussions as a high schooler on why this particular protest turned into a riot, and about what regular people can do to keep things peaceful, so that riots aren't happening. Going along with your buddies can definitely get you in trouble sometimes ... and there's a lot of food for thought in this report on what happens when you have a really stubborn person who refuses to listen to anybody else.
Remnick's preface is worth reading on its own. It's articulate, with top-notch literary style, and works well as an audiobook or in print.
Started reading this on the Paperwhite, but decided to wait for the Kindle Scribe to see how it works on a long report.
Update: My Scribe has arrived, and is a noticeable improvement over the Paperwhite, with fewer page turns.
That said, I'm sticking with the Audible version for now. The Executive Summary has been a bit like listening to an old-fashioned radio soap opera or old detective show. Once I get through this drier section covering the referrals to DOJ, I anticipate the soap opera aspect will return, as the various witnesses say their bit.
At this point, I'm estimating at least 200 people who pushed back against attempts to reverse election results, many to the point of possibly losing their careers. Would be interesting for someone to go back through the text and actually count them up.
June 15, 2023
Democracy must have a ground to stand on, and that ground is truth.
~Marcus Raskin, father of Rep. Jamie Raskin
Don't be intimidated by the 700+ pages; a huge portion of it is given over to endnotes concluding each chapter (e.g., Chapter 1, the Executive Summary, takes up 134 pages. The 762 end notes for that chapter alone fill 54 pages of very small print. These end notes are not explanatory, rather, they are a minutely collected series of citations meant for historians, researchers, and academicians. The average reader need not read them to get a full picture).
For those who watched all the January 6th hearings (I did), much of this will be familiar, but the final report contains even greater detail. It is written in every day language so that any interested reader can understand and absorb it; no legalese. The publishers chose a clear and easy-to-read font for the main text.
The report is presented in the same order as the hearings. The chapters:
~The Big Lie
~ "I just want to find 11,780 votes"
~Fake Electors and "The President of the Senate Strategy"
~"Just call it corrupt and leave the rest to me"
~A coup in search of a legal theory
~"Be there, will be wild"
~187 minutes of dereliction
~Analysis of the attack
It is riveting.
It is chilling.
It is horrifying.
It is terrifying.
It is shattering.
The report concludes with committee member Representative Jamie Raskin's epilogue. The modest price of the book is worth the cost for Raskin's words alone. He is a national treasure.
Highest recommendation. A must read for all of us who cherish our precious democracy.
The solution to the ills of democracy is more democracy.
~John Dewey
~Marcus Raskin, father of Rep. Jamie Raskin
Don't be intimidated by the 700+ pages; a huge portion of it is given over to endnotes concluding each chapter (e.g., Chapter 1, the Executive Summary, takes up 134 pages. The 762 end notes for that chapter alone fill 54 pages of very small print. These end notes are not explanatory, rather, they are a minutely collected series of citations meant for historians, researchers, and academicians. The average reader need not read them to get a full picture).
For those who watched all the January 6th hearings (I did), much of this will be familiar, but the final report contains even greater detail. It is written in every day language so that any interested reader can understand and absorb it; no legalese. The publishers chose a clear and easy-to-read font for the main text.
The report is presented in the same order as the hearings. The chapters:
~The Big Lie
~ "I just want to find 11,780 votes"
~Fake Electors and "The President of the Senate Strategy"
~"Just call it corrupt and leave the rest to me"
~A coup in search of a legal theory
~"Be there, will be wild"
~187 minutes of dereliction
~Analysis of the attack
It is riveting.
It is chilling.
It is horrifying.
It is terrifying.
It is shattering.
The report concludes with committee member Representative Jamie Raskin's epilogue. The modest price of the book is worth the cost for Raskin's words alone. He is a national treasure.
Highest recommendation. A must read for all of us who cherish our precious democracy.
The solution to the ills of democracy is more democracy.
