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The truth has power. That is why an army of politicians, lawyers, political schemers, media personalities and admirers of former President Donald Trump have tried so hard to keep Americans from learning the truth about his effort to overturn the 2022 election.

Fortunately, he failed. And he and the corrupt members of his inner circle have failed to keep the truth hidden.

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on our country and the criminal conspiracy that led up to it is an important exercise in truth-telling.

We have learned a lot thanks to the work of committee members and staff, principled members of Trumps own administration, and journalists whose work has shed light on things Trump and his cronies desperately tried to keep hidden.

Trump wanted to stay in power after losing the 2020 election. He wanted it so badly that he called his enraged supporters to Washington, D.C., to interfere with a key step in the peaceful transfer of power.

He sent them to the Capitol knowing that many were armed. And for hours, while members of the Capitol Police were being brutalized and members of Congress and Vice President Mike Pences security detail were calling loved ones, not sure they would live through the attack Trump did nothing.

Well, to be more accurate, he did nothing to stop the rampage. He did plenty of harmful things.

He did watch the violence on television. He did pour gasoline on the fire by denouncing Pence while the attack was under way. He did take calls from fearful members of Congress only to dismiss their pleas for help. He did reject direct appeals from his own daughter to call off the attack. He did tell his chief of staff that he didnt think the mob chanting Hang Mike Pence was doing anything wrong. He thought Pence deserved it for choosing the Constitution over Trumps desire to keep his grip on power.

Only when it was becoming clear that the attack would fail to stop Congress from affirming Joe Bidens victory did Trump grudgingly tell his troops to withdraw.

But even that was a tactical retreat. His attack on our democracy hasnt stopped. Or even slowed down.

Trump continues to lie about the election being stolen from him. His enablers in right-wing media and far-right social media networks spread the lie even further. MAGA activists harass election officials. State legislators use that lie to justify laws that make it harder for people Trump sees as his enemies to vote.

Even worse, they are trying to get more Trump loyalists and Big Lie believers into positions where they will have the power to succeed at what Trump and his team tried to do this time around: overturn the election results in key states.

Trumpists and election deniers are running for office as local election officials, state legislators and secretaries of state, where they will have power to interfere with how elections are run and how votes are counted.

And potentially even worse than that, they are also enlisting the far-right Supreme Court majority that Trump cemented with three justices who were preapproved by the far right-wing legal movement. They have agreed to consider a fringe legal theory pushed by the hard right.

If the courts new activist far-right majority embraces this legal theory, it would let state legislators violate state constitutions and ignore and override the will of the voters. And it would be impossible for courts to step in as a check on anti-democratic abuses of power. This is a battle plan for authoritarian rule.

Ben Jealous

It may be hard for many people to believe just how extreme Trumps movement and his political supporters have become, and just how much of a threat to democracy they pose as we approach this years congressional elections. The Jan. 6 committee has done democracy a big favor by dragging important truths into the light of day. We cant turn away from them. To preserve our country and our freedoms, we must recognize that they are threatened. And we must act to protect them.

Benjamin Jealous is an American civil rights leader who served as the youngest president and chief executive officer of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), from 2008 to 2013. He is the current president of People for the American Way and its associated foundation.

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Protect the truth-tellers to save democracy - The Miami Times

A nonpartisan road show for reality, the Trusted Elections Tour, stopped in Greensboro last week to stump for reason and common sense.

Led by former Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts and former N.C. Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, the series of 14 town halls throughout the state is a rational and informed take on election security that rebuts unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud in North Carolina and beyond. And it has its work cut out.

According to a WRAL News poll, 44% of likely Republican voters express little to no confidence that their vote will be counted accurately in the Nov. 8 election.

Thats disconcerting, if not surprising.

Donald Trump claimed election fraud even after he won in 2016.

In 2017, he even created a commission to investigate. Established by executive order, the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity was chaired by Vice President Mike Pence and vice-chaired by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach a leading purveyor of dubious fraud allegations.

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The commission disbanded in early 2018 with little to show for its efforts. Following his loss to Joe Biden in 2020, Trump doubled down on his claims without credible evidence. More than 60 court challenges to the election results were dismissed. Yet if you repeat a lie often enough well, we continue to reap the results.

In the WRAL News poll, conducted among 677 likely North Carolina voters, only 15% of Republican respondents said they had full confidence that their votes would be counted accurately, versus 60% of Democrats and 42% of independent voters. Only 5% of Democrats and independents expressed no confidence in the voting process.

Catawba College political scientist Michael Bitzer traces the lopsided GOP skepticism to Trump.

A lot of that certainly gets laid at the feet of the former president, who continuously reinforced the idea of, If I lose, the system must have been rigged, Bitzer told WRAL. That is not a basic American norm or principle. If you lose, its because the other candidate won more voters or got more support. What hes doing is calling the system into question and this is the result.

Not that Trump hasnt had more than a few accomplices.

