The Trump cult of personality on display on the National Mall: Google

By Glynn Wilson –

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Donald Trump’s criminal presidency will be back on the news tube front and center Thursday night when the House Select Committee investigating the seditious insurrection and unprecedented attack on the United States government and Capitol convenes the first hearing to begin showing its evidence to the American people.

It will be hard to miss if you own a television with a broadcast antenna or connected to cable or a computer with an internet connection, since virtually every news channel in the country will broadcast the hearing live, with the obvious exception of Fox News.

For what’s left of newspapers like The Washington Post, the hearing is being compared to the Watergate hearings that resulted in the resignation of another corrupt Republican president, Richard Nixon, 50 years ago.

“As the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol prepares to kick off the first of a series of televised hearings Thursday, some in evening prime time, it’s hard to think of a political spectacle more analogous — and TV-worthy — than the Watergate hearings of nearly a half-century ago.”

Before Jan. 6 hearings, most-watched political TV was Watergate probe

According to The New York Times advance story, the evidence will show that Trump was at the center of a “coordinated, multi-step effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election” that resulted in a mob of his supporters storming the halls of Congress and disrupting the official electoral count that is a pivotal step in the peaceful transfer of presidential power int the U.S.

The 8 p.m. prime-time hearing is the first in a series of six to be held in the month of June, six months before the next election in November, and the plan of the committee made up mostly of Democrats is to lay out for the American people — at least those willing to watch — the full magnitude and significance of what the Times calls “Mr. Trump’s systematic drive to invalidate the 2020 election and remain in power.”

“We’ll demonstrate the multipronged effort to overturn a presidential election, how one strategy to subvert the election led to another, culminating in a violent attack on our democracy,” said Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California and a member of the committee. “It’s an important story, and one that must be told to ensure it never happens again.”

But as has been pointed out over and over again all over the web and social media, we live in a different political and media world today than the one Nixon faced, when people had no choice but to read newspapers, listen to the radio or watch broadcast television to find out what was going on in the country and the world.

Unlike Nixon, Trump is no longer president and most Democrats have moved on. They know Trump was a criminal aberration in the White House, so they don’t need a Congressional hearing to convince them that Trump should be arrested or at least banned from ever holding public office again under the Insurrection Act.

Most Republicans do not even support having a committee to investigate Trump, and believe the election was “stolen” from him and them, because African Americans, liberals and “socialists” who should not even have the right to vote put Democrat Joe Biden in office, robbing them of their White nationalist hero who could raise money for Republicans and rally a base of voters like no other conservative Republican in American history.

So it is not clear who will be watching and who will be moved to change their minds if they do. Could there be a few independents in key battleground states who might finally come around and vote against more Republicans like Trump?

Putting on this show is well worth the try, however, since if the gambit doesn’t work — at least according to the entire mainstream American press corps — the Democrats will be out of power come November anyway and the Trump Republicans will be back, taking over the House and Senate once again and preparing to take back the White House in 2024.

Meanwhile, on the eve of the hearings, the United States Department of Justice released a press release focusing on a new, superseding indictment outlining the part in the attempted insurrection played by leaders of the far right group the Proud Boys, which will also be a major target of the Select Committee in the hearings.

A federal grand jury in the District of Columbia returned a superseding indictment this week charging five members of the Proud Boys, including the group’s former national chairman, with seditious conspiracy and other charges for their actions before and during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

“Their actions disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election,” they say.

Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, 38, of Miami, Florida: FBI

The defendants include Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, 38, of Miami, Florida, the former national chairman of the Proud Boys; Ethan Nordean, 31, of Auburn, Washington; Joseph Biggs, 38, of Ormond Beach, Florida; Zachary Rehl, 37, of Philadelphia, and Dominic Pezzola, 44, of Rochester, New York.

All were previously indicted and remain detained. They pleaded not guilty to charges contained in earlier indictments.

The superseding indictment adds two charges to the earlier indictment: one count of seditious conspiracy, and one count of conspiracy to prevent an officer from discharging any duties.

All defendants now face a total of nine charges, and Pezzola faces an additional robbery charge. The defendants are scheduled to appear for a hearing on June 9, 2022, in the District of Columbia, the day of the Select Committee’s hearing.

According to court documents, the Proud Boys describe themselves as members of a “pro-Western fraternal organization for men who refuse to apologize for creating the modern world, aka Western Chauvinists.”

Through at least Jan. 6, 2021, Tarrio was the national chairman of the organization. In mid-December of 2020, Tarrio created a special chapter of the Proud Boys known as the “Ministry of Self Defense.”

As alleged in the indictment, from in or around December 2020, Tarrio and his co-defendants, all of whom were leaders or members of the Ministry of Self Defense, conspired to prevent, hinder and delay the certification of the Electoral College vote, and to oppose by force the authority of the government of the United States.

On Jan. 6, 2021, the defendants directed, mobilized, and led members of the crowd onto the Capitol grounds and into the Capitol, leading to dismantling of metal barricades, destruction of property, breaching of the Capitol building, and assaults on law enforcement officials.

During and after the attack, Tarrio and his co-defendants claimed credit for what had happened on social media and in an encrypted chat room.

A sixth defendant, who was earlier charged with the group, pleaded guilty on April 8. Charles Donohoe, 34, of Kernersville, North Carolina, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and assaulting, resisting or impeding officers, and is apparently cooperating in the investigation being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section, and the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section.

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office. The charges in the investigation are the result of significant cooperation between agents and staff across numerous FBI Field Offices and other law enforcement agencies.

Also this week, two Texas men were arrested for assaulting police officers during the breach of the Capitol.

Brian Jackson, 47, and his brother, Adam Jackson, 42, both of Katy, Texas, are charged in the District of Columbia with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers, civil disorder and related offenses. They were arrested in Katy, Texas, and are expected to make their initial court appearances later today in the Southern District of Texas.

Brian Jackson, 47, and Adam Jackson, 42, of Texas: FBI

According to court documents, the Jacksons were among rioters illegally on the grounds of the Capitol on Jan. 6. At approximately 5 p.m. that day, they assaulted a line of law enforcement officers outside of the tunnel area of the Lower West Terrace. Brian Jackson hurled a flagpole at officers. Adam Jackson hurled a large red or orange object at officers and then charged at the line of officers with what appeared to be a U.S. Capitol Police riot shield.

In a video on Brian Jackson’s Facebook account, a voice is heard saying, “Adam got a god-damned shield, stole it from the f—- popo.” Later, Brian Jackson “unsent” several messages that he had sent bragging about his participation in the riot and sent multiple messages asking others to delete videos and messages he had sent.

Adam Jackson, meanwhile, exchanged messages with another person on Jan. 10, 2021, in which he indicated he wanted to return to Washington for the inauguration. The other person asked Adam Jackson if he brought the riot shield home with him, and Jackson responded, “No, we left them. Cost to much to ship home lol.”

This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.

The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Houston Field Office. Valuable assistance was provided by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and the U.S. Capitol Police.

In the 17 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 800 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 250 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

___

If you support truth in reporting with no paywall, and fearless writing with no popup ads or sponsored content, consider making a contribution today with GoFundMe or Patreon or PayPal.