~John Dewey
October 10, 2024
Long painful arduous read. But quite frankly should be read by everyone who believes in democracy and upholding the rule of law for its sustainability. It is important. I purposefully chose to finish this book during the last bit of the election season. My resolve is stronger because of the contents of this book, the truths of this book and the fact that we nearly lost our democracy on January 6, 2021. And to vote for anyone who has blatantly disregarded the rule of law of this country is to willfully want that democracy to end. Those who are disenfranchised by the current direction of our country need to find a way to engage intelligently in the process. I personally am thankful for the public servants who worked diligently to produce this document that would forever record and layout the path to the January 6, 2021 insurrection of the Capitol building. Read it or listen to it. It should be required.
January 16, 2023
If you follow American politics and are concerned about the survival of the democratic republic, this volume is worth reading. I watched the hearings and was surprised at how much I knew about what took place during the time Trump occupied the White House. I admire the Select Committee for their hard work and devotion to their country. I also admire the individuals who testified with honesty.
June 8, 2023
It took about four and a half months for me to slowly work my way through the report as I wanted to let all the facts sink in and marinate. In the report, much like the televised hearings themselves, everything was presented in an easily digestible, informative, and narrative format, obviously geared toward persuading average American citizens (read: non-lawyers and non-political junkies) to objectively examine the facts and recognize the scope of TFG’s rampant criminality. Methinks the effort is sadly wasted on the cult members, but I’m pleased nonetheless that the historical record will now accurately reflect the horrors of the attempted coup and its miscellaneous side plots.
The audiobook was easy to listen to as various narrators take you through the major points of the committee hearings: the Big Lie (starting before Election Night but culminating with Trump falsely declaring victory and trying to stop the counting of votes), the now infamous Georgia call (“just find me 11,780 votes”), the multi-state fake electors schemes, the DOJ takeover scheme (“just call it corrupt and leave the rest to my GOP congressmen”), Pence’s rôle in the legally indefensible Eastman Plot (“a coup in search of a legal theory”), TFG’s public call - in advance - for violence (“Be there. Will be wild!”), the immediate incitement to insurrection (TFG & his minions’ ellipse speeches), the 187 minutes of dereliction of duty (watching TV and not acting as CIC), and finally the coordinated attack by the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, etc.
The appendices then review the preparation (and lack thereof) by our intelligence offices, the Capitol Police, and rhe DC National Guard, as well as outlining the wire fraud (and subsequent federal charging possibilities) known as the Big Rip Off (campaign fundraisers relating to “Stop the Steal” and “Election Integrity” which just suckered the MAGA faithful out of an additional 100 million dollars), the ridiculous allegations of dead foreign leaders tampering with the Dominion voting machines, all void of any proof, and without logic or reason.
The epilogue was especially touching, as Representative Jamie Raskin implores us all to take collective efforts to defend democracy and fight for what’s right, despite continuing Republican gerrymandering, the electoral college paradox, and red state legislatures rampant cheating. We must hold all the criminals responsible, but more importantly, we must have institutional change to prevent the many future coups-in-the-making. Democracy may die in darkness, but the January 6th Committee is attempting to shine a light for future generations to follow.
It’s almost impossible to rate non-fiction books which are essentially an encapsulated living history, but this was so well done that it warrants the highest of all accolades. I’d say it should be required reading, but hold out little hope of enlightenment for the Q-Anon/COVID denier/flat-earth-er crowd.
Five stars.
The audiobook was easy to listen to as various narrators take you through the major points of the committee hearings: the Big Lie (starting before Election Night but culminating with Trump falsely declaring victory and trying to stop the counting of votes), the now infamous Georgia call (“just find me 11,780 votes”), the multi-state fake electors schemes, the DOJ takeover scheme (“just call it corrupt and leave the rest to my GOP congressmen”), Pence’s rôle in the legally indefensible Eastman Plot (“a coup in search of a legal theory”), TFG’s public call - in advance - for violence (“Be there. Will be wild!”), the immediate incitement to insurrection (TFG & his minions’ ellipse speeches), the 187 minutes of dereliction of duty (watching TV and not acting as CIC), and finally the coordinated attack by the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, etc.
