A clearer picture of Jan. 6

 

July 23, 2022

On Thursday night, the January 6 committee held the last hearing of the summer, with plans to return with more hearings and evidence in September. This first slate of hearings brought into sharper focus the details of Trump’s attempts to subvert the 2020 presidential election and his actions on January 6 itself. This week’s primetime hearing filled in a lot of the blanks when it came to what Trump was doing in the White House on January 6 and his knowledge of the violence unfolding at the U.S. Capitol. The evidence and testimony gave us the best indication so far that Trump understood an armed, violent mob was attacking the capitol and endangering the lives of the vice president and members of Congress, but that for several hours he decided against stepping in to stop the violence. Trump didn't fail to act; he actively refused to do so, even as most White House aides around him repeatedly urged him to make a public plea to the insurrectionists to leave the Capitol. The House committee has done a fantastic job obtaining testimony and evidence, and methodically laying out the facts. But we are growing increasingly concerned that the Justice Department will ultimately shy away from prosecuting Trump for any crimes he may have committed. We led a coalition of groups this week to send a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, calling on him to clarify whether any existing department legal guidance directs the DOJ not to prosecute a former president or top aides for certain crimes. POGO EVENTS Virtual Book Club Next week, The Constitution Project at POGO is hosting award-winning author Reece Jones for a conversation on his new book, Nobody is Protected. They’ll be discussing the history of Customs and Border Protection, the nation’s largest law enforcement agency. Save your spot today! INVESTIGATION DHS Watchdog Failed to Sound Alarm For Months on Secret Service's Purged Jan. 6 Texts The Department of Homeland Security’s top watchdog waited more than a year to publicize the Secret Service’s failure to provide texts relating to January 6. Read More LETTER Coalition to AG Garland: Disclose Office of Legal Counsel Opinions That Could Interfere with Jan. 6 Accountability If the Department of Justice has found that certain criminal laws do not apply to the former President, it has an obligation to disclose that fact. Read More LETTER POGO Statement on Agency Legal Material Review POGO offers recommendations to the Administrative Conference of the United States on legal materials that federal agencies should make more transparent. Read More QUOTE OF THE WEEK “The rules [governing congressional stock ownership] are currently insufficient to meet the challenges, particularly if you take into consideration that the American people really view corruption as a huge problem.” Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, Government Affairs Manager, in CNN OVERHEARD ONE LINERS “If records were lost, and there’s solid evidence that this was done by the Secret Service to hide information from the IG or anyone else, there are criminal penalties that could apply.” Nick Schwellenbach, Senior Investigator, in The Hill   “The fact we are buying increasingly complex aircraft is just going to exacerbate the flight-hour problem. The more complex the aircraft, the more training the pilot needs.” Dan Grazier, Senior Defense Policy Fellow, in San Diego Tribune   “If a consensus bill isn’t introduced before the August recess, the prospects for passing something into law before the end of the year are slim at best.” Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, Government Affairs Manager, in Daily Beast   “It’s a dereliction of duty to keep the public and Congress in the dark for months. Digital forensics experts could have been working to recover these lost texts a long time ago.” Nick Schwellenbach, Senior Investigator, in Washington Post Enjoyed this weekend’s edition of the Weekly Spotlight? Forward to a friend. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Welcome! 👋 Subscribe here.   WANT MORE FROM POGO? Eyes on the federal government from every angle:   Paper Trail: Quick links to the news in the world of government oversight The Bunker: Military intelligence from POGO's Mark Thompson The Bridge: Analysis on the latest in government ethics from Walt Shaub Sidebar: Key context on the latest constitutional news from the TCP team Click here to update your newsletter subscriptions.   🎧 The Continuous Action Podcast 📺 YouTube 📱 Instagram 💸 Support our work

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