Donald Trump is such a despicable form of protoplasm that adjectives fail in any effort to describe him. Ok? Have we got that out of the way? Good. So, nothing in what I am about to say should be interpreted as in defense of that ogre.
To the contrary, my concern is whether, in attempting to demonstrate how loathsome Orange Julius really is, the January 6 Committee has done the country a service or a disservice. The obvious aim of the Committee all along has been to accumulate sufficient evidence that would enable them to condemn the Trump Monster and bring him to justice. That aim should be applauded. The question is whether the way that they have gone about it helps or hurts that goal.
It has helped by publicizing a boatload of information that brings into stark relief the contemptible conduct in which the highest levels of our government engaged, especially the head of that government. For those who were uncertain about what actually happened, this evidence has clarified the cobwebs that those people call their “minds”. Hopefully, they too, are now convinced that nothing Trump-like should ever invade our public life again. The Committee did this by effectively presenting their findings in a dramatic way.
And therein lies the problem. The Committee’s hearings were intentionally dramatic. They were show-biz. They were orchestrated. They presented only one side, and they did that without challenge. And just like a drama, they were not bound by the rules of evidence that would otherwise be applicable in a judicial proceeding. The result of this clash between drama and proof is that the Committee has raised expectations about how likely it is that we will, indeed, soon see Trump marched off in a jump suit that matches his face. This is especially so now that the Committee has sent its “criminal referrals” off to the Justice Department and made such a big deal over it. By watching the Committee, the viewer comes away with the impression that Trump’s incarceration should be a slam dunk.
Unfortunately, they are conveying the wrong impression.
First, the referrals themselves will not help. On the one hand, they are worthless to Justice because their investigation has been underway for months and they likely know all this stuff already. On top of that, so much that the Committee has presented is hearsay – and often even double hearsay – information that could never be used in court.
On the chance that the Committee is actually sending new material to Justice, they should have sent it sooner. If they had done that, the Justice investigators could have included it in their inquiry all along. Getting it now injects the investigation with what could easily be contradictory information and new investigative leads, all of which will have to be straightened out and tracked down. That will take time. Justice is already under enormous pressure to complete its work. The Committee has just made DOJ’s work harder.
The Committee has also complicated Justice’s task in other ways. Legally, any defense attorney, even one insufficiently bright enough to take on Trump’s defense, will have sufficient brain cells to legitimately argue that all of the Committee hoopla has made a fair, impartial jury trial impossible. Also, Committee members, like Adam Schiff and the Cheney kid, are constantly on TV proclaiming Trump’s guilt. This only reinforces the defense claim that the prosecution is political. For example, Schiff was quoted just this week saying that if the DOJ doesn’t act on the Committee’s referrals, “the country will want to know why.” Schiff and the others are putting their desire for political exposure above their professed desire for justice.
These are real obstacles that any Justice prosecution will have to overcome. Let’s hope that the lasting legacy of Orange Julius will be that his conduct was so vile that it overcame them.
We were right 
As an attorney yourself, you know of these things. As an attorney who has had the misfortune of having to deal with the Trump organization, you also know his depths of chicanery. You point out that the Jan 6 commission is not a judiciary entity and has no legal power. Of course the whole thing was a dog and pony show geared to one objective. Tell the story of Trump unencumbered by the slick distraction and less than forthright slight of hand defense attorneys would use to sow a modicum of doubt of Trump’s guilt in an actual judiciary proceeding. Jan 6 commission one sided? Yes, the side where the truth lies. We have already seen the shinanigans pulled off by defense lawyers of Trump in two prior impeachment hearings. If nothing else, the Jan 6 commission did learn what not to do. Not to take on the legal burden imposed by the “judicial” system and just end up with a muddled mess that no citizen could make sense of while their heads spin in all the babbling legalese. No, the Jan 6 commission presented their case at an entertaining elementary school level that even the most simple-minded moron could comprehend. Have they screwed up the D.O.J.’s case? I dunno, I guess. But who cares? As you noted, even the worst defense attorneys would probably be able to slide Trump right out from under it all, yet again with the truth buried under a pile of legal mumbo-jumbo. Not because of their cleverness but rather a legal system that may just be too intent to “protect the innocent”. (By the way, this protection only applies to white privilege, but that’s another topic altogether).
I for one, applaud the gargantuan efforts of the Jan 6 commission. They did their job well. All the legal pundits can squawk and debate to their heart’s content whether this will be of historic value or just a political stunt. At least, we have been shown the truth even if Trump “gets away with it” yet once more.
Perhaps a clearer, simpler path to take down this grifter lies in his tax returns. A candidate for RICO charges?
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Thanks, as always, for your thoughtful comments. I think, though, that what you say here only reinforces my point. You are convinced that “we have been shown the truth” by the Committee. As I prefaced my blog, I, too, hope Trump gets drawn and quartered, but I want that punishment to be meted out after a fair and open process. The Committee was not that. We need the courts to be that. The final indignity of the Trumpian tragedy will be if it legitimizes the penalization of people – any people – by virtue of a political kangaroo court. It appears that Garland wants conduct his prosecution properly. I’m just disturbed that the Committee has made his job harder.
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