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I couldn't sleep, so I wrote this. ? MoJo Reader, History will judge. History will judge. History
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I couldn't sleep, so I wrote this. [Mother Jones]( MoJo Reader, History will judge. History will judge. History will judge. Those were the words that kept ringing in my head as my teen and I watched the [nine-minute-59-second montage]( of the attack on the Capitol in the January 6 committee hearing last night. It was kind of surreal, being reminded of all the awful details, seeing Donald Trump onscreen once more commanding his supporters to "fight like hell." And what of William Barr calling "bullshit"? When this is shown in classrooms one day, I wondered, will people see it as the beginning of something, or the end? Will they mourn that we were not able to reverse America's slide into authoritarianismâor see, in the fact that the coup did not succeed, the beginning of something more hopeful? History will judge. "To my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible," Rep. Liz Cheney had said in her [opening statement](. "There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone. But your dishonor will remain." History will judge. It will judge Capitol Police officer Caroline Edwards, who, after getting a concussion from being knocked to the ground by the mob, [got up and ran]( to hold the line at the West Terrace. It will judge Tucker Carlson, who [took note]( of the hearing only to say that he was tired of getting a "lecture on January 6." But will we judge, in the present? That's harder to answer. The committee has been working for nearly a yearâa year during which the Republican leadership has [pivoted from condemnation]( of what Trump unleashed to a full-on embrace. But Trump's loyalists are not a majority in America. So what about everyone else? What does the committee's presentationâa "master class" in investigative storytelling, as MoJo's editor-in-chief, Clara Jeffery, [put it](âmean for the rest of us? That depends in part on the media and how the story is presented to those Americansâtwo-thirds of usâwho [assign Trump some or much of the blame]( for the attack. As MoJo's Washington bureau chief, David Corn, [pointed out](, "much coverage of the January 6 committee and its hearings has up to now focused on the political implications: Will this help the Democrats for the coming midterm elections? Such framing is a disservice, as it turns this singular event into merely another point of made-for-cable-TV conflict." By airing the hearings live, the networks are letting the committee ([advised by a TV veteran]() present the evidence to the public directly. Will they revert to the politics-as-sports tone afterward? Early indicators aren't great. "If you don't deliver a bombshell on Thursday," Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan [asked]( Rep. Adam Schiff last weekend, "don't you run the risk of losing the public's attention here?" As MoJo's Dan Friedman and Pema Levy pointed out in a [must-read piece](: "Waiting for new bombshells risks overlooking what we already know. Trump orchestrated the attempt to overturn the election in plain sight. He spread the 'Big Lie' that the presidency had been stolen. He [promoted]( a massive DC rally on January 6, and former campaign aides [helped]( plan it. Trump publicly [encouraged]( supporters to attend the event, and then he told them to march on the Capitol. He publicly [pressured]( Pence to throw out electoral votesâsomething Pence made clear he had no power to do. And Trump [delayed]( calling for an end to the attack once it had started. Maybe there is something worse we can learn about what happened that day. But what we already know is bad enough." As it turns out, we are learning worse things (Jared Kushner shrugging off as "whining" the despair among White House lawyers at their boss's unhinged machinations stood out to me). But does it matter? "What's the point if no one is getting punished?" one of my kids asked as we watched, and I tried to explain that the committee has evidence it believes justifies criminal charges, but [has struggled]( with whether to send it to prosecutors. âWhy?â my kid asked. They worry what people might think about it, I said. It's not something our institutions have really been designed for. Not a good answer. The question kept rolling around in my head when I couldn't sleep. What's the point if no one's getting punished? Then I remembered a conversation I had with a Russian journalist not long ago. He had [investigated]( atrocities by the Russian army in Ukraine. This story would probably not change the course of the war, he said. But did that mean his work had been pointless? No, he said: "I am making an historical record." Someday perhaps it would be used in a tribunal, or in classrooms. History will judge. "We must confront the truth with candor, resolve, and determination," Rep. Bennie Thompson said in his opening remarks last night. "We need to show that we are worthy of the gifts that are the birthright of every American." Those gifts include finding and speaking the truth, which is also what Mother Jones exists to do, and that's probably a big reason why you look to our reporting. And I can tell you one thing: Because we answer to our readers and you tell us you want us to, we have been telling the truth about extremist rhetoric and violence. We dedicated a cover story in our magazine to the rise of the [Oath Keepers](, who you saw lead a coordinated charge into the Capitol last night, back in 2010. We dug into Telegram to see how the [Proud Boys](, who were featured too many times to count last night, were talking about Trump's "stand by" directive. We [investigated]( how Trump was embracing and mainstreaming extremists in 2016, and we [warned]( in December 2020 that he had become "an arsonist of radicalization." It's why, when politicians were claiming that the rioters were mere tourists, we exposed how many [were armed](. And it's why we will keep investigating attacks on democracy long after the hearings are done. So, what's the point if no one is getting punished? It's still not impossible to rule out that accountability will ultimately be delivered. But we damn sure know that history will judge. Thanks for reading, and for everything you do to make Mother Jones what it is. I wouldn't be doing my job today if I didn't also mention that we're staring down a significant $270,000 gap in our online fundraising budget to close by June 30, in less than three weeks, gulp. So if you're able to [help us confront the truth with candor, resolve, and determination by donating today](, we'd be so grateful. And to those of you who have recently pitched in, thank you so muchâwe couldn't do it without you. [Monika] Monika Bauerlein, CEO
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