Missing Ingredient in January 6 Coverage: Credibility

Adam Schiff, Representative from California, Chairman, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. November 26, 2019. Photo courtesy of National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

You may have been flipping through the channels last night and stumbled upon the ugly spectacle of the Congressional committee investigating the events of January 6, 2021. Certainly, this wasn’t your preferred programming. Perhaps Kimberley A. Strassel, veteran columnist for the Wall Street Journal, explained it best, writing:

If You’re Serious, Sign Up for My Email. But Only If You’re Serious.

This week’s Washington corollary to the tree-in-the-forest thought experiment: If the Jan. 6 committee holds professionally polished hearings, amid wall-to-wall prime-time coverage, will anybody pay attention? If the answer is no, the committee will largely have itself to blame.

The prospect of public apathy is already deeply vexing the establishment. “Democrats have the steep challenge of convincing a disillusioned American electorate to tune into” the hearings, Politico worries. The Washington Post frets that even weeks of this miniseries may not “change hearts or minds.” The vexed are already laying blame. It’s the fault of Republicans who will “downplay” the findings, Americans who are too focused on gasoline prices, and Fox News for deciding not to air Thursday’s hearing live (although Fox Business and every other station said they would).

What’s actually missing in this special sauce of prime TV hours, slick videos and positive press is the one ingredient truly vital for public interest: credibility. If huge swathes of America ignore the committee’s work, it will be because the committee itself—through its construction and through its actions—made it easy.

Can Americans trust the findings of a panel whose members began with a preconceived narrative and blackballed any dissenting voices? Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s unprecedented decision to veto Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s picks last July in favor of her own handpicked Republican members blew the committee’s credibility before it even started work. Americans will find it easy to reject “evidence” that is too fragile to bear the scrutiny of fellow House members.

And consider Mrs. Pelosi’s Democratic picks. California’s Adam Schiff is the House face of the Trump-Russia collusion hoax and secret Ukraine impeachment proceedings. Maryland’s Jamie Raskin knows a little something about objecting to the counting of electoral votes. On Jan. 6, 2017, he objected to Donald Trump’s Florida victory. Mrs. Pelosi had more than 200 Democratic members to choose from, yet her picks allow Americans to dismiss the committee instantly.

The committee might have redeemed itself even with this makeup had it conducted its work in a sober, professional manner. Instead, within months, it had become the worst type of Washington leak machine—dribbling documents, texts, emails and inside tidbits about who was up for a grilling next and what was coming out of depositions. At least one of the text messages it released was altered (by—who else?—Mr. Schiff) to exclude context and falsely malign former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.

This practice reached a low in March, when the committee leaked personal text messages of Ginni Thomas, wife of Justice Clarence Thomas. The messages had no real bearing on the events of Jan. 6 but were perfectly timed to coincide with a left-wing campaign to smear Justice Thomas and pressure him to recuse himself from key cases. How much confidence should Americans be expected to have in a body that has abused its investigative powers for political gain?

On Tucker Carlson Tonight, host Tucker Carlson also called out the hypocrisy of the January 6 Committee. Watch below:

Action Line: No credibility and hypocritical. Congress can do better. Stick with me.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.