The appendices then review the preparation (and lack thereof) by our intelligence offices, the Capitol Police, and rhe DC National Guard, as well as outlining the wire fraud (and subsequent federal charging possibilities) known as the Big Rip Off (campaign fundraisers relating to “Stop the Steal” and “Election Integrity” which just suckered the MAGA faithful out of an additional 100 million dollars), the ridiculous allegations of dead foreign leaders tampering with the Dominion voting machines, all void of any proof, and without logic or reason.
The epilogue was especially touching, as Representative Jamie Raskin implores us all to take collective efforts to defend democracy and fight for what’s right, despite continuing Republican gerrymandering, the electoral college paradox, and red state legislatures rampant cheating. We must hold all the criminals responsible, but more importantly, we must have institutional change to prevent the many future coups-in-the-making. Democracy may die in darkness, but the January 6th Committee is attempting to shine a light for future generations to follow.
It’s almost impossible to rate non-fiction books which are essentially an encapsulated living history, but this was so well done that it warrants the highest of all accolades. I’d say it should be required reading, but hold out little hope of enlightenment for the Q-Anon/COVID denier/flat-earth-er crowd.
Five stars.
July 18, 2023
“Anyone who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” -Voltaire
“Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth.” - Ben Franklin
I have so many feelings about what happened on January 6th (and the plots to overturn the election that preceded it), especially as an Air Force veteran and survivor of the attack on the Pentagon on 9/11.
This is a compelling collection of evidence, most of it provided by Republicans. This is not a partisan opinion piece. There are receipts — over 700 pages’ worth — that are pretty hard to deny.
First of all, it wasn’t Antifa. Even those who claimed later that it was knew that it wasn’t. Otherwise, why would they barrage FPOTUS’ staff with texts and calls to call the people off? Antifa wouldn’t listen to him. Why did he call them special, say he loved them, and later try to offer them all pardons if they were Antifa?
I’m disgusted, appalled, shocked…not enough words in the thesaurus. But mostly? I feel sorry for the 20,000 people that participated in this, and the over 1000 charged so far, many of whom have been already sentenced. You were told a BIG LIE, and the worst part is that the people telling it, including FPOTUS, *knew* it was a lie. They had results of multiple investigations, court cases, DOJ investigations done by republicans appointed by FPOTUS — and in some cases almost immediately after a potential fraud case was completely debunked, it would be tweeted or shared in a rally as if it was actually true. By the time of the 1/6 rally at the ellipse, FPOTUS and his staff had mounds of evidence that the election had not been stolen. The rally shouldn’t even have occurred.
The echo chambers created by social media enabled the lie to propagate, preying on those who dearly wanted it to be true, inspiring them to commit the heinous acts of 1/6.
Scott MacFarlane of CBS news has dutifully reported and/or live tweeted nearly every 1/6 rioter case — both the pleas and the trials so far — and the vast majority said they were there because the election had been stolen and that POTUS had asked them to be there and fight. They brought weapons. They had plans to kill members of Congress and the Vice President.
Now, they are coping with the consequences of shattered lives, careers, families, and for most, incarceration.
It is terrifying what happened. It is even more terrifying what *almost* happened, if that crowd had actually reached members of Congress.
We need to make sure this never happens again. This was never intended to be a peaceful protest of election results.
"When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time." - Maya Angelou
“Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth.” - Ben Franklin
I have so many feelings about what happened on January 6th (and the plots to overturn the election that preceded it), especially as an Air Force veteran and survivor of the attack on the Pentagon on 9/11.
This is a compelling collection of evidence, most of it provided by Republicans. This is not a partisan opinion piece. There are receipts — over 700 pages’ worth — that are pretty hard to deny.
First of all, it wasn’t Antifa. Even those who claimed later that it was knew that it wasn’t. Otherwise, why would they barrage FPOTUS’ staff with texts and calls to call the people off? Antifa wouldn’t listen to him. Why did he call them special, say he loved them, and later try to offer them all pardons if they were Antifa?
