Ret. Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman is among the many Americans paying close attention to what’s going on with the House committee investigating the Capitol riot. On Monday, when that panel held a second hearing in a series planned for June, Vindman posted on Twitter about the serious threats posed by what happened at the Capitol and, more specifically, what Trump did.
“It should not be underestimated how important January 6 was to Putin’s decision to conduct his war on Ukraine (a war that has the real possibility of spilling over to NATO & the U.S.),” Vindman said on Twitter. “For Putin 1/6 made the US look fragile, weak, distracted, & disinterested in resisting Russia.” He also commented on the broader scope of the riot committee’s work. “The #January6th committee is doing a fine job of destroying the myth of a stolen election… the “big lie.” But maybe it’s because it is just that, a big lie!” Vindman added.
It should not be underestimated how important January 6 was to Putin’s decision to conduct his war on Ukraine (a war that has the real possibility of spilling over to NATO & the U.S.). For Putin 1/6 made the US look fragile, weak, distracted, & disinterested in resisting Russia. pic.twitter.com/5vPE5Jr2RH
— Alexander S. Vindman (@AVindman) June 13, 2022
The #January6th committee is doing a fine job of destroying the myth of a stolen election… the “big lie.” But maybe it’s because it is just that, a big lie!
— Alexander S. Vindman (@AVindman) June 13, 2022
The Monday hearing of the House riot committee featured revelations like a video presentation going over the stunning breadth of deception in which the Trump team engaged targeting the then-president’s supporters after the last election. The Trump campaign said after the election donor money would support an “Official Election Defense Fund” — but that fund didn’t exist. This sort of brazen lying to donors could add to the hypothetical financial fraud case that the riot committee was reported last year to be exploring in connection to right-wing fundraising after the election. That earlier reporting tied the potential fraud allegations to the now more fully understood knowledge on the part of those engaging in fundraising that the bombastic claims of election fraud on which they founded their fundraising pushes were false.
The riot committee has also aired clips from past testimony to the panel by individuals such as former Attorney General Bill Barr and the ex-president’s own daughter, Ivanka, who worked in his presidential administration. Barr was sharply opposed to Trump’s false claims of fraud and indicated he eventually concluded “there was never an indication of interest in what the actual facts were” on Trump’s part. These revelations could help establish the sort of corrupt intent on Trump’s end that would be relevant to a potential criminal case over his meddling. Meanwhile, the riot committee also presented evidence Monday that Rudy Giuliani was apparently drunk on Election Night 2020 while presenting proposals for what Trump would do that night. The then-president eventually claimed he won.
“You will also hear testimony that President Trump rejected the advice of his campaign experts on Election Night and instead followed the course recommended by an apparently inebriated Rudy Giuliani to just claim he won and insist that the vote-counting stop, to falsely claim everything was fraudulent,” committee vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said as Monday’s proceedings started.
