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Last post 2 years ago by RayR. 24 replies replies.
Mitch McConnell is suddenly legitimizing the Jan. 6 committee. But why?
rfenst Offline
#1 Posted:
Joined: 06-23-2007
Posts: 39,100
WAPO Opinion

It’s difficult to dismiss even one Mitch McConnell comment as anything other than part of a concerted and deliberate political strategy. It’s virtually impossible to dismiss two.

All of which makes twin comments this week by McConnell (R-Ky.) legitimizing the House’s Jan. 6 committee quite interesting.

As the committee continues to uncover significant new information — including about the desperate and anti-democratic efforts to overturn the 2020 election that preceded Jan. 6 and about how much allies who went on to downplay Trump’s role initially said something quite different privately — Republicans and their allies have been put on the defensive. And they’ve become defensive. They’ve accused the committee of being partisan and of overstepping.

But McConnell has struck a very different tone this week — in ways that he must know legitimize the committee’s mandate and its work.

On Tuesday, CNN’s Manu Raju asked McConnell about the revelation that Trump allies — including Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. and Fox News hosts who went on almost immediately to downplay Trump’s role — had pleaded with Meadows during the riot to get Trump to stop it. The text messages showed those people recognized Trump was the catalyst for the events, despite their later comments.

McConnell raised some eyebrows when he responded: “I do think we’re all watching, as you are, what is unfolding on the House side, and it will be interesting to reveal all of the participants who were involved.”


Okay, maybe a little generic and noncommittal. But it certainly wasn’t suggesting the committee was a bunch of partisan hacks out for political gain, as other Republicans have. It suggested it was worth knowing who might have pushed the efforts to overturn the election — efforts that McConnell is on the record sharply criticizing. And McConnell well knows that the people he’s talking about are political allies.

Things got more interesting Thursday when McConnell was asked again about the committee’s work. And he reinforced that he views it as important. The premise of the question even cited his comments Tuesday, inviting McConnell to walk them back if he wanted to.

But he didn’t just double down; he arguably went further.

“I think the fact-finding is interesting; we’re all going to be watching it,” McConnell said. “It was a horrendous event, and I think what they are seeking to find out is something the public needs to know.”


McConnell’s comments are particularly interesting in that, while he strongly criticized Trump’s role in Jan. 6 (while voting against impeachment), he was a leading force behind blocking a separate proposed effort to probe the Capitol riot: A bipartisan commission modeled on the 9/11 Commission.

McConnell repeatedly derided the commission as unnecessary and duplicative — even carrying only a veneer of bipartisanship. “There is no new fact about that day that we need the Democrats’ extraneous ‘commission’ to uncover,” McConnell said at the time. His opposition came even as the commission was negotiated by a senior House Republican, and he alienated some moderates in his caucus.

What seemed clear at the time — not just from McConnell’s comments but from many other Republicans — was that he and his party weren’t terribly interested in reliving that day and the factors that contributed to it for one main reason: political considerations. It would be nothing but bad news for a party bent on regaining power in 2022, when McConnell has a great shot at regaining his perch as Senate majority leader.

What ultimately resulted was a House select committee that wasn’t as evenly divided between the two parties as the commission would have been. And then Republicans tried to appoint House members who had publicly challenged the election results, leading House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to reject the members offered by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). McCarthy withdrew his party’s participation in the committee, although two GOP critics of Trump — Reps. Liz Cheney (Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) — accepted slots on the committee.

At the time, McCarthy’s pulling out of the committee altogether was viewed as furthering an effort to delegitimize its work. This would be all Pelosi appointees running the show, so Republicans could claim the committee wasn’t being evenhanded. McConnell also previewed such attacks on whatever investigation Congress might do, calling the previous proposal for a 9/11-style commission “slanted and unbalanced.”

