“It was a horrible day. I’m still mad about it,” said Republican U.S. Rep Dan Crenshaw about the January 6th attack on the Capitol last year. He is a guest on this week’s Houston Newsmakers with Khambrel Marshall and says that while that day was horrific he’s glad to see those responsible being properly prosecuted. He does not agree with the purpose of the investigation into what happened that day and what led up to it. “I don’t know what mystery is trying to be solved,” he said. The Select Committee’s purpose is to “investigate and report upon the facts, circumstances and causes relating to the January6, 2021 attack.” Crenshaw says it seems obvious to him what happened. “I actually do not think that the people there intended to breach the Capitol until they got there. All the evidence points to that fact that there was no pre-planning.” More with Congressman Crenshaw about January 6th, Biden Administration’s COVID 19 plan and his opposition to the Biden Administration’s “Build Back Better Plan” on this weeks program and on Houston Newsmakers EXTRA online.
Active military and vets take part in Jan 6th attack
More than 80 defendants charged in the January 6th attack on the Capitol have ties to the military, prompting concern about how much the military may be affected by political extremism. Retired Brigadier General Tom Kolditz is not shocked but also is not overly concerned. “It’s really unsurprising that the military would also reflect this rise of anger and extremism and I think the military is uniquely positioned to handle it,” he said. Kolditz is the Founding Director of the Doerr Institute for New Leaders at Rice University and says the U.S. Military is much stronger than a few extremists. “In the three point two million person department of defense, the vast majority, 99 percent, are great Americans loyal to their country and no matter what their basic political beliefs are, they’re going to do their jobs.”
Is Democracy in trouble? False Executive Privilege claims
In the year since the January 6th attack on the Capitol, more information has come out about alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election, which led to the many “stop the steal” protests that took place on January 6th. Since then, several of those who are the focus on the House Select Committee investigation of the attack have claimed Executive Privilege. Rice political science professor Paul Brace says ”A president is shielded while they’re in office because to defend themselves legally would divert their energies away from their job as chief executive.” Professor Brace says that does NOT apply to shielding a former president from accountability. See more of his interview and Newsmaker EXTRA online.
For More Information on all of the topics this week:
U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, (R) 2nd Congressional District
· Website: https://crenshaw.house.gov/
Tom Kolditz (Ret), Ph.D., Founding Director, Doerr Institute for New Leaders, Rice University
· Website: https://doerr.rice.edu/faculty/tom-kolditz
Paul Brace, Ph.D., Political Science Professor, Rice University
· Website: https://profiles.rice.edu/faculty/paul-brace