9/11 Commissioners warn Democrats: 1/6 Commission won’t be easy

Democratic leaders are about to find out if they can use post-9/11 bipartisanship as a model to investigate an insurrection that took place 20 years — and 20 bitter political lifetimes — after the devastating 2001 attacks. If history is any guide, it won’t be easy.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi is conferring with former members of the bipartisan 9/11 Commission, which took a year and a half to assemble a comprehensive report that became a best-seller, as she accelerates her push for a 2021 successor commission to probe the Jan. 6 siege on the Capitol. Democrats could release legislation creating that commission as soon as this week, but any effort to recapture a post-9/11 sense of urgency and restore a sense of statesmanlike inquiry into the security failures of last month is bound to run into a familiar obstacle: Donald Trump, newly emboldened days after his Senate acquittal on charges of inciting the insurrection.

Leaders of the widely praised 9/11 Commission, whose exhaustive findings became the basis for government-wide reforms in response to Al Qaeda’s 2001 attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, told POLITICO in interviews that Congress’ only chance at a successful sequel is to keep hot-blooded partisanship out of it. But doing so in an age of supercharged disinformation and limitless fealty to Trump may complicate the equation, they say.

“The fact that we're now even more polarized and toxic and partisan than we were when we created the 9/11 commission is true,” said Tim Roemer, who served as one of the panel's five Democratic members.

The idea that "we can have people work together, accomplish the goals and make forward recommendations to heal the country and strengthen the country is even more important in many ways," Roemer added, "given the depth of the division and the poisonous toxicity that exists today.”

Roemer is one of several 9/11 Commission veterans in touch with the speaker as she adapts the framework for last month's insurrection. Former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean, a Republican appointed by George W. Bush to chair the commission, along with co-chair Lee Hamilton, a former Democratic congressman, are also advising her.

Pelosi has described the forthcoming proposal as a way to “get to the truth” of what happened on Jan. 6, and she is conferring with fellow senior Democrats on the proposal before seeking GOP input, according to multiple Democratic aides. While she steered Democrats to a lightning-quick second Trump impeachment last month, calling a vote one week after the insurrection, Pelosi insisted that the proposed commission "has nothing to do with President Trump."

"It's about the security. How did this happen? Where do we go from here?" she told reporters Friday. Among the issues the commission would probe, Pelosi added, are "white supremacy," anti-Semitism and other factors identified as driving domestic extremism of the type on view at the insurrection.

The final commission legislation is expected to closely mirror the structure of the 9/11 Commission — a bipartisan 10-member panel given wide latitude and independence to pursue its investigation. But even as Democrats insist that they want the legislation to have strong bipartisan backing, multiple Republicans have privately complained they haven’t even been included in the drafting process.

Some in the GOP have already endorsed the idea of a 9/11-style commission to independently probe the violent riot that broke out as Congress met to certify President Joe Biden's victory in November. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) has proposed his own legislation on the topic alongside Reps. John Katko (D-N.Y.) and James Comer (D-Ky.). A Davis spokeswoman said he has not yet seen what Pelosi plans to introduce.

Democrats say that's because they want to reach a final agreement among themselves before taking the proposal to Republican leaders. Pelosi is still working with her committee chairs and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to hammer out the final details.

Schumer “100 percent” supports an independent commission to investigate events surrounding the Jan. 6 insurrection “and looks forward to it being approved by both chambers with overwhelming bipartisan support,” spokesperson Justin Goodman confirmed in a statement Tuesday.

Members of the 9/11 Commission urged Democrats to carefully define the scope of their proposed Jan. 6 panel. Legislation establishing its mission, they said, should exclude extraneous issues but focus on painting the most comprehensive picture possible of who and what fueled the insurrection, including the funding of its participants, and who botched the security response.

"During the course of [the 9/11] investigation, we asked the staff again and again to tell us what the mandate was," Hamilton said. "The mandate governs the process, and it has to be very carefully worked out.”

