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It was a nightmare day for former President Donald Trump and his supporters, with losses coming from two branches of government, the judiciary and Congress.
The nation has watched shocking revelations come out of the House of Representatives' Jan. 6 Committee hearings, one after another. Yesterday, in what might be the last such public hearing, there was one more. The committee answered a question has lingered above our heads: Will the man who so clearly precipitated the insurrection be compelled to answer for his actions on that day?
In a uniquely bipartisan show of strength and conviction, the Jan. 6 Committee voted to subpoena the former president. While this may feel late in the process for some, the move signals a job well done by a committee that has built its case over time.
Outgoing Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, of Wyoming, who lost her bid for re-election over her relentless pursuit of truth in this matter, offered this comment to the committee before the vote:
"Our duty today is to our country, our children, and our constitution. We are obligated to seek answers directly from the man who set this all in motion."
If it was just Congress acting against him, it would have been bad enough for the former president, but yesterday was a no good, very bad day for him and his supporters. It was just the first swing in a knockout, one-two punch for Trump: The vote took place just hours after the Supreme Court batted down his request to intervene in the Justice Department's criminal case against him. Had the court acted in Trump's favor, 103 documents stamped classified and obtained in the midnight raid on Mar-a-Lago—the former "Winter Whitehouse"—could have been used to slow down the investigation.
Time will tell which blow will hit the hardest. At this point we just don't know what the subpoena will mean for the former president in legal terms. He and his revolving door of legal acrobats work tirelessly to slow the rule of law against him on all fronts. He publicly denies while they attempt to delay in the courts. Despite the antics, one thing is clear. The walls of Mar-a-Lago are closing in and he continues to find fewer friends in the highest of places.
So, what does this mean besides a good press cycle for the Left? We know that a frighteningly large slice of Americans would return to storm the Capitol tomorrow if Trump asked them to. Still, these fanatics and lunatics are a microscopically small minority.
The fact is, before Trump instigated an insurrection, he lost an election by millions of votes. His actions on Jan. 6, 2021, have hardly made him more popular with the American people. For millions of us, there's no need for congressional fact-finding or a Department of Justice indictment. We know what he did.
We also know by now that Republicans will continue to hold up Trump's banner because the alternative is career-ending political death sentence at the hands of their constituents.
So, what comes next?
In a way, the Jan. 6 Committee has already carried out its most important role. It has held those entrusted with the care of our Democracy to account, and the subpoena handed down today is proof of that.
Will Trump honor the subpoena? We don't know. If he does it will be quite a show for the world's crassest showman as the art of the deal becomes the pleading of the fifth.
The next step, of course, is for the Department of Justice, part of the third branch of government, to add to Trump's nightmare. We will continue to have faith that criminal charges against him will stick. Still, today we can breathe a collective sigh of relief that a would-be dictator is in fact being pursued for his actions. At least for today, we have shown that when a tyrant holds a gun to the head of our Democracy, we the people don't blink.
Randy Jones is the founder of United Public Affairs. He served as national political director on Andrew Yang's presidential campaign in the 2020 cycle.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
