Revelations

Dear Editor:

On Thursday, July 21, 2022, the House Select Committee investigating what caused the Jan 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol held its last hearing in this series.  They promise more, and I can hardly wait.

The facts that the committee (consisting of seven moderate to liberal Democrats and two, rock-ribbed, conservative Republicans) has presented have been perfectly clear.  Further, the vast majority of testimony, either through sworn public witnesses or on video from sworn depositions, has been from Republicans.  Let me repeat that lest it slip by – the facts and testimony presented by the committee have been almost exclusively from Republicans.  And not just any Republicans. Most were loyal Trump Republicans, as many here in Bradford County are.

The evidence of Donald Trump’s complicity in the Jan 6 insurrection has been so forceful and overwhelming that one of his most staunchest allies appears to be abandoning him, and for good reason from my point of view.  That person is Rupert Murdoch, owner of Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post.

I won’t repeat the full weight of the evidence against Donald Trump. The reader can find that from mainstream media.  So, I will just cover the conclusions from the editorial boards of the two newspapers and what Fox News has started doing.

The Wall Street Journal had headlines like “The President Who Stood Still on Jan. 6”  and an editorial opinion such as “Character is revealed in a crisis, and Mr. Pence passed his Jan. 6 trial. Mr. Trump utterly failed his,” Ask yourself, why did they write such a harsh critique about a man they use to admire? It is not because they thought highly of the committee. They didn’t.  While Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy chose not to put credible Republicans on the committee, the Journal still thinks the lack of a good cross-examination of witnesses is a serious flaw in the process.  Nevertheless, they had this to say right after the first prime time hearing: “Trump betrayed his supporters.” 

After the last blockbuster prime- time hearing that was recently concluded, they were forced to write this damning synopsis of what they saw and heard:

“No matter your views of the Jan. 6 special committee, the facts it is laying out in hearings are sobering. The most horrifying to date came Thursday in a hearing on President Trump’s conduct as the riot raged and he sat watching TV, posting inflammatory tweets and refusing to send help.”

That is indicative of just how powerful and incriminating the evidence uncovered about Donald Trump and his involvement with the Jan 6 insurrection!

Even Fox News is starting to pull away from him.  For example, CNN reports that Fox no longer televises Trump’s rallies. Also, Trump opponents like Gov. DeSantis are getting a lot more airtime.

The New York Post, an even more conservative newspaper, had worse to say.  While they had a lot more to say, their conclusion says it all:

“It’s up to the Justice Department to decide if this is a crime, but as a matter of principle, as a matter of character, Trump has proven himself unworthy to be this country’s chief executive again.”

That is sobering especially coming from a source that was all in on Donald Trump. It is clear Trump is culpable in the events of Jan 6. The question is – what are his supporters going to do with this knowledge?

Scott Belford