The January Sixth Select Congressional Committee Comes Out Swinging Through The First Three Public Hearings

 June 16th, 2022

My Dear America:

We were Promised Bombshell Testimony by The January Sixth Committee and the Bombshells have been falling hard over the past week as the Committee has begun the Public Televised Hearings.

To be honest nothing that I have heard so far in the Three Televised Hearings was all that shocking or new.  What is new and certainly is bombshell testimony is the fact that almost everyone in Donald Trump's orbit after the 2020 Election results were known was convinced, unlike Donald Trump, that President Trump's awful and unlawful Presidency would be over in January of 2021.

Even the lowest of the low bottom feeders like Jason Miller and many other Trump Loyalists realized that it was all over for the Trump Administration.

Trump had very few Trump cards to play in the coming days after the election results were announced and regardless of how many Advisers and Family Members told him that he had lost he refused to accept the fact that they might have been correct in their assessments.  Even most of those Congresspeople who had aligned themselves with Trump and had supported much of his flawed agenda waited patiently as Trump's Legal team played out their doomed fight to prove the unprovable.  Namely, that Donald Trump had actually won the 2020 Election and was the Victim of Election Fraud.  Most correct thinking individuals were able to look at what was happening in the White House for two months after the election and realize that something was off, Way Off.

While many newspeople continued to ask Republicans what was going on, Many Republicans stated that they fully expected that Trump would come around to reality once He and Rudy Giuliani played out Trump's Legal Hand.

Gradually some Republicans, like Mitch McConnell recognizing the Clear and Present Danger that Donald Trump presented began saying the obvious truth that

In the Presidential Race of 2020 Joseph R. Biden had been the clear winner. 

Of Course when Mitch told the truth about the Election, Trump verbally savaged him.  So what else was new.

Last Thursday, although Fox News refused to carry the Initial Prime Time Public Session of the January Sixth Committee, every other Network News Division presented the program in its entirety.

The first night began with statements by Committee Chairman, Democrat Bennie Thompson and Republican Co-Chairperson, Liz Cheney.

Probably the most significant recorded testimony of the night was by Former Attorney General, William Barr.  Certainly William Barr's testimony is a bit tainted by the fact that up until the point he resigned, or got fired, depending on who you believe, Barr was a complete Toady to President Trump.

But according to the testimony of Barr that was played at the First Prime Time Committee meeting Barr claimed that he told Trump that after the Department of Justice investigated Trump's Claims of "Voter Fraud" Barr told Trump that his claims of "Voter Fraud" was "Bullshit" and "Nonsense".  Understandably, Barr was gone from the Justice Department shortly afterward. 

Oddly, Ivanka Trump when questioned about the results of the Election stated that she believed Barr.

Something that all three of the Hearings has shown is that the crowd of Trump supporters that, first of all, demonstrated at the Capitol and following that invaded the Capitol Building was made up of, for the most part, some of the dumbest individuals ever.  They proudly filmed themselves breaking into the Capitol, destroying property and threatening not only Vice President Mike Pence but Nancy Pelosi, Jerrod Nadler and AOC, as well as many others.

For God's sake, Broadcasting your crimes.  How freaking dumb do you have to be? Well, now that I think about it, they were just following the Dumb Donald Trump Playbook.  He, of course, broadcasted and bragged about his crimes often.  Why wouldn't his supporters follow his lead.

The two main witnesses who testified at the Thursday Evening Televised hearing in person were Nick Quested and Caroline Edwards.

Quested was a filmmaker who was making a film about the Proud Boys at the time of the January Sixth Insurrection.  He testified that in the course of making his film he had inadvertently filmed the Proud Boys meeting with members of other groups, including The Oath Keepers on January 5th in a D.C. Parking Garage.  The Committee showed that part of Quested's film.  Quested also testified that as he followed the Proud Boys around on January Sixth, 2021 that the group did not even go to Trump's Rally but instead at around 10:30 in the morning went to the Capitol and seemingly cased the building prior to breaking in when all the other Trump Fanatics came along later.  

Also appearing at the First Committee Session on Prime Time Thursday was Caroline Edwards, an attractive young Capitol Police Officer who described in detail her brutal treatment at the hands of the Trump Mob on January Sixth.

The Second January Sixth Session took place on Tuesday Morning of this week and in addition to featuring several actual witnesses testifying in person featured a great deal of filmed Committee Testimony by many individuals in the Trump orbit testifying that they told Trump that he lost the election, a message that he seemingly simply refused to accept. 