I’m disgusted, appalled, shocked…not enough words in the thesaurus. But mostly? I feel sorry for the 20,000 people that participated in this, and the over 1000 charged so far, many of whom have been already sentenced. You were told a BIG LIE, and the worst part is that the people telling it, including FPOTUS, *knew* it was a lie. They had results of multiple investigations, court cases, DOJ investigations done by republicans appointed by FPOTUS — and in some cases almost immediately after a potential fraud case was completely debunked, it would be tweeted or shared in a rally as if it was actually true. By the time of the 1/6 rally at the ellipse, FPOTUS and his staff had mounds of evidence that the election had not been stolen. The rally shouldn’t even have occurred.
The echo chambers created by social media enabled the lie to propagate, preying on those who dearly wanted it to be true, inspiring them to commit the heinous acts of 1/6.
Scott MacFarlane of CBS news has dutifully reported and/or live tweeted nearly every 1/6 rioter case — both the pleas and the trials so far — and the vast majority said they were there because the election had been stolen and that POTUS had asked them to be there and fight. They brought weapons. They had plans to kill members of Congress and the Vice President.
Now, they are coping with the consequences of shattered lives, careers, families, and for most, incarceration.
It is terrifying what happened. It is even more terrifying what *almost* happened, if that crowd had actually reached members of Congress.
We need to make sure this never happens again. This was never intended to be a peaceful protest of election results.
"When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time." - Maya Angelou
January 28, 2023
Wow--just wow. I watched all of the January 6th hearings and heard a lot of this testimony, but it was startling to see it in print. There was a bit more depth in the report to the efforts of the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, 3%ers, etc. I can understand why the committee didn't want to give them more of a platform during these hearings. I also enjoyed how the report was basically a list of names for the DOJ to go forth and prosecute (some of which they already have who have been found guilty and sentenced.). It is still stunning to understand how much Donald Trump knew, when he knew it and the decisions he made anyway. I was also frustrated that a lot of the protesters, rioters, etc. were invoking freedom, liberty, etc, and doing actions that was exactly the opposite. It was maddening and seemed like the epitome of gaslighting...not recognizing that your OWN actions are the ones that oppress freedom. Ugh.
I'm glad to have read this report and been witness to the work of this committee. It was professional and well researched. I truly hope the DOJ and Congress can make progress on the recommendations at the end of the report. I recognize that a dealing with a former president is delicate. But if he isn't guilty of trying to subvert our Democracy, when his supporters have been found guilty of seditious conspiracy, what does that say about the United States? I think this should be required reading for US citizens so we can all discuss and learn from it--to hopefully continue to strive for a more perfect union.
I'm glad to have read this report and been witness to the work of this committee. It was professional and well researched. I truly hope the DOJ and Congress can make progress on the recommendations at the end of the report. I recognize that a dealing with a former president is delicate. But if he isn't guilty of trying to subvert our Democracy, when his supporters have been found guilty of seditious conspiracy, what does that say about the United States? I think this should be required reading for US citizens so we can all discuss and learn from it--to hopefully continue to strive for a more perfect union.
Read
July 6, 2023It seems inappropriate to rate this. I listened to it more out of a sense of civic duty, a desire to understand what happened, and a need to place the intense anger I felt on this day in perspective than anything else. It was hard to get through both because of the repetitious nature of the narrative (in service of thoroughness) and the nature of the unabashed evil at work that caused the insurrection. Thank goodness for being able to listen at double speed. There are a few things that I want to remember. I hadn't realized that members of the Vice President's Secret Service detail actually called their families to say goodbye while the capitol was under siege. The fact that firearms possession is illegal within Washington, D.C. city limits led many rioters to leave their weapons outside of town. I was struck by how much worse things could have been if not for this law. Finally, it hadn't occurred to me what a money-making opportunity the riot continues to be as right and wrong, and the very rule of law continues to be perverted in the service of one man.
