- Action #1 – Tell your legislator we need a House select committee.
- Action #2 – Write emails to President Biden and Attorney General (Sample included)
- Action #3 – Send postcards/letters to Sens. Manchin and Sinema (Sample included)
With their Trump-centric re-election campaigns to plot, the GOP betrays the nation and their sworn oaths.
The GOP ignores both the pleas of the Capitol officers who protect them every day, and of a mother of Brian Sicknick, who died as a result of his injuries from the insurrection.
(The Hill) “This vote has made it official. Donald Trump’s big lie has now fully enveloped the Republican Party. Trump’s big lie is now the defining principle of what was once the party of Lincoln.” – Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer
(The Hill) “Leader McConnell and Senate Republicans’ denial of the truth of the January 6th insurrection brings shame to the Senate. Republicans’ cowardice in rejecting the truth of that dark day makes our Capitol and our country less safe.” – House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi
Action #1 – Tell your legislator we need a House select committee.
This can be created quickly by majority vote. Members and staff would need to be recruited, but they are already on hand in Congress. According to Just Security, a select committee could also be given subpoena power comparable to other House committees. But most importantly, “..congressional committees have special access privileges to Trump administration documents, including White House documents, that have been sent to the National Archives. Under the Presidential Records Act (PRA), most Trump White House documents are effectively under seal for several years. But Congress can break that seal right away based on a low showing of need. What happened in the White House during the insurrection remains one of the biggest gaps in our understanding.”
Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Rep. [___] to encourage Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi to create a House Select Committee to investigate the Jan. 6th insurrection.
Action #2 – Write emails to President Biden and Attorney General – (Sample letter)
Here’s some inspiration from Rep. Kim. We’ve provided a sample letter, but we have a strong feeling that Joe, at least, would appreciate you sharing your heartache at what happened on Jan. 6th in your own words as well. What happened that day was a violation of our capitol, our spirit, and our pride in our country. Let them know.
Contact:
- President Biden – email
- Attorney General Garland – email – in the “Please choose general topic” box – select “Message to the Attorney General”
Dear [____]
I just learned that the Senate GOP used the filibuster to block an independent commission on the Jan. 6th insurrection, an event as worthy of investigation as the 9/11 terrorist attack or the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Their party’s continued actions to whitewash, gaslight, coverup or lie about facts is creating a dangerous division within our country. Trump’s Big Lie of a stolen election, besides inspiring bizarre partisan vote recounts around the country, is fueling increasing radicalization of their party. According to the recent survey by the American Enterprise Institute, nearly three in 10 Americans, including 39% of Republicans, agreed that “if elected leaders will not protect America, the people must do it themselves, even if it requires violent actions.”
Our democracy’s record of peaceful transition of power, unbroken since 1860, was a source of pride for us. Now that’s trampled into the broken glass and fecal matter on the floor of the People’s House. Legislators who may have been possible accomplices have succeeded in thwarting a thorough Congressional investigation, ignoring the voices of constituents and the capitol police who’ve been charged with protecting them.
It is no accident that memes regarding Hitler’s first failed coup are showing up now as a warning. We are afraid that the violence done that day was just a preview of our next national election, if we do not find a way to investigate the truth of that day in a thorough, non-partisan and transparent manner. America needs facts that it can trust from people who had no hand in the insurrection NOW!
Biden – [Please use your power by executive order to create a transparent Kerner Commission-style panel to investigate every aspect of that day, what led up to it, who was responsible, and what can be learned from it.]
Garland – [Please appoint a special counsel with broad subpoena powers to specifically expand investigations beyond the citizen arrestees to include a report on whether various legislators, along with our disgraced former president, should be held criminally culpable for the ensuing violence of that day.]
We, the American public, want at least 9 questions answered. (From Lawfareblog.com)
- Who were the attackers? Who were the organizers? Who funded it?
- Which parts of the warning system failed?
- Why were the pieces not put together?
- What was the role of social media companies?
- What can investigators reasonably conclude regarding the personal responsibility of President Trump
- Who elso enabled the violence? (This must included federal and state legislators)
- Should the rioters have been allowed to walk away?
- Was there a foreign role?
- How might history have look if different decisions were made?
President Biden – [We appreciate that you have committed to investigating the origin of the COVID virus, so that issue can be laid to rest between Americans. We need to do this for the “Big Lie” behind the Jan. 6th insurrection as well. There can be no reconciliation until we have the truth.]
Garland – [We cannot have reconciliation in this country without the truth. Please help us get there.]
[Name]
Action #3 – Send postcards/letters to Sens. Manchin and Sinema – (Sample letter)
Dear Sen. [Manchin, Sinema]
Alhough it’s been frustrating at times, I can admire the strength of your commitment to bi-partisan involvement in federal legislation. It must be truly satisfying to watch a bill that is strongly supported on both sides become law.
I know that you and [Sen. Sinema, Sen. Manchin] worked hard with Sen. Collins and other GOP moderates to get the Jan. 6th insurrection commission passed. That the GOP ultimately used the filibuster to shield themselves and their party from any scrutiny or responsibility of the violence that happened on Jan. 6 is not surprising, but is devastating to our country.
Had the filibuster been dismissed, you would now be working on creating the commission panel, and America would be closer to getting answers that might slow or disperse the dangerous divisions amongst us inspired by Trump’s Big Lie, one of the most dangerous issues to threaten our democracy since the Civil War. The violence of Jan. 6, may be just a precursor to what will happen at the next election that goes against them.
The GOP betrayed you and your hopes for cooperation in the best interests of this nation. And your unwillingness to see that they use you to stop any legislation that prevents suppressive election bills from being passed around the country, betrays all of us.
Though I’m not a resident of [West Virginia, Arizona] your refusal to come to America’s defense over these foundational issues affects me as strongly as if I were living next door to you.
You are obviously a loyal and tenacious person. But it is time to truly see that the GOP has fundamentally changed under the malign influence of Trump. It’s time to for you to change as well. Please join your Democratic colleagues in the Senate, remove the filibuster and pass some laws to protect us and our democracy.
Sincerely, [name]
- Sen. Manchin: 306 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington D.C. 20510
- Sen. Sinema: 317 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
INDIVISIBLE VENTURA 