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PRESENTED BYBY JOHN BRESNAHAN, ANNA PALMER AND JAKE SHERMAN THE TOPGood Thursday morning. Today is going to be a hard day for a lot of Punchbowl News readers. Just know that you’re not alone. We’ve heard from scores of our friends in the press corps, sources we deal with every day and workers around the Capitol complex that this week just feels … hard, weird and sad. It’s ok to not be ok. Let’s put things into context. We aren’t war correspondents. Lots of journalists in other countries face real danger on a daily basis. Generally speaking, the Capitol is a very safe place and has been for decades. But having rioters break into this citadel of democracy is disturbing, to say the least. And everyone processes that experience differently. Thousands of Americans work in the Capitol complex, and many of them have no professional interest in or ties to politics. Yes, members, senators and their aides fill the building. But there are also clerical workers, maintenance employees, construction workers, electricians, police officers, food-service providers – the list goes on and on. We know some employees say they have left their jobs because they were so scarred by the incident. Here’s how we think about what happened on Jan. 6. The press gallery where we’ve sat every day together for more than a decade will always be the place we hunkered down in while the Capitol was being attacked. The entrance on the East Front – the one we pass multiple times per day – will always be the place where we heard glass smashing and saw rioters attempting to batter their way into the building in order to disrupt the certification of Joe Biden’s victory. Here’s what it looked like to us that day. Please excuse the salty language. Statuary Hall will always be where Bres stood watching the mob stream into the building he has worked long hours in for a quarter century. The Longworth Cafeteria is always the place we were held by authorities until the Capitol complex was cleared of rioters. Us? We’re ok. But we understand that not everyone is. And just know that we’re with you. We’re one of you. And we thank you for reading. We made a video to share our experiences and reflections from that day. Thanks for checking it out. PRESENTED BY AMERICAN EDGE PROJECT The American Edge Project is a coalition dedicated to the proposition that American tech innovators are an essential part of U.S. economic health, national security and individual freedoms. Learn more. JAN. 6 SELECT COMMITTEE 6 questions for the Jan. 6 committee It’s been six months since the House voted to create the Jan. 6 select committee, and the panel is on the brink of a new phase of its investigation. This phase will include a round of public hearings. And the committee is striving to detail former President Donald Trump’s actions leading up to and during the Capitol attack. Plus, the panel is debating whether to take its most dramatic investigatory step yet — issuing a subpoena to a sitting member of Congress. Here are six pressing questions facing the select committee: 1. Do they move against members of Congress? If so, when — and who? The panel has requested voluntary interviews with Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Scott Perry (R-Pa.). Both have indicated they don’t intend to cooperate. The big question is what happens next. A source familiar with the panel’s activities said no decision has been made on whether the select committee will subpoena Jordan or Perry, which would be an unprecedented step. But it’s clear the panel won’t simply accept the intransigence of the two without some response. Of course, non-cooperation with a congressional-issued subpoena is very serious business and we’ll have to see what kind of action the committee would take if that occurred. Would they refer a member of Congress to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution? Would DOJ even prosecute? Would the courts allow that? There are some hugely important legal questions – and precedents – that come into play here for the institution now and in the future. 2. What does the public phase of this investigation look like? Senior members of the Jan. 6 committee have said that the panel will begin their public hearings at some point during the next two months. By then, theoretically, the panel will have buttoned up a good deal of the investigation. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), for example, told MSNBC’s Katy Tur that they’ve had voluntary cooperation from many former Trump White House aides. So who will they call to testify publicly? Will they get anyone who was with Trump on that day to speak publicly? 3. Does the panel make a criminal referral against Trump? This is probably the most serious issue facing Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and the other members of the select committee. With the news that the panel is seeking a voluntary interview with former Vice President Mike Pence, it seems clear that at some point the panel is going to want to talk to Trump as well. We see very little chance that would happen voluntarily, and a subpoena would certainly face legal pushback from Trump. Investigators are also focusing heavily on Trump’s behavior in the hours leading up to and during the Capitol attack. Not just his incendiary speech at the Ellipse that helped spur the insurrection, but what the former president was doing and saying behind the scenes and to whom. “Did Donald Trump, through action or inaction, corruptly seek to obstruct or impede Congress’s official proceeding to count electoral