Congressional Committee investigating Jan. 6 insurrection must help Americans

Documenting the extent of the peril to the nation, demonstrating how close this country came to losing its way, is the enormous task ahead of the House Jan. 6 committee, charged with investigating the aftermath of the 2020 election. Also part of its mandate is to provide a lesson plan for preserving American democracy and the presidential electoral process well into the future.

The committee is expected to hold hearings in June and issue a final report in the fall, presumably in time to give voters who truly care about this republic a chance to make informed choices.

But when the terrifying notion of invoking martial law appears not simply in the notes of some pillow salesman visiting the Trump White House but in pleas from members of Congress, then the Jan. 6 committee does indeed have some serious work ahead.

At the head of the line of would-be congressional plotters is Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene who, it was recently revealed, messaged White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Jan. 17, 2021, after the insurrection but days before Biden’s inaugural, advocating for martial law.

“In our private chat with only Members, several are saying the only way to save our Republic is for Trump to call for Marshall law,” the Georgia Republican wrote, misspelling martial.

“They stole this election,” she added. “We all know. They will destroy our country next.”

Testifying under oath in a case in Atlanta related to her own reelection, Taylor Greene said she couldn’t recall the texts or, in fact, some of her own social media posts.

That same treasure trove of e-mails to Meadows included one from Representative Scott Perry in which the Pennsylvania Republican warned Meadows, “[T]ime continues to count down. 11 days to 1/6 and 25 days to inauguration. We gotta get going.”

A former aide to Meadows, Cassidy Hutchinson, identified to the committee 11 members of Congress who at some point during those turbulent days were involved in discussions with White House officials to overturn the election. They included Taylor Greene and Perry, along with Representatives Jim Jordan of Ohio; Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, and Debbie Lesko of Arizona; Mo Brooks of Alabama; Matt Gaetz of Florida; Jody Hice of Georgia; Louie Gohmert of Texas; and Lauren Boebert of Colorado.

Their emphasis in the days leading up to Jan. 6, Hutchinson said, was on an illegal effort to use so-called alternative electors in an effort to halt the confirmation of Biden’s win.

The committee has requested to meet with Perry and Jordan, along with minority leader Kevin McCarthy, but all have refused, and the committee has not attempted to compel their testimony.

It has also been reported by The Washington Post that the committee is looking for all communications relating to “the establishment of martial law, requests to establish martial law, or legal analysis of martial law” and “all documents and communications relating to” invoking the Insurrection Act from Trump loyalists who at the time were newly named to the Defense Department.

So, yes, the committee is on the right track.

The committee will…