In person witnesses at the Second January Sixth Hearing included some well known Republicans including Chris Stirewalt, who was a digital expert with Fox News on Election night 2020, who stated with authority that Trump lost the election.  Republicans Al Schmidt, a Republican election expert from Philadelphia and Well Regarded Republican Lawyer Ben Ginsberg also testified that Trump clearly lost the 2020 Election.  Barr's videotaped testimony, as well as the videotaped  testimony of many others working with the President indicated that no one other than Rudy Giuliani or Disgraced Constitutional Lawyer, John Eastman believed that Trump had won the election of November 2020.  The In Person Republican Testimony was guided on the Second day of Hearings by California Congresswoman, Zoe Lofgren

Today on June 16th of 2022 The Select Committee Hearing Testimonies were conducted by Committee Investigative Counsel, John Wood and also by California Congressman, Pete Aguilar.  Once again much of the Hearing consisted of  Committee Video Testimony by many of those individuals who were closest to Trump commenting on the brutal bullying and ultimately clearly criminal pressure that Donald Trump was unleashing on his Vice President, Mike Pence prior to January 6th of 2021.

In addition to the video testimonies the Select Committee on January Sixth also heard from two important Republican witnesses.  In fact, most of the witnesses on video in today's hearing were also Republicans.  The two In Person Witnesses at today's hearing were Greg Jacob and Michael Luttig.  

Michael Luttig is well known to Republicans as a Leading Light in the Republican Party and a Conservative's Conservative.  In addition to his time as a Judge on the Federal Bench, Luttig  was also known to be an important member of both the Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush Administrations.

Greg Jacob spent time in 2020 and 2021 as a Counsel to Vice President, Mike Pence.  Jacob made it clear in his testimony, as did many others in their video testimonies that were also included in today's hearing, that although Trump pressured Pence to decertify the legitimate Electors from certain states whose voters had supported Joe Biden on January Sixth, Mike Pence refused to do it.

Michael Luttig made it clear in his testimony that in his legal opinion Mike Pence had no legal right to do what Donald Trump was demanding of him.  Namely, decertifying legitimate electors in an effort to support Trump's warped view that the 2020 Election had been stolen from him.

In essence, what the January Sixth Committee has been doing for the last three Hearings is making the case that Donald Trump knew very well that he had legitimately lost the election but refused to allow himself to be designated as a "Loser", which to Trump was apparently one of the worst things that could happen to a human being in Trump World.

Clearly Donald Trump was focused on keeping himself in office because he knew that once he was out of office he might not be able to count on his being President to keep him from answering to the many legal charges that might be coming his way in his future.

Clearly the January Sixth Committee is doing a good job of building a case against Donald Trump committing many crimes including Sedition, as well as conspiracy to murder his Vice President and many other serious offenses.  

Certainly Donald Trump is a Dangerous Sociopath capable of continuing to commit crimes of epic proportions if he was allowed to return to the White House.  

Just look at the situation in Ukraine and how things would be so horribly different if it was Donald Trump rather than Joe Biden in the White House.  Trump would have the United States, instead of helping Ukraine, entering the war on the side of the Russians and Trump's "Genius" buddy, Vladimir Putin.

Clearly Federal Law makes it a crime to commit sedition and makes it impossible for Federal employees to work for the United States Government when they have committed Treasonous Crimes, which Donald Trump has clearly done.

I know that it may be a burden for the January Sixth Committee to complete their investigation, report and hearings if they hand over all the evidence that they have dug up on Donald Trump.  

That being said, although it is very important for the January Sixth Committee to complete their investigation, it is time for the Committee Members to quickly pass on all of the information that they have gathered so that Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Justice Department can use the information gathered to prepare a Serious Case that will result in keeping Donald Trump from returning to work in the Government of the United States of America ever again.

The clock is ticking and there may be serious statute of limitations issues which make it important for the Committee to wrap up their hearings and turn over everything they have to the United States Justice Department As Soon as possible.

Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher

 

Echoes of Watergate: Part Two - Today Is The 50th Anniversary Of The Watergate Break-In

 June 17th, 2022

My Dear America:

It doesn't seem like 50 Years have gone by since the break in at the D.C. Watergate Complex but the calendar doesn't lie, although I wish it would sometimes.

Although I was more than halfway through writing about the start of the July 6th Hearings I could not ignore the significance of todays date, June 17th.  

It was 50 years ago today on June 17th of 1972 when 5 men were arrested in the Democratic Party headquarters in the Watergate Hotel, Office and Apartment Complex in Washington, D.C..

Luckily for Bob Woodward, a reporter for the Washington Post, he was given the assignment of going to check on the court appearance for the burglars who were arrested at the Watergate Complex.  While at the court appearance Woodward found out that one of the burglars, James McCord, had worked at the CIA and was now working with (CREEP) The Committee To Re Elect The President (Nixon)

What the hell was this guy and four Cubans, who he would find out later were also CIA, doing in Democratic Headquarters. 

Well, Unlucky for Richard Nixon and Company, Bob Woodward and his Reporting Partner, Carl Bernstein, were now on the job of uncovering what was at that period of time the most incredible political scandal that anyone could conceive of, never mind remember.

