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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