The commission must also have subpoena power and adequate resources, they say. Kean also told POLITICO that the 9/11 Commission became a clearinghouse of sorts to debunk conspiracy theories about the event — suggesting that any 1/6 commission could fulfill a similar purpose.

"This is a time when rumors spread, when falsehoods abound," he said. "It’s hard for people to understand what’s true and not true."

But the most important decision of all can’t be written into the legislative text: the appointment of commissioners, whose selection is likely to be divided among the White House and congressional leadership. White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Tuesday indicated support for the establishment of a commission and vowed Biden's administration would aid the effort if it passes.

Appointees and staff for any commission on the insurrection must have credibility on both sides of the aisle, 9/11 Commission members said, warning that anything less risked dooming the commission to failure. Appointees to the 9/11 panel, chosen by then-President Bush as well as by the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate, then hired a staff to do its day-to-day work.

“Anybody who’d been active in the recent political campaigns” was ruled out, Kean said of the staffing process. “I think we got 10 recommendations for counsel, and on tracking them down they had all been very partisan. So we picked the eleventh.”

Commissioners faced skeptics at the time, and they were quick to recall pretty intense partisanship in those days too, despite rosy recollections of a previous era. The disputed Bush-Gore election of 2000 was still fresh, conspiracy theories about the 9/11 attacks had proliferated and partisan distrust — perhaps a quainter version of it — was on the rise on Capitol Hill.

“The Washington chattering class doomed the 9/11 Commission to certain failure, predicting that we would end up in a partisan food fight,” said attorney Richard Ben-Veniste, another one of the 9/11 commission’s Democrats. “The reality was that … the individuals who were selected were able to put aside their partisan impulses for the purpose of the greater good."

That's one reason former commissioners said it’s important that any new effort include voices from outside Washington who have track records that would lend themselves toward cooperation — whether it’s former governors, attorneys general or mayors — as well as ex-lawmakers.

Kean, who spent his youth in and out of the Capitol as the son and grandson of members of Congress, said it's still impossible to compare the bloodshed and shock of 9/11 with Jan. 6. But, he added, it was “shattering” in a different way to see the symbol of American democracy sullied by the violent riots.

“You go into that building with awe and a sense of reverence," Kean said of the Capitol. "This was a psychological shock to the country."

Former 9/11 Commission members also recalled that outside activism from the families of 9/11 victims was an important force, both in shaping the commission itself and ensuring it stayed on track. Roemer said they helped muscle legislation creating the commission — a proposal from him and the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) at the time — through Congress, despite some initial concerns from the Bush administration about what a probe might turn up.

A similar outside push to create an insurrection commission from ideologically diverse groups will be crucial to create "moral suasion" this time as well, Roemer said.

Trump's presence is only one of many challenges that could bedevil any efforts to generate bipartisan agreement on a commission. Another is lingering distrust among lawmakers themselves: Democrats have accused some of their GOP colleagues of leading suspicious tours through the Capitol on Jan. 5, raising the specter of inside help for the rioters. Pelosi has stood up magnetometers in response to concerns that some members were entering the House floor armed.

Republicans, meanwhile, have begun to suggest that Pelosi herself has questions to answer about decisions about Capitol security on the eve of the riots. Davis and Comer, joined by Reps. Devin Nunes of California and Jim Jordan of Ohio, have said they want Pelosi to preserve her own office’s records on the subject.

But overlaying everything is Trump’s own uncertain political future. The former president basked in his impeachment trial acquittal — even though the 57 senators voting to convict him marked the most bipartisan impeachment trial in U.S. history — and has promised to mount a political comeback. And Trump has proven dedicated to stymieing investigations into his conduct.

Trump aides did not respond to a request for comment on the panel.

Heather Caygle, Marianne Levine and Meridith McGraw contributed to this report.

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The Republican Party is destined to get exactly what it deserves: More Donald Trump

Take some time to survey the barren landscape of budding 2024 GOP hopefuls and it's hard to escape the conclusion that Republicans have little choice but to stick with Donald Trump for now.

Following the devastating Jan. 6 riot, GOP lawmakers had the perfect inflection point to part ways with Trump on the most basic of principles—the U.S. commander in chief shouldn't launch an attack on the nation's seat of government and then gleefully watch it unfold. The only Americans who could argue with that logic are dead-to-rights seditionists.

But instead of capitalizing on a golden opportunity, the nation’s three most-powerful elected Republicans melted into a telling puddle of uselessness. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy folded within weeks, rushing down to Mar-a-Lago to kiss Trump's ring. Vice President Mike Pence—the man Trump targeted for physical harm during the insurrection—refused to step forward and take a stand for himself or even his family members, who had joined him at the Capitol on Jan. 6 for certification of the election results. It's honestly impossible to think of anything more pathetic than that. 

But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is running a close second to Pence. After more than a decade of being celebrated by D.C. reporters as the Senate GOP's master puppeteer, McConnell followed his caucus rather than led it on impeachment. Despite putting on a show for corporate donors with a scathing indictment of Trump, McConnell voted to acquit because he didn't have the juice to convince his caucus that protecting a U.S. president who launched an attack on the homeland probably wasn't a great precedent. Senate Republicans have now left Americans to wonder, what on earth could possibly be an impeachable offense?

But yeah, three peas in a pod—Pence, McConnell, and McCarthy—demonstrating the complete moral bankruptcy of the Republican Party and sheer inability of anyone among GOP electeds to demonstrate something that might be mistaken for leadership.

Cue the Tuesday Politico/Morning Consult poll showing 53% of GOP voters would vote for Trump if a primary were held today. The closest second was Pence at just 12%—apparently that's what being a spineless loyalist gets you. That said, no one else even makes double digits at this point. The poll also found that 57% of Republican voters want Trump to play a major role in the GOP going forward. That represents a comeback of sorts for Trump since Jan. 7 when some 40% hoped Trump would play an active role.

What's both striking and problematic about recent polling among Republicans is that while Trump remains the most dominant figure in the GOP, he also divides conservative voters. For instance, while 57% of GOP voters wanted a major role for Trump, 17% favored a minor role for him, and 18% wanted no role for Trump at all. That's a deep split.

The latest Civiqs polling notes a similar phenomenon. Of the 43% of respondents who said they voted for Trump, about two-thirds (28%) said they think of themselves as "Trump supporters" while the other third considers themselves "Republican Party supporters." 

So while Trump is bound to continue his role as a dominant force in the Republican Party, he’s also bound to divide the party amongst itself. 

Nearly Every Senator Who Voted To Convict Trump Faces Censure Or Has Been Censured

As of today, nearly every Republican Senator who voted to convict former President Donald Trump in his impeachment conviction trial has either been censured by their Republican voters or faces censure in the near future.

On Saturday, the U.S. Senate voted to acquit Trump on the charge that he incited the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot. The 57-43 vote to convict failed to reach the two-thirds majority required in the upper chamber.

Joining all fifty Democrat Senators who voted to convict were seven GOP Senators:

  • Susan Collins of Maine
  • Mitt Romney of Utah
  • Bill Cassidy of Louisiana
  • Richard Burr of North Carolina
  • Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania
  • Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and
  • Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

All have either been censured or are facing censure at home by at least one county Republican committee, save for Murkowski, who is up for re-election in 2022, so far.

RELATED: Dem Congressman Files Lawsuit Against Trump For His Alleged Role In Capitol Hill Riot

Republicans Making Their Feelings Known

The seven Senators who voted to convict join several of their colleagues in the House who also are facing not just unhappy voters at home, but in some cases, already have primary challengers in 2022 for their votes to impeach.

One of the most high profile House members to face backlash which includes a primary challenger is Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY). Cheney was also called out by fellow Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) , who went to Wyoming to support constituents who want to replace her in Congress.