But that’s decidedly not the tack McConnell has taken right now, for whatever reason. Even in the interview above, he was given a chance to weigh in on Cheney’s role, which other Republicans have criticized, and he declined. (Worth noting: The protocol for Senate leaders is usually to not weigh in on what the House is doing, which McConnell could just as easily have invoked.)

Exactly why he’s doing this is a valid question. Perhaps McConnell is sending a message to Trump, as Trump continues to attack him and to (unsuccessfully) push for Senate Republicans to cast McConnell aside as their leader. Perhaps he truly believes that anti-democratic efforts to overturn the election were just that bad and would very much like for those involved to be publicly exposed, believing it won’t necessarily harm Republicans in general.

But in either case, that skates past the plain political calculus that McConnell has demonstrated is central to virtually everything he does. Legitimizing the congressional Jan. 6 investigation in any way, even subtly — which Republicans have been loath to do and which McConnell himself once joined in fighting — diminishes efforts to cast that work as hackery and seemingly could hurt McConnell’s chances of becoming Senate majority leader again.

That brings up another potential read on the situation, which would seem to be validated by the revelations of recent days: This is all going to reflect quite poorly on those involved, and McConnell recognizes it will be difficult to dispute that. Maybe it’s better to express openness to the committee’s findings and then dispute the specifics and pin this on ne’er-do-well individuals later.


Whatever the case — and with the acknowledgment that McConnell has hardly given the committee a full Good Housekeeping seal of approval — what he’s saying is a departure from his party that significantly hamstrings efforts to undermine the committee. And it’s certainly worth keeping an eye on.
bgz Offline
#2 Posted:
Joined: 07-29-2014
Posts: 13,023
Trump is kinda like Doomsday in the DC/Superman universe.

Everyone knows they should put him back in the box before he becomes too powerful, but they don't think they can win without him.

It's a dilemma.
Speyside2 Offline
#3 Posted:
Joined: 11-11-2021
Posts: 2,304
Better yet, lock him up.
bgz Offline
#4 Posted:
Joined: 07-29-2014
Posts: 13,023
Ya... I think that's what they ended up doing with doomsday.
RayR Online
#5 Posted:
Joined: 07-20-2020
Posts: 8,796
Does that mean you guys believe Doomsday Trump orchestrated a violent insurrection, a coup to take power and rule as an authoritarian one-party regime as the Democrats want?
You guys read too many comic books. What a bunch of dorks. Bored
bgz Offline
#6 Posted:
Joined: 07-29-2014
Posts: 13,023
Uh... I was talking from perspective of the Republicans...

Keep up.
frankj1 Offline
#7 Posted:
Joined: 02-08-2007
Posts: 44,211
obviously Mitch is a Commie.
DaveSoCal Offline
#8 Posted:
Joined: 09-14-2014
Posts: 11
Maybe what eveyone should be asking and wondering .............Is why guys like Curz..........who acted like Trump was so bad for the country when they ran against him.....but now are loyal ass kisser.........There are very few things that change a person like that and its money and power..........so who are the real commies?
Krazeehorse Offline
#9 Posted:
Joined: 04-09-2010
Posts: 1,958
DaveSoCal wrote:
Maybe what eveyone should be asking and wondering .............Is why guys like Curz..........who acted like Trump was so bad for the country when they ran against him.....but now are loyal ass kisser.........There are very few things that change a person like that and its money and power..........so who are the real commies?

Like Camel Toe talking about Joe? That’s just politics. Say what serves you best at the moment you’re speaking to the people that’s listening to you.
RayR Online
#10 Posted:
Joined: 07-20-2020
Posts: 8,796
Yup, back stabbing, and chit talking is just part of their game to entertain the proles.
Speyside2 Offline
#11 Posted:
Joined: 11-11-2021
Posts: 2,304
BGZ, type slower so Ray can keep up.
RayR Online
#12 Posted:
Joined: 07-20-2020
Posts: 8,796
I'm actually way ahead of him, he just doesn't know it.
Mr. Jones Offline
#13 Posted:
Joined: 06-12-2005
Posts: 19,359
The TURTLE 🐢 ALWAYS DOES ...