Woodward and Bernstein were guests on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert this week celebrating their their Seminal book on Watergate, "All The Presidents Men" 50th Anniversary Edition.  

Speaking of celebrating books on Watergate my first Published book was "Letters To A Lost Nation: A Watergate Chronicle".  Like "All The President's Men" my book is also available in Paperback and E Book Format on Amazon.com. It is also available in several E Book Formats on Smashwords.com.

Quite Frankly anyone who is not familiar with Watergate may find tons of books available on Amazon on the subject.  Almost every one of the President's men who went to jail wrote a book about Watergate.  Judges and Prosecutors also wrote books on the subject.

Many of those individuals who were locked up as a result of the Watergate Scandal ended up doing OK later on in their lives.  I have already written about G. Gordon Liddy in a Previous Blog Post and Podcast.  Liddy has passed on but not without an odd but interesting and successful career as an Actor and Radio Host, among other things.

John Dean, the Young White House Counsel who Richard Nixon and his advisors, John Ehrlichman and H.R. Haldeman clearly tried to set up as the Watergate Patsy turned the tables on Nixon, Ehrlichman and Haldeman and testified truthfully to the Senate Select Watergate Committee and to Federal Prosecutions of others involved in the scandal.  Although Dean still went to jail his sentence was much briefer than it would have been had he not cooperated with the Justice Department's prosecutions of many of the President's men.  

As I have said before The CNN Series on Watergate  featuring John Dean as the Narrator and Producer is excellent.  The Paramount Plus Series "Gaslit" also gives an interesting perspective on Watergate through the Nixon connected couple, John Mitchell and his Wife, Martha Mitchell.  John Mitchell was a Law Partner of Richard Nixon, who became United States Attorney General and the 1972 Campaign Manager of the Committee To Re Elect The President.  Mitchell went to jail while Richard Nixon went to his home in California after his resignation.  Martha Mitchell was known to cooperate with journalists including Woodward and Bernstein and apparently revealed to those Journalists quite a lot about what she knew about Watergate.

The History Channel is also featuring their 6 part Watergate Series today starting at 6:00 PM.  One more perspective on Watergate has been featured prominently on the excellent Showtime Series, "The First Lady".

As we watch the shocking revelations regarding Donald Trump during the January Sixth Committee Hearings Richard Nixon seems to be a bit more palatable in comparison.

Neither of these two bastards should have ever seen the inside of the White House, never mind been elected.  But they were elected and as Republicans seem to be hell bent on altering the political playing field all over the country it is time to remember the lessons of both Watergate and Treasongate.

Nixon is gone.  He will never be back in the White House again.

Trump is still around and he is poisoning the political system and getting ready to re enter the White House again in 2024.  

It is time to learn the lessons from the January Sixth Committee Hearings, as well as the Senate Watergate Hearings and keep the Monster From Mara Lago from rising again. 

Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher

Echoes Of Watergate As The January 6th Committee Hearings Prepare To Begin

 Wednesday June 8th, 2022

My Dear America:

This Thursday Night at 8:00 PM The January Sixth Committee will begin a Prime Time Review of what they have uncovered through over a years worth of investigating what in the hell happened in and around The Capitol Building in Washington on January 6th, 2021.  Unless you have been living under a rock for the past year and a half it is likely that much of what the Committee has to say will be old news to most of us.  The Committee has promised, however, some breakthrough, bombshell revelations and I, like most of us in the world of reality, look forward to finding out what went on and why.  

Clearly Donald Trump and his Republican Allies, including Fox News are not nearly as anxious to have Trump's Dirty Laundry aired in Prime Time or in any time period on Television.

As we prepare to watch the January Sixth Hearings I am having some feelings of Deja Vu as I think back to what I felt was the most exciting Television Spectacular Series that I ever saw during the 1970's, The Senate Watergate Hearings.

I wrote a lot at the time during the Watergate Hearings, which I was lucky Enough or unlucky enough, depending on how you looked at it, to get to watch nearly every day.  I was recovering from surgery at the time and the Watergate Hearings were pretty much the only Television Programming on during the day for a lengthy period of time.  I became hooked quickly and the more that was revealed during the Watergate Hearings the more horrified I became.

I began reacting to the Watergate Hearings by copying a technique that I had learned from a book by Albert Camus'.  I began writing letters addressed to "My Dear America" commenting on what I was seeing, hearing and feeling during the daily hearings.  

