L. J. Schaffnit: Trump supporters try to shift blame, downplay Jan. 6 attack

To The Laconia Daily Sun,

Recent conservative contributors to this forum, untethered from truth and reality, are ranting about the unfairness of the “anti-Trump, biased Jan. 6 hearing”, claiming Speaker Nancy Pelosi would not allow the House Minority Leader to select his “own panel candidates” — their anger is misdirected. Rep. Kevin McCarthy was given every opportunity to have Republican representation serve on the committee, but he petulantly made the ill-conceived decision to boycott the hearings entirely. It should also be noted that Donald Trump allies and former staffers have been asked, even subpoenaed, to testify but they have refused; could it be they don’t want to incriminate themselves?

While it is true that Pelosi did disqualify two of McCarthy’s choices for the committee, she did so because both were allegedly involved with conspiring to seat fraudulent electors and would possibly be called as witnesses.

Conspiracy theories, aided and abetted by right-wing media, have become reality for the mutinous ignorant. Contributors continue to offer false claims that have been debunked, but keep turning up months later. I refer to Trump’s “offer of 10,000 National Guard Troops to protect the Capitol” — it never happened. There are no records substantiating a Trump request; and further undermining the claim that he wanted to prevent the riot is the fact that as it was underway, he didn’t order the National Guard to stop it; Vice President Mike Pence did eventually issue several orders for National Guard troops to deploy. Trump’s claim is one of many efforts by Republicans and Trump supporters to shift blame and down play the Jan. 6 attack. There is also no evidence that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi denied such an authorization, and the law stipulates that she doesn’t have the authority to do so in the first place.

L. J. Schaffnit

Gilmanton