WHAT'S...

BEST FOR THE TURTLE 🐢
bgz Offline
#14 Posted:
Joined: 07-29-2014
Posts: 13,023
Turtles all the way down Jonesy...

For Ray: Commies all the way down RayRay...
bgz Offline
#15 Posted:
Joined: 07-29-2014
Posts: 13,023
RayR wrote:
I'm actually way ahead of him, he just doesn't know it.


You saying you're the turtle?
dkeage Offline
#16 Posted:
Joined: 03-05-2004
Posts: 15,135
bgz wrote:
You saying you're the turtle?


RayR is John Lennon? Wow
RayR Online
#17 Posted:
Joined: 07-20-2020
Posts: 8,796
dkeage wrote:
RayR is John Lennon? Wow


Didn't we already settle that John Lennon was a Commie?
Speyside2 Offline
#18 Posted:
Joined: 11-11-2021
Posts: 2,304
So RayR is a commie, good to know. I will start calling him comrade R.
RMAN4443 Offline
#19 Posted:
Joined: 09-29-2016
Posts: 7,683
dkeage wrote:
RayR is John Lennon? Wow

I am the Walrus...koo koo kachoo...fog
bgz Offline
#20 Posted:
Joined: 07-29-2014
Posts: 13,023
Speyside2 wrote:
So RayR is a commie, good to know. I will start calling him comrade R.


He's so far right you have to look left to see him.
rfenst Offline
#21 Posted:
Joined: 06-23-2007
Posts: 39,100
There is a lot of nasty chit in the pipeline and because of what has trickled out so far, I think McConnell is now trying to save face and get the Republicans in the Senate to move as far away from Trump as far as possible- in part to save his job. I don't think it is going to work, however. He knows there will be serious egg on some Trumpian Senators' faces. And, I don't think McConnel is going to be able to defend them so he is capitulating slowly. Trump is committed to trying to make sure McConnell doesn't get re-elected and can't stand him as the majority leader again if/when the next election cycle comes around. And, FWIW, I always thought Liz Cheney was a straight shooter and **could be** electable presidential/vice-presidential material I would probably vote for in the years to come, but sadly I think she is gone from the Republican party, for better or worse, depending on one's perspective.
RayR Online
#22 Posted:
Joined: 07-20-2020
Posts: 8,796
bgz wrote:
He's so far right you have to look left to see him.


If you circle back you might catch a momentary glimpse of me.
bgz Offline
#23 Posted:
Joined: 07-29-2014
Posts: 13,023
RayR wrote:
If you circle back you might catch a momentary glimpse of me.


I think he's saying he would appreciate a reach around.
RayR Online
#24 Posted:
Joined: 07-20-2020
Posts: 8,796
rfenst wrote:
There is a lot of nasty chit in the pipeline and because of what has trickled out so far, I think McConnell is now trying to save face and get the Republicans in the Senate to move as far away from Trump as far as possible- in part to save his job. I don't think it is going to work, however. He knows there will be serious egg on some Trumpian Senators' faces. And, I don't think McConnel is going to be able to defend them so he is capitulating slowly. Trump is committed to trying to make sure McConnell doesn't get re-elected and can't stand him as the majority leader again if/when the next election cycle comes around. And, FWIW, I always thought Liz Cheney was a straight shooter and **could be** electable presidential/vice-presidential material I would probably vote for in the years to come, but sadly I think she is gone from the Republican party, for better or worse, depending on one's perspective.


Liz Cheney! A slimy belly crawling freaking neocon like her father? YOU WOULD VOTE FOR HER? YOU ARE SICKER THAN I THOUGHT! GOD FORBID!
Her father couldn't shoot straight either, remember he shot that lawyer in the face.
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