September 13, 2024
An incredibly damning account of the January 2021 riot and then-President Donald Trump's role in fomenting it, as meticulously assembled by the members of a bipartisan congressional committee and their staff who investigated the matter. I was expecting this book to cover only the events of that bloody day itself, but it's actually a far more extensive deep dive into Trump's antidemocratic efforts from November 2020 onwards to subvert the results of the presidential election where he was defeated by Democrat Joe Biden, and how those actions ultimately culminated in violence.
As the evidence laid out in this report makes clear, the president repeatedly spread outlandish conspiracy theories about fake ballots, rigged voting machines, and corrupt local officials, some of whom he doxxed and called out by name, leading to confrontations at their homes and racial slurs, accusations of pedophilia, and rape and death threats launched against them and their families. His top advisors and White House legal experts informed him at every stage that there was no proof to his claims, which they dutifully investigated every time the fringe rightwing circles of the internet convinced him of something new. Nevertheless, he continued to repeat them as fact with increasingly violent rhetoric and got his lawyers to file dozens of spurious lawsuits across the country, which were -- barring one small win on a meaningless procedural matter -- universally thrown out for lack of evidence.
Despite knowing that the charges of voter misconduct were baseless, Trump pressed on with an illegal attempt to arrange alternate slates of electors in key battleground states (and pressure people like Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to falsely amend their vote count figures, in order to provide theoretical grounds for the move). This was part of an effort to convince Vice President Mike Pence, in his role as president of the Senate overseeing the certification of the election results, to either set aside the authorized electors in favor of the false ones or else to use the apparent existence of both sets to justify handing over the decision of which slates to recognize to the Republican-controlled state legislatures. When Pence refused to do this by correctly noting that his role in proceedings was strictly ceremonial -- and that no one could possibly think that the Vice President had the legal power to overrule millions of voters and effectively single-handedly determine elections -- Trump incorporated the VP into his angry Twitter rants and TV appearances, publicly identifying him as the person with the power to act and increasingly pressuring him to do so at the upcoming hearing on January 6th.
In the lead-up to that day, he repeated all those lies and encouraged his followers to visit Washington, D.C. on the 6th, using the language of violent revolution and promising that he'd be on their side both physically and legally. At a rally that morning, he spoke for an hour on similar themes, after which a large mob did indeed storm the Capitol building, where they killed several police officers, injured over a hundred more, and actively hunted for Pence and other perceived traitors.
Not all of this can be laid at Trump's feet. The book also discusses the organized militia movement of the Proud Boys and similar far-right agitator groups who were galvanized by his statements and made their own plans to ensure the gathering on January 6th turned violent. However, some of their online chatter was intercepted in advance and passed to the president, who did nothing to act on it. In fact, witnesses told the committee that he was enraged at the security procedures that were in place for his speech, because screening for weapons was limiting his crowd size. Later that day, he retired to the White House dining room to watch the ensuing riot on TV, where he sat for three hours refusing to speak out to calm the protestors or call in military or other government resources to repel them, even as his closest allies and relatives implored him to intervene.
A lot of these events will be familiar to those of us who lived through them, but this volume is helpful for walking readers through the sprawling 'stop the steal' movement that Trump championed over the months following the election. It's occasionally repetitive to read through as a single text, as its various chapters all have their own focuses and were not specifically written as segments of a larger whole, but it adds up to an utterly disqualifying dereliction of duty on the former president's part.
For me, the main takeaway is how knowingly Trump acted throughout -- how he was told over and over again that he lost the race, that there was no evidence of fraud, and that the strategy to get Pence to declare him the winner was entirely illegal. He wasn't some low-information voter deluded by conspiracies like many of those supporters he convinced to storm the Capitol; he was a shameless knowing spreader of the lies himself, with no care for the rule of law or the human impact of his words. Heaven help us if we ever elect him to office again.
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As the evidence laid out in this report makes clear, the president repeatedly spread outlandish conspiracy theories about fake ballots, rigged voting machines, and corrupt local officials, some of whom he doxxed and called out by name, leading to confrontations at their homes and racial slurs, accusations of pedophilia, and rape and death threats launched against them and their families. His top advisors and White House legal experts informed him at every stage that there was no proof to his claims, which they dutifully investigated every time the fringe rightwing circles of the internet convinced him of something new. Nevertheless, he continued to repeat them as fact with increasingly violent rhetoric and got his lawyers to file dozens of spurious lawsuits across the country, which were -- barring one small win on a meaningless procedural matter -- universally thrown out for lack of evidence.
Despite knowing that the charges of voter misconduct were baseless, Trump pressed on with an illegal attempt to arrange alternate slates of electors in key battleground states (and pressure people like Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to falsely amend their vote count figures, in order to provide theoretical grounds for the move). This was part of an effort to convince Vice President Mike Pence, in his role as president of the Senate overseeing the certification of the election results, to either set aside the authorized electors in favor of the false ones or else to use the apparent existence of both sets to justify handing over the decision of which slates to recognize to the Republican-controlled state legislatures. When Pence refused to do this by correctly noting that his role in proceedings was strictly ceremonial -- and that no one could possibly think that the Vice President had the legal power to overrule millions of voters and effectively single-handedly determine elections -- Trump incorporated the VP into his angry Twitter rants and TV appearances, publicly identifying him as the person with the power to act and increasingly pressuring him to do so at the upcoming hearing on January 6th.
In the lead-up to that day, he repeated all those lies and encouraged his followers to visit Washington, D.C. on the 6th, using the language of violent revolution and promising that he'd be on their side both physically and legally. At a rally that morning, he spoke for an hour on similar themes, after which a large mob did indeed storm the Capitol building, where they killed several police officers, injured over a hundred more, and actively hunted for Pence and other perceived traitors.
Not all of this can be laid at Trump's feet. The book also discusses the organized militia movement of the Proud Boys and similar far-right agitator groups who were galvanized by his statements and made their own plans to ensure the gathering on January 6th turned violent. However, some of their online chatter was intercepted in advance and passed to the president, who did nothing to act on it. In fact, witnesses told the committee that he was enraged at the security procedures that were in place for his speech, because screening for weapons was limiting his crowd size. Later that day, he retired to the White House dining room to watch the ensuing riot on TV, where he sat for three hours refusing to speak out to calm the protestors or call in military or other government resources to repel them, even as his closest allies and relatives implored him to intervene.
A lot of these events will be familiar to those of us who lived through them, but this volume is helpful for walking readers through the sprawling 'stop the steal' movement that Trump championed over the months following the election. It's occasionally repetitive to read through as a single text, as its various chapters all have their own focuses and were not specifically written as segments of a larger whole, but it adds up to an utterly disqualifying dereliction of duty on the former president's part.
For me, the main takeaway is how knowingly Trump acted throughout -- how he was told over and over again that he lost the race, that there was no evidence of fraud, and that the strategy to get Pence to declare him the winner was entirely illegal. He wasn't some low-information voter deluded by conspiracies like many of those supporters he convinced to storm the Capitol; he was a shameless knowing spreader of the lies himself, with no care for the rule of law or the human impact of his words. Heaven help us if we ever elect him to office again.
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May 3, 2023
Excellent.
Even though I watched every hearing and copiously read so much about the Jan. 6 insurrection, this volume captures the unbelievable horror, fright, death and damage that was Trump's attempted coup.
Because I'm quite familiar now with its planning, execution and ever present aftermath, I skimmed some areas. Still, I was shaken to revisit this outrageously sad event.
Even though I watched every hearing and copiously read so much about the Jan. 6 insurrection, this volume captures the unbelievable horror, fright, death and damage that was Trump's attempted coup.
Because I'm quite familiar now with its planning, execution and ever present aftermath, I skimmed some areas. Still, I was shaken to revisit this outrageously sad event.
Read
March 10, 2023Like another reader, I don’t feel that this is a reading in which I can give a rating. It’s “must read info” that very few will even glance at. But important to know what happened and how in hopes of never allowing it to happen again.
January 9, 2023
Explosive! A feel-good story about love, perseverance, and the power of an underdog to begin the year!
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