Jan. 6, 2021, was one of the darkest days in our history. Our country watched as rioters stormed the Capitol, crashing through the windows, scaling the walls and tearing through the sacred corridors of the historic building.

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September 6, 2025

Jan. 6, 2021, was one of the darkest days in our history. Our country watched as rioters stormed the Capitol, crashing through the windows, scaling the walls and tearing through the sacred corridors of the historic building.

Their purpose was to overturn the results of a free and fair election by preventing Congress from performing its constitutional duty.

Like September 11, 2001, the images of that day are seared into my memory. It is a day I will never forget.

Late into the night, after her office had been ransacked and her colleagues were forced into lockdown, Speaker Nancy Pelosi addressed the country: “To those who strove to tear from our responsibility, you have failed. To those who engaged in the gleeful desecration of this, our temple of democracy, American democracy, justice will be done.”

Then, she proudly served her duty and certified the election of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

It was a day of infamy. But it was also a day of great pride. Despite the treacherous actions of Donald Trump, our leaders in the Capitol Building faithfully and bravely defended our Constitution and our country.

Five days after the insurrection, I worried that “if we do not take firm steps now to hold accountable those who made this moment of horror possible, then we’re bound to see it repeated.”

After the insurrection, the House of Representatives formed the January 6th Committee to investigate the attack on the United States Capitol. The January 6th Committee interviewed thousands of people, reviewed over a million documents and issued a subpoena requiring Donald Trump to testify — he refused.

As a result, they concluded what many of us already understood: Donald Trump committed conspiracy to defraud the United States and attempted to incite an insurrection.

Trump was charged for these actions, but ultimately, the case was dismissed after the Supreme Court ruling granting him immunity.

Trump may not be held accountable for Jan. 6, but we can never forget that day. Even more importantly, we cannot let Republicans rewrite history.

More than four years later, Donald Trump has called the Jan. 6 rioters “patriots” and “heroes.” He has pardoned them. Floated the possibility of compensating them.

And, of course, Republicans in Congress are blindly following his lead.

Apparently, the findings of the January 6th Committee were not enough. Experiencing the horrors of Jan. 6 was not enough. Watching the violent mob break through the halls of Congress was not enough.

Despite all of the evidence to the contrary, the GOP has decided that the violent acts on Jan. 6 were an act of patriotism.

That’s why on Wednesday, at Trump’s request, House Republicans voted to establish a new subcommittee to reinvestigate the attack. As Rep. Barry Loudermilk, who will chair the committee, claimed, “there was a lot more politics involved in decision-making than there ever should’ve been.”

I’ll put it simply: this is bullshit.

"We fight like hell,” Trump told his supporters on Jan. 6, standing before them on the Ellipse. “And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore.”

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As I wrote a few weeks ago, Trump is trying to revise American history across the map — from throwing out museum exhibits to policing art and musicals. The GOP Jan. 6 committee will act as an official resource so Trump can edit history books to fit the MAGA world order.

If Republicans have it their way, our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be celebrating Jan. 6 for years to come. Imagine this future: a winter feast to honor those who saved our country from tyranny. An annual parade to the Capitol Building to embody the spirit of the patriots. A federal holiday to remember why we stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.

If we sit on our heels, if we hesitate, if we look the other way, this will be America’s fate.

Democrats cannot let them get away with it. We cannot let them get away with it.

Trump is already offering a military funeral to Ashli Babbitt, the rioter who lost her life during the insurrection. The revisionist history is already underway. Now, the new subcommittee will seal this false narrative in our nation’s records.

We don’t have to wait. The fight is already here. As Rep. Jamie Raskin, a member of the first committee, said, “We welcome yet another chance to remind Americans of House Republicans’ ongoing complicity with — and embarrassing apologetics for — MAGA’s violent insurrection against Congress and Vice-President Mike Pence and Trump’s sinister attempt to overthrow a presidential election.”

We must use this opportunity to speak out and remind the American people of the horrors of Jan. 6. Remind them how close our democracy came to complete collapse. Remind them how close we are now.

President George Washington set the important precedent of the peaceful transfer of power. In our country, there are no kings. Presidents come and go. So do members of Congress. Ultimately, power lies with the American people. During this dangerous moment, we must use that power to hold onto our democracy and reclaim truth.

We cannot let Republicans rewrite our history. We cannot let Donald Trump become our first king. We cannot let them win.

YOUR READING LIST

- House Republicans Create New Jan. 6 Inquiry to Recast the Assault

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- The Day Democracy Was Attacked ([link removed] )

- Trump Wants to Rewrite American History. Maybe He Should Learn It First ([link removed] )

- At Trump’s Insistence, GOP Launches a New January 6 Committee ([link removed] )

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