Hell-bent on finding a scapegoat for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the House Intelligence Committee has opened up and investigation into right wing influences that caused the worst riot on government property in U.S. history. House managers spent weeks blaming 74-year-old former President Donald Trump, insisting that he induced an overflowing Jan. 6 crowd to storm the Capitol and vandalize government property. House managers led by 68-year-old Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) tried to convince the U.S. Senate that Trump, and Trump alone, whipped up the Jan. 6 Ellipse crowd into a frenzy and sicked them like dogs on the Capitol. House managers let anti-Trump news groups, including the New York Times, Washington Post and cable outlets CNN and MSNBC, presented their biased arguments to the Senate. When the Senate weighed all the evidence Feb. 13, Trump was acquitted for the second time.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Raskin claimed victory, even though Democrats couldn’t get 67 Senators to vote for conviction. Rasikin insisted that he won the case in the “court of public opinion,” something that doesn’t even count in horseshoes or crowded elevators. There’s zero consolation for losing your case, no matter how much House mangers dragged Trump through the mud. But now that Trump was acquitted, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, wants to blame 68-year-old self-called “dirty trickster” Roger Stone, 47-year-old conspiracy radio host Alex Jones and 36-year-old “Stop the Steal” organizer Ali Alexander, all of whom supported Trump’s claims that the Nov. 8, 2020 election was rigged. Getting the FBI and Justice Department involved in another partisan witch-hunt hurts the credibility of government agencies.
If the Justice Department and FBI have anything to do with the Jan. 6 riot, it has nothing to do with American citizens expressing their opinion, no matter how off-the-wall, that Trump was robbed of the presidency. DOJ and FBI officials had plenty of advance warning about possible “disturbances” at the Capitol Jan. 6, the day Congress was set to certify the Electoral College vote for 78-year-old President Joe Biden. One thing that came out in the Senate impeachment trial was that Capitol Hill rioters planned to storm the Capitol for months. House managers led by Raskin tried to convince Senate jurors that Trump whipped up the crowed to launch an attack on the Capitol, going a step further, claiming the riot and mob scene was actually a carefully planned “insurrection” designed to topple the U.S. government. Charging Trump with “incitement of insurrection” was preposterous.
Whatever Roger Stone, Alex Jones or Ali Alexander did to whip up the crowd, much like 76-year-old former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, that’s protected speech under Supreme Court’s June 8, 1969 Brandenburg v. Ohio, it didn’t quality as incitement. Yet the House Intel Committee, DOJ and FBI, now want to find a scapegoat. DOJ and FBI officials new in advance that there could be trouble on Jan. 6 but chose to do nothing to protect the Capitol. When it came to protecting the Jan. 20 Inauguration, the DOJ and FBI called in the National Guard and set a protective cordon around the Capitol, something that would have stopped the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. But virtually nothing during Trump’s impeachment trial was said about the lack of advance planning by the Capitol and D.C. police to protect the Capitol. When rioters stormed the Capitol, the Capitol police looked utterly incompetent.
Investigating Roger Stone, Alex Smith and Ali Alexander is a total waste of time by the DOJ and FBI. “We are investigating the potential ties between those physically involved in the attack on the Capitol and individuals who may have influence them, such as Roger Stone, Alex Jones and [Stop the Steal organizer] Ali Alexander,” said an unnamed U.S. official. Reports that Stone claimed that North Korea interfered with ballots shipping them to Maine ports is preposterous. Whatever Stone, Jones or Alexander said, no matter how off-the-wall, was protected free speech. Brandenburg v. Ohio established strict guidelines for determining whether or not free speech turns to incitement. Raskin failed to make the case that Trump told his Jan. 6 crowd to storm the Capitol and vandalize government property. Now that Trump’s acquitted, the government looks for new scapegoats.
Alex Jones, Roger Stone and Ali Alexander have been spewing right wing nonsense for years. Whatever they said about the election, including Alexander’s “Stop the Steal,” was protected free speech. It’s not that off-the-wall to question the Nov. 8, 2020 election where, for the first time in U.S. history, universal mail-in ballots were used, changing election laws in order to collect, verify ballots and count votes. Is it really inciting a riot to question the Nov. 8, 2020 election results? Democrats were content to repeating the mantra in the press that the Nov. 8 presidential election was “free-and-fair.” But was it really free-and-fair? “We have only begun to resist the globalists We have only begun our fight against their tyranny. They have tried to steal this election in front of everyone,” Jones said. Whatever Jones’ remarks, crazy or not, it’s free speech under the First Amendment.