(Let me stop here and advise the readers of this Blog that I turned my largely emotional reactions to the Senate Watergate Hearings into a book titled "Letters To A Lost Nation: A Watergate Chronicle".  My book is probably not the most comprehensive book on Watergate.  Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's Books, "All The President's Men" and "The Final Days" would probably fit the bill on that score.  My book does, however, give a fairly sincere reaction of an average American to the Incredible scandal that was Watergate.  For anyone interested in buying my book it is available in Paperback and Kindle on Amazon.com and in several other E Book Formats on Smashwords.com)

I do recommend my book for anyone who wants to read  the details of "A Brief History Of Watergate" and a comprehensive listing of Major Figures involved in the Watergate Scandal, as well as my reactions to the testimony of many Watergate Figures and an effort to follow up on what happened years later to those Major Watergate Figures.

To make a long story very short "Watergate" was essentially the following:

A Security Guard at the upscale Washington D.C. Apartment, Hotel and Office Complex called the "Watergate" discovered during the morning of June 17th, 1972 that one of the doors to the Watergate had tape on the lock and he called the D.C. Police who while checking the Watergate Complex discovered 5 Individuals in the offices of the Democratic Party.  One of the individuals arrested was James McCord, who was a retired CIA Officer.  The other 4 individuals arrested were Cubans who also had ties to the CIA.  Through dogged investigation by Woodward and Bernstein and other Journalists, the D.C. Police and the FBI the Watergate "Burglars" were tied to E. Howard Hunt (Another Former CIA Officer) and G. Gordon Liddy (A Former FBI Agent).  Both Hunt and Liddy had connections to the White House and also connections to the Committee To Elect The President (CREEP).  What followed the Watergate Break in was a shit show of epic proportions which led to numerous individuals connected to the White House and the Committee To Re Elect the President, not only getting fired, but also going to jail.

The Watergate Hearings were televised on every Network live for a good length of time.  The Senate Watergate Committee was made up of some of the most interesting individuals in the United States Senate on both the Republican And Democratic sides.  The hearings became a national obsession and were almost addictive to me.

During a discussion with Lawrence O Donnell following her MSNBC Program on Monday Night Rachel Maddow discussed the fact that she was an infant during the Watergate Hearings.  Listening to her discuss this with Lawrence O Donnell made me realize that many people might never have seen or even heard of The Senate Watergate Hearings that consumed much of my life during the Seventies.  

I don't know how addictive the January Sixth Committee Hearings will be.  It seems to me that many people in the United States have already made up their minds about Donald Trump and his Republican Supporters and, quite Frankly, if they haven't seen the light about Trump by now I don't think that they are going to pay much attention to what is coming in the Hearings.

I think that Watergate was a lesson for many and should have been a lesson to us all but obviously wasn't.  

Watergate was, for the most part, a corruption of the Nixon White House that spread from the top into various Government Agencies.  At the end of it Richard Nixon finally had the decency to resign.

Donald Trump also corrupted every Government agency he touched but even though he was impeached Twice he still attempted to hold onto power by means of a violent insurrection and an attempted Coup. We should have learned our lesson long ago from Watergate but apparently the lesson didn't take.

I would like to advise Anyone interested in watching some interesting Television and learning about Watergate at the same time to check out two very interesting Television Series.  

CNN has just begun broadcasting a Series on Watergate on Sunday Nights that is being produced and hosted by John Dean, who those who remember Watergate will recall was the man who was targeted by the powers that be in the Nixon White House to be the Patsy for Watergate but instead turned the tables on Richard Nixon and Company.  In the Watergate hearings Dean blew the doors off the White House.  Dean has been a contributor to CNN for years now.  It is about time that he got around to telling the Watergate Story.  So far it looks as though Dean and CNN are doing a good credible job in telling the true Watergate story.

Another take on Watergate is currently being presented on the Paramount Plus streaming Network.  The Show is called "Gaslit" and tells the story of Watergate and the Nixon White House from the perspective of Martha Mitchell, who was the wife of Attorney General and Committee To Elect the President Leader, John Mitchell, who was in the end also sacrificed by the White House in order to save Richard Nixon's Ass. This series stars Julia Roberts as Martha Michell and Sean Penn as John Mitchell.  I have to say that Sean Penn's makeup is incredible and so is that of Julia Roberts.  They both do an awesome acting job in addition to looking so much like the characters they portray.

It is interesting to me to watch these Television Series just as the shit is ready to hit the fan on Thursday night.  

It drives me crazy to see so many Republicans continue to stand with Donald Trump as he lies his ass off about how he was shafted out of his "Landslide Victory" in 2020.  Clearly no Republican in their right mind still believes this Bullshit Story.  But they continue to parrot Trump.  

I have a dream today that after watching the January Sixth Committee Hearings that Republicans everywhere will come to their senses and stop lying about Donald Trump's Landslide election victory.

I will continue to have this dream but I don't really have much faith that this dream will come true.

What I hope will come true is that every Democrat watching the January Sixth Hearings will get motivated enough to get ready to vote in the November Election for the Democrats who are running and telling the truth about January Sixth, 2020.

That Dream has a better chance of coming true.

Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher