Review by Kirkus Book Review
Thoughtfully prepared edition of the public-domain report issued by the U.S. House of Representatives. In the eyes of the Jan. 6 Committee, the principal agent of the attempted coup was Donald Trump. Indeed, Trump incited insurrectionists well before his famous "will be wild" tweet, and he called those insurrectionists off, after what the committee deemed "187 minutes of dereliction," only when "it was obvious that the riot would fail to stop the certification of the vote." This exhaustive report, like its hearings, is structured thematically, with sections devoted to such issues as the insurrectionist groups whom Trump and his allies recruited, including the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, who invoked not just 1776, but also the Bolshevik storming of the Winter Palace. ("No historical event has been less American.") Another section treats the bizarre legal theories advanced by John Eastman, who "concluded that President Trump could remain president if--and only if--Vice President Pence followed Eastman's illegal advice and determined which electoral college ballots were 'valid.' " Apart from punishment of the criminals, the committee recommends some actions that are likely to cause controversy (and which will doubtless be ignored by the Republican-majority House in January 2023--e.g., the call to monitor media companies (read Fox, OAN, et al.) whose programming has "had the effect of radicalizing their consumers, including by provoking people to attack their own country." This edition, prepared in conjunction with the New Yorker, includes excellent commentary by David Remnick, who has long been reporting on related events. Sometimes snippy, as when he refers to the insurrectionists' "cosplay battle gear," Remnick provides useful context, while committee member Jamie Raskin adds recommendations to the report, including direct election of presidents and abolition of the Electoral College in order to "break out of the GOP's matrix of democracy suppression." A must-read for politics-watchers. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