votes?” Cheney asked during a public hearing on Dec. 13. Even if the House ultimately votes to make a referral to the Justice Department alleging that Trump tried to criminally obstruct Congress’ certification of Biden’s Electoral College victory, the decision for Attorney General Merrick Garland and other top DOJ officials would be enormously difficult and fraught with huge political overtones. Trump could very well be the GOP’s White House nominee in 2024, and Republicans – as well as the former president – would claim that a criminal case was an effort to interfere with the next election. And did Trump’s behavior – while certainly stunningly dangerous and contrary to hundreds of years of precedent by others who have held the nation’s highest office – cross the line into criminality? Did Trump say or do in the period leading up to the attack show criminal intent to interrupt Congress? What Trump did that bloody day was far beyond anything that previously occurred in American history, yet a criminal indictment would be as well. This won’t be an easy call for the select committee, House Democratic leaders or Garland, if it comes to that. 4. Are the American people listening? Much of the action the select committee is taking is happening behind closed doors, leading to questions over whether the panel’s work is breaking through the partisan noise and reaching Americans. Recent polls show a substantial percentage of Republicans are denying the reality that the Jan. 6 attack was violent or even Trump’s fault. Google Trends data shows that after peaking in the weeks following the insurrection, interest in the term “January 6” hit a notable high during the week of July 25 to 31, 2021 — when the panel held public hearings with law enforcement about the attack. But that boost that came with the summer’s made-for-TV coverage had subsided. 5. Did House GOP leaders misplay their hand? We all know the story by now: Democrats thought they had a deal with Republicans to create a select committee, but House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy pulled the plug on it and Senate Republicans followed suit.Yet if House Republicans had taken the original commission deal, they would’ve had seats on the panel and the ability to have a say in who is subpoenaed. They now have no such say, no seats on the panel and no visibility on what’s coming down the pike. 6. Does the select committee have enough time to really finish the job? The clock is working against the select committee. The panel is aiming to release a final report before the November midterms, but after that, the future is bleak. This select committee will disappear the first day of the 118th Congress if there’s a GOP speaker, which seems more likely than not right now. This means the next nine months are critical for the committee to wrap up its work and release its findings publicly This is no small task. The timetable left us wondering if the creation of the select committee in July 2021 came too late. Of course, the initial plan was a bipartisan fact-finding commission that was shot down in the Senate by Republicans — not the fault of the House panel. ON THE RIGHT A tweet from Rep. Jim Jordan’s comms director This tweet is from Russell Dye, the communications director for Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). Here’s a response from Dye when we asked about it:
Remember: Dye tweeted this on New Year’s Day, just days before the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 attacks. And he is a communications director. NOMS, NOMS, NOMS Garcetti quietly meets with Democrats over his nomination Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, President Joe Biden’s nominee to be U.S. ambassador to India, has been quietly meeting with Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as the panel moves toward a vote on his nomination. Garcetti originally was nominated last July, but the confirmation process has dragged out for the mayor of America’s second-largest city. Garcetti’s nomination had to be resubmitted to the Senate after it failed to be included in a large package of ambassadorial nominees approved by the chamber before the Christmas recess. Part of that delay was due to GOP senators slow-walking a host of Biden’s ambassadorial and national security nominees as part of a broader foreign policy fight with the White House over Russia sanctions. But Garcetti has also faced questions over his purported failure to stop a former top adviser from allegedly sexually harassing a member of Garcetti’s security detail and other staffers. That former top advisor, Rick Jacobs, has denied any inappropriate behavior. Garcetti said during a Dec. 14 confirmation hearing in the Foreign Relations panel that “he never witnessed" the alleged behavior by Jacobs "nor was it brought to my attention." Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who asked Garcetti about the Jacobs’ allegations during that Dec. 14 hearing, said Garcetti has sought a meeting with her to discuss his nomination, but it hasn’t happened yet. “I thought his response during the hearing was one I hoped that he would have given. And he has reached out to me since to say he would like to come in and sit down and talk further, if that’s helpful to me,” Shaheen told us Wednesday. Other sources familiar with this nomination say Garcetti is meeting, or will meet, with other SFRC Democrats in the coming days. These sources suggest the panel could vote on the nomination in the next week or two, but SFRC has not confirmed that schedule yet. PRESENTED BY AMERICAN EDGE PROJECT Don’t Let American Technology Suffer The Same Fate As Manufacturing Doug Kelly, CEO, American Edge Project: As a Midwest native, my passion to protect America’s technology edge is rooted in my front row seat to the lasting damage caused to our country’s manufacturing sector by short-sighted policy decisions. Read his story. THE DEMOCRATIC AGENDA Schumer: We’re "running out of time" on voting rights Next week will be a big one for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer For the second day in a row, Schumer went on MSNBC to send a not-so-subtle message to his Democratic colleagues, Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.), on voting rights and the filibuster. Schumer is pressing for a floor vote on the Freedom to Vote Act, a voting rights bill backed by all 50 Senate Democrats. Republicans will block that via a filibuster. Schumer has then threatened to hold a vote on whether to change Senate rules on the filibuster. Manchin and Sinema have both made clear they won’t agree to get rid of the 60-vote threshold to invoke cloture. Manchin even attended a meeting in Schumer’s office to discuss this issue earlier in the week. However, Schumer – who had to deal with Manchin and Sinema’s opposition to the Build Back Better Act and other Democratic initiatives – has publicly called on his colleagues to lobby the pair on the issue. Schumer did it again Wednesday with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. Here’s Schumer’s full response when Maddow asked about the Jan. 17 deadline:
To have a Senate majority leader do this two days in a row is an extraordinary public lobbying effort. Schumer, who is up for reelection in November, is trying to make very clear where the blame lies if this Democratic gamble fails: with Manchin, Sinema and Senate Republicans if they don’t change their position. Here’s the latest from CES, the massive tech and policy conference in Las Vegas. Consumer Technology Association’s Ed Brzytwa hosted the "Trade and Global Competition: What’s needed for leadership in tech?” panel Wednesday and discussed how the US can maintain its leadership in tech. A couple of key quotes from the event. → Robert Hoffman, Broadcom’s head of government affairs, on some of the key challenges of being an advocate in tech:
→ Bill Rockwood, a legislative aide to Florida Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.), on how government can contribute to innovation:
CES panels of interest today: “Regulating crypto” with Kristin Smith, CEO of the Blockchain Association, will be at 9 a.m. in Las Vegas or noon in D.C. … “Privacy 3.0: What is Needed in an Evolving Digital Age?” will be at 12:40 p.m. in Las Vegas or 3:40 p.m. in D.C. Anna will also be moderating a virtual panel on “The New Rules of the Road: How tech companies are interacting with Washington” at 12:30 p.m. in Las Vegas or 3:30 p.m. EST at The Female Quotient CES Lounge. Coinbase’s Kara Calvert and Quorum CEO and co-founder Alex Wirth will join the conversation. RSVP here. FRONTS MOMENTS 9 a.m.: President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will speak at the Capitol about the Jan. 6 attacks. 10 a.m.: Speaker Nancy Pelosi will hold an off-the-record “moment of reflection” on the House floor. 11:20 a.m.: Biden will get his intelligence briefing. Noon: Pelosi will speak on the House floor and hold a moment of silence 1 p.m.: Jen Psaki will brief. … Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Jon Meacham, Doris Kearns Goodwin and Carla Hayden, the librarian of Congress, will host a conversation about Jan. 6. 2:30 p.m.: Pelosi and Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) will host a session featuring testimonials from members of Congress. 5:30 p.m.: Harris will swear in Julissa Reynoso Pantaleon as ambassador to Spain. … Pelosi, Schumer and members of Congress will hold a prayer vigil on the Capitol’s center steps. CLIP FILE NYT → News Analysis: “A Year Later, Jan. 6 Becomes Just Another Wedge in a Divided Nation,” by Peter Baker → “A Year After Capitol Riot, Trump’s Hold on G.O.P. Is Unrivaled,” by Shane Goldmacher and Maggie Haberman → “With Legislation Stalled, Biden Will Speak in Atlanta on Voting Rights,” by Katie Rogers → “For C.D.C.’s Walensky, a Steep Learning Curve on Messaging,” by Sharon LaFraniere, Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Noah Weiland WaPo → “How Republicans became the party of Trump’s election lie after Jan. 6,” by Ashley Parker, Amy Gardner and Josh Dawsey → “Postal Service asks for temporary waiver from Biden vaccine requirement,” by Jacob Bogage CNN → “Democrats at a loss over path to enact Biden agenda: It feels ‘like Groundhog Day,’” by Manu Raju and Lauren Fox PRESENTED BY AMERICAN EDGE PROJECT Don’t Let American Technology Suffer The Same Fate As Manufacturing Doug Kelly, CEO, American Edge Project: It is fashionable now to be against “Big Tech,” with some even calling to break it up. But lawmakers need to understand that technology and tech innovation is not just another sector of the economy. Rather, it is the entire backbone of our country’s national security, our economic competitiveness, and of the advancement of American values both at home and abroad. Our leaders must remain wary of anti-competitive legislation that will weaken U.S. companies and embolden China, paving the way for foreign adversaries to dominate the technology landscape. Learn more. Enjoying Punchbowl News AM? Subscribe 10 friends with your unique link (below) and get a Punchbowl News hat! Your referral link is: Or share via You currently have: 0 referrals
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