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Republicans Give the Appropriate Response to Jamie Raskin's Claims J6 Hearings Are Nonpartisan

AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

During a House Judiciary Committee markup on Wednesday, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) gave a stand-up comedy routine that would give Dave Chappelle a run for his money. In fact, his performance was so off-the-wall hysterical that his Republican colleagues couldn’t help bursting out in a fit of full-on belly laughter.

It happened when members of the committee were debating a bill that would send push notifications to cell phones if an active shooter was near their location. Republicans were suggesting amendments to the proposed legislation, which is called the “Active Shooter Alert Act of 2022.”

At one point, Raskin went off on a lengthy tirade, castigating Republicans for politicizing the committee’s work. He then boasted about being on a real committee that doesn’t engage in cynical politicking. He was referring to his position on the Democratic House Select Jan. 6 committee. He said:

“It doesn’t have to be like this because I actually serve on a bipartisan committee that gets things done. And that is not obsessed with partisan polemics and invective and denunciation and combat. And sees every piece of legislation is an opportunity to just club the other side. And that is the January 6th select committee.”

Republicans on the Judiciary Committee fell into a raucous fit of laughter that was so pronounced, one would think they were watching Bill Burr perform. Raskin, with no sense of irony whatsoever, responded to the laughter by pretending the Jan. 6 committee isn’t partisan because, on day 2, they interviewed only Republicans about what occurred at the U.S. Capitol. He said:

“Well, I appreciate the laughter of my colleagues because some people have accused us of being partisan because all of our witnesses are Republicans. You might not have noticed that, but then you might not be allowed to watch the hearings and you can see Attorney General Barr there, you can see Mr. Stepien, who’s Donald Trump’s campaign manager and so on.”

Of course, anyone paying attention to politics over the past few years knows that almost all of the GOP witnesses interviewed at the hearings were decidedly anti-Trump. In fact, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made sure the committee would only be made up of Republicans who suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome by excluding lawmakers who were more friendly toward the former president. Nevertheless, Raskin, with a straight face, continued, pretending that the anti-Trump GOP members of the committee somehow mean the group is bipartisan. He said:

“But the truth of the matter is that this committee is a bipartisan committee. You perhaps would laugh at your Republican colleagues. I wouldn’t laugh at Liz Cheney who was elected as the chair of the House Republican conference and was the number three member of the conference. I wouldn’t laugh at Adam Kinzinger who’s a member of the national guard reserve and a distinguished member of the House of Representatives, but in any event, you’re entitled to your laughter.”

Laughter was the only appropriate response to Raskin’s diatribe. The notion that the Jan. 6 committee is anything but partisan is laugh-out-loud funny. The only thing that might be more humorous is the fact that Democrats actually think the public will believe their protestations. From the beginning of this sham, it was abundantly obvious that it was a political hit job designed to push the Justice Department to indict Trump or other Republicans and to minimize the damage Democrats will take in the upcoming congressional elections. Now, any honest person can see this is a last-minute, Hail Mary play to swing enough votes to avoid a brutal shellacking in November.

Unfortunately, this gambit is doomed to fail. In April, a series of polls revealed that about half of Americans believe the nation should move on from the riot at the U.S. Capitol. Even worse for Democrats is the fact that there is no polling showing that Jan. 6 is among the top issues voters have identified as areas of concern for the upcoming elections.

To bring it into real life, nobody is going to the gas station thinking about the riot – they are cringing because they are paying almost double to fill up their cars. People are concerned about higher prices at grocery stores. They want issues with education resolved. Democrats have failed miserably to deliver solutions to these problems. When voters go to the polls, this is what will be on their minds.

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