Jan. 6 committee is running out of time

Important Note: We’re retiring this newsletter in favor of a new feature on Bloomberg.com that allows readers to sign up for emails of my la [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( Important Note: We’re retiring this newsletter in favor of a new feature on Bloomberg.com that allows readers to sign up for emails of my latest columns. I’ll still be writing them every morning, but you’ll only receive them in your inbox if you hit the blue link [under my name here]( — click to the page, then click on “Follow+” to sign up. There’s some good news — finally — about the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol. It’s taking way too long, but committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney offered an update Thursday in [testimony]( to the House rules committee: And we are making rapid progress. We anticipate next year, we will be conducting multiple weeks of public hearings, setting out for the American people in vivid color exactly what happened, every minute of the day on January 6th, here at the Capitol and at the White House, and what led to that violent attack. Chair Bennie Thompson added that the committee has heard from more than 250 witnesses so far. It also appears that former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is at least partially cooperating. It’s about time. After holding a single hearing, the committee has only made news when it has issued subpoenas and then battled to obtain documents and testimony. Those fights are, to be sure, important. But this isn’t a criminal investigation. Crafting a public story is an important part of the job, and requires action sooner rather than later. Compare this committee with those that investigated previous scandals. The original Watergate arrests were on June 18, 1972, although the coverup didn’t start unraveling until months later. The Senate established an [investigating committee]( on Feb. 7, 1973, and it began its famous hearings on May 17. The Iran-Contra affair went public in November 1986. Both chambers set up special committees the following January, and hearings were held from May 5 through Aug. 6. For that matter, former President Donald Trump’s infamous phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was on July 25, 2019; it went public in September and the House voted to impeach Trump on Dec. 18. Of course, Congress’s first reaction to the Jan. 6 riot was to once again impeach and try Trump. But after that effort fell short in the Senate, lawmakers have been slow to act. The House didn’t establish the select committee until July 1, and it’s been slow to present its findings — far slower than the Watergate and Iran-Contra committees. During Watergate, fights over documents and witnesses did produce several extended delays, but the Senate committee was able to move ahead and produce compelling, dramatic television long before it had gathered all the facts that would eventually come out — indeed, public hearings had started before the investigators even knew of the White House tapes. The success of those hearings placed further pressure on witnesses to come forward, and rallied public (and media) support for continuing the probes. Perhaps that kind of pressure is impossible in these far more partisan times, and perhaps it would be ineffective against Trump and his associates anyway. Perhaps it’s impossible to replicate the part Watergate played in American life given today’s fragmented media market. But that’s no excuse for not trying. The members of the select committee need to tell the full story of Jan. 6 clearly, publicly and dramatically. And they’re already very late. 1. Amanda Hollis-Brusky and Joshua C. Wilson at the Monkey Cage on [abortion and the conservative movement](. 2. Aaron Carroll on [the pandemic and schools](. 3. Harry Enten on [Republicans and vaccination](. 4. Fred Kaplan on [negotiating over Ukraine](. 5. Catherine Rampell on [inflation silly season](. 6. My Bloomberg Opinion colleague Karl W. Smith on [suspending the gas tax](. 7. And Ted Reinert and McCall Mintzer recommend [foreign-policy books from 2021](. Important Note: We’re retiring this newsletter in favor of a new feature on Bloomberg.com that allows readers to sign up for emails of my latest columns. I’ll still be writing them every morning, but you’ll only receive them in your inbox if you hit the blue link [under my name here]( — click to the page, then click on “Follow+” to sign up. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Early Returns newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( | [Ad Choices]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022