Sunday School 6/12/22: Extra Credit

For your Sunday School Extra Credit, I bring you two interviews from Dana Bash in the CNN State of the Union classroom. First up? Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), who was involved in the 2nd Trump impeachment, and is also on the January 6th Committee. Here are a few highlights of their conversation.

Bash reminded Raskin about his saying the hearings would blow the roof off of the House, and wondered if "the most explosive testimony" was still to come. He said that they're going to "spell out and unspool" everything that was laid out in the first hearing, and he said

I know that our first hearing pierced the sound barrier. People are paying attention. But Americans need to pay further attention, because the danger is still out there. I mean, there was -- I just read this morning that, in Idaho, there was an LGBTQ Pride Day and a riot planted by domestic violent extremist groups, the same kinds of groups that were mobilized for the assault on the Capitol.

Bash asked if they can "prove that Donald Trump knew he lost, while publicly saying that he won." Raskin said he thinks they can 

prove to any reasonable, open-minded person that Donald Trump absolutely knew, because he was surrounded by lawyers, including the attorney general of the United States, William Barr, telling him in no uncertain terms, in terms that Donald Trump could understand, this is BS. He heard it from the White House counsel. He heard it from all of the lawyers who threatened to resign if he staged his little mini-coup against the Department of Justice.

They also talked about what should happen to Donald Trump; Raskin noted they have statutory authority for criminal referrals for contempt of Congress, which they've used with Peter Navarro, Steve Bannon and Mark Meadows, but that there's "not a specific statutory provision for just referring crimes" to the DOJ. That said, 

I suppose our entire investigation is a referral of crimes, both to the Department of Justice and to the American people... this is a massive assault on the machinery of American democracy, when you have a sitting president who tries to overthrow the majority in the Electoral College of his opponent, who beat him by more than seven million votes.

And whether Trump should be indicted Raskin pointed out that "respect by politicians for the independence of the law enforcement function" was one of the things that was "crushed" during the Trump years, and he wasn't going to participate in that. He also noted that Merrick Garland is a constituent, and

I don't browbeat my constituents. I think that he knows, his staff knows, the US attorneys know what's at stake here. They know the importance of it. But I think they're rightfully paying close attention to precedent and history, as well as the facts of this case. 

And, AG Garland made it clear the DOJ is paying attention, so there's that. 

Raskin also confirmed that it was "multiple members of Congress, as the vice chair said," that requested pardons. He said the details will come out "all in due time." And, yes, "...everything we're doing is documented by evidence. Unlike the big lie, which is based on nonsense..." 

Finally, on his carrying a copy of Thomas Paine's 'Common Sense' in his pocket, he said 

what we're going to need to get through this struggle in our history is common sense, the sense that we all have in common about what facts are and about what the truth is, and then common sense about how to move forward pragmatically as Americans. That's what we need - not lies, not conspiracy theory, not propaganda and disinformation. 

Next up was Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). Bash asked for her reaction to the video shown in the opening hearing, "especially given" that she had told Bash last year she feared she could have been killed or even raped on January 6th. 

In a long and winding answer, she thought her reaction was probably the same one a lot of people had. She talked about the "disinformation and misinformation campaign that happened" afterwards, and that the messaging came from "right-wing disinformation networks... even from members of Congress...."

And so, I think, especially in the wake of that year of people trying to minimize what had happened, re-watching that footage was, I think, just -- it was like bringing everything from that day back again, not just for myself, but I also know for staff that were there that day, for support staff that were working there, for members of Congress that were there, and for the entire country that -- including many veterans that were watching on television, wondering, how could this be us? And so I think it was an incredibly evocative and physically resonant moment for many of us. 

Bash asked about AOC's tweets calling for Reps. Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Lauren Boebert to say whether they had asked for pardons, and wondered if there was a reason she believed they did. AOC referenced Boebert "actively tweeting the speaker's location" and other "evocative, really provocative statements," which she said "very much, I believe, indicates a side here." She said every member of Congress should be able to answer this "very simple question" whether they had asked for a pardon, and she believes the Committee "would never make an allegation so serious" without evidence.

AOC expressed "disappointment" about the Senate's bipartisan gun legislation framework focusing on "increased criminalization and juvenile criminalization, instead of really having the focus on guns." She said they have to look at all options, "recognizing that the Senate simply right now isn't capable of, I believe, passing the comprehensive legislation in all forms that is needed." The proof will be in the text, which hasn't been disclosed, but she hopes it will be "responsibly put together." She said if they "can get background checks through" she hopes it's something she could vote for.

Moving to the midterms, Bash brought up AOC's support of NY State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi against Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney. And she quoted former Obama campaign manager Jim Messina, who said

This is counterproductive. The Supreme Court is about to outlaw abortion. We could lose both houses. So, we are going to focus our time running against each other? Now we're primarying committed progressives, because why? If we lose the House, it's because of dumb stuff like this."

So. what would AOC tell Messina? She pointed out a couple of "electric victories" - Greg Casar in Texas, and Summer Lee in Pennsylvania - saying that

when we are able to elect representatives that excite the Democratic base, that excite young people, that excite a multiclass, multiracial coalition, then that puts us in an even better position to win in November. I think, right now, there are a lot of voters at home that have quite a bit of anxiety about the enthusiasm right now in terms of turnout for the Democratic Party. And I think one of the best things that we can do is elect people with a proven record of being able to excite a base and turn it out.

She said she doesn't believe getting elected once means you're elected forever; that millennials are "deeply underrepresented in Congress" compared to boomers and Gen Xers "when they were our age."

And, at the end of the day, we need to have a generational shift in the United States Congress in order for us to have a policy shift in the United States Congress.

Finally, on whether she'll support President Biden in 2024, she said 

we will cross that bridge when we get to it. But I think, if the president has a vision, then that's something certainly we're all willing to entertain and examine when the time comes... But, right now, we need to focus on winning a majority, instead of a presidential election.

I definitely agree with her on that last part.  The Dems will have to address the Biden elephant in the room at some point, but winning this November has to be the priority.  

We've got another January 6th hearing tomorrow, and I encourage you to watch. 

See you around campus.