In the House, in addition to Cheney, South Carolina Rep. Tom Rice was also censured at home.

Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) has not only taken heat at home from constituents for his vote to impeach, but several members of his own family have called him an ’embarrassment.’

RELATED: Donald Trump Surprises Supporters By Showing Up At Presidents’ Day Rally In Palm Beach

Pro-Impeachment Senators All Facing Backlash

According to a report from Vox, the Republican Parties of Louisiana and North Carolina wasted no time in blasting Bill Cassidy and Richard Burr, respectively. 

“The Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Louisiana has unanimously voted to censure Senator Bill Cassidy for his vote cast earlier today to convict former President Donald J. Trump on the impeachment charge.”

The feeling in North Carolina was essentially the same. In a statement issued by NCGOP Chair Michael Whatley, he stated that Burr’s vote was “shocking and disappointing.”

“North Carolina Republicans sent Senator Burr to the United States Senate to uphold the Constitution and his vote today to convict in a trial that he declared unconstitutional is shocking and disappointing.” 

Burr and Senator Pat Toomey have already announced that neither would be seeking re-election, which perhaps might have given both the feeling of having a bit of wiggle room when it came to pleasing or displeasing constituents.

Washington County Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman Dave Ball stated of Toomey that “As far as we’re concerned, his political career is over in this state, even if he were to try to run again. His legacy is tarnished beyond repair.”

Sasse was censured by his fellow Nebraska Republicans for what they cited as “dismissing the legitimate concerns of Nebraska’s Secretary of State, and a huge majority of Republican voters regarding allegations of fraud in November’s presidential election.”

In response, Sasse released a rather condescending video to Nebraska Republicans explaining to them what was “conservative” and what was not.

In Maine, censure resolutions are being considered.

In Utah, Republican voters are circulating a petition online calling to censure Mitt Romney, though that state GOP has defended ‘diversity of thought.’

RELATED: Robert DeNiro’s Ultra-Luxury Restaurants Took Millions In COVID -19 Relief Money

Will Voters Hold Them Accountable At The Ballot?

There are several things that might make Senators taking heat for their conviction vote interesting.

Of these seven, only Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is up for re-election. Burr and Toomey are retiring, and Romney is in the middle of his first term.

The rest were all just re-elected. 

Another interesting factor is  two Senators who have not been censured by their own voters – the two Republicans who challenged the electoral college votes.

Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) were blamed by Democrat Senators for the riot and there were calls by many for both to resign or be expelled

And in what might the most intriguing aspect of the “Gang of 7,” is that in the wake of Burr’s retirement announcement, there will be a vacancy in one of North Carolina’s Senate seats.

Former Representative Mark Walker has thrown his hat into the ring for 2022, but another name is floating around, that of Lara Trump.

The North Carolina native and wife of Eric Trump recently got a huge boost from Lindsey Graham, who described her as the “biggest winner of the impeachment trial.”

As Americans get more and more tired of sending people to Washington who do not reflect their wishes, the Gang of 7 and those like them may just be the last of a dying breed. 

The post Nearly Every Senator Who Voted To Convict Trump Faces Censure Or Has Been Censured appeared first on The Political Insider.

Live on this week’s The Brief: Impeachment trial and the future of the Republican Party

I’m excited about this week’s episode of Daily Kos’ The Brief, with me and Kerry Eleveld, featuring two fantastic guests! The first is our first repeat guest, Elie Mystal of The Nation, an expert on legal matters and one of the most entertaining people I’ve ever encountered. You’ll love him!

We also get to visit with Sarah Longwell, founder of the never-Trumper publication The Bullwark, founder of the Republican Accountability Project, and founder of Republican Voters Against Trump. We’ll talk about what happened to her party, and whether it has any future in its current state. 

The Brief is now also a podcast! You can catch it wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Please subscribe and leave a review to help the podcast grow. The more people we reach, the better we spread the Daily Kos message of grassroots empowerment and progress.