Remember, on the day rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, 139 House Republicans voted to object to the results of the election. They included seven of 10 North Carolina Republicans, among them Dan Bishop, Ted Budd, Madison Cawthorn, Virginia Foxx, Greg Murphy, Richard Hudson and David Rouzer.

At least one of them obviously knew better.

I know that Joe Biden will be president, Bishop said from the floor after police had cleared the House chamber of rioters. But I dont know that it hurts, or would hurt any of us, to have the generosity of spirit to continue to reflect on what might be better or what might seriously have gone wrong here, even if you reject the notion that the result was wrong.

Got that? Such muddying of the facts by GOP leaders with doublespeak and often outright fiction has made election workers jobs harder and in some cases, scarier.

And it has become more and more common for losers of elections to automatically declare fraud, whether theres evidence of it or not.

While fact-based inquiries into election irregularities are healthy, useful and necessary, blanket condemnations of the entire process based on flimsy premises are downright dangerous.

So are overly aggressive poll watchers with political agendas and gratuitous complaints and records requests from election deniers.

The Trusted Elections Tour is one way to shine light into that darkness. Whether these panels will wind up preaching mostly to the choir or actually reach some of the skeptics and the misinformed, we dont know.

Were disappointed that the tour didnt make its way to Forsyth County; we do hope a sequel is in the works. In the meantime, its worthwhile for readers to visit its website, especially to see the wide variety of participants: http://www.nctrustedelections.com

We appreciate the noble and worthwhile cause these public servants have adopted to counter the headwinds of ignorance, exploitation and self-interest.

Because, in an era in which sowing doubt in democracy has become a political strategy, every little bit helps.

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Our view: Blinded by the lie - Winston-Salem Journal

FILE - This Jan. 15, 2021, file photo, shows the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

Diego Morales (R), who is running for secretary of state in Indiana, has been previously fired from that office two times.

Documents obtained and first reported by the Associated Press in 2018 state that former Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita fired Morales in 2009 for inefficient execution and lack of focus. Two years later, then-Secretary of State Charlie White fired Morales for similar instances of poor work ethic. White himself was later removed as secretary of state after being convicted of voter fraud.

In addition to a shaky work history, Morales has been recently accused of sexually assaulting two women according to interviews conducted by Abdul Hakim-Shabazz, the editor of IndyPolitics.org. Morales denied the allegations in a statement and called them politically motivated. According to the interviews, the women were 20 and 22 years old respectively at the time of the assaults.

In response to the disciplinary actions, Morales said that he is facing a smear campaign and that he was probably fired due to office politics.

Morales also used to serve as an aide for Mike Pence when the former vice president was the governor of Indiana. Like other Republicans running for secretary of state positions, Morales has leaned heavily into former President Donald Trumps Big Lie rhetoric that contends the 2020 presidential election was stolen from the Republicans. He has also said that he would cut Indianas early voting period from 28 days to 14.

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Indiana Republican running for secretary of state has been fired from that office twice: report - Heartland Signal

Former Vice President Mike Pence seemed to show his true colors earlier this month when he confirmed that he would strongly consider testifying under oath before the highly partisan House Jan. 6 panel.

Since then, however, he seems to have given that promise some additional thought and appears to have backtracked on his earlier enthusiasm just a bit.

As Newsmax reported:

Although the former Vice President had recently said he would consider testifying, Pence told The Washington Times over the weekend, if the committee wanted to extend a formal invitation I would consider it, but we would reflect very carefully on my obligations to preserve the separation of powers and the constitutional framework that I served in.

I have real concerns about the partisan nature of the Jan. 6 committee, Pence continued. By essentially rendering this as a partisan committee thats operating on a very partisan basis and at times leaking information and leaking testimony I think in many respects it has squandered an opportunity to really thoughtfully examine what took place that day and where the failings were.

Of course, Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans on Capitol Hill and in the media are chomping at the bit to secure an interview with Pence.

Its worth noting that the former vice president still hasnt ruled out appearing before the House panel, but he does seem to have some legitimate concerns.

Whether hes hedging his bets to appeal to as many potential voters as possible ahead of a likely presidential bid or hes actually had a moral awakening remains to be seen.

In any case, his latest remarks show a clear difference in opinion from when he first addressed the issue earlier this month during an appearance in New Hampshire.

As Politico reported at the time:

Former Vice President Mike Pence hasnt ruled out testifying before the Jan. 6 select committee investigating efforts by his former boss and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

If there was an invitation to participate, I would consider it, Pence told a packed room at the New England Council and Saint Anselm Colleges Politics & Eggs event on Wednesday morning.

I would have to reflect on the unique role that I was serving as vice president, Pence continued. It would be unprecedented in history for the vice president to be summoned to testify on Capitol Hill. But, as I said, I dont want to prejudge ever any formal invitation rendered to us.

Heres a clip from Mike Pences response:

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Mike Pence Might Not Testify Before Jan. 6 Committee After All

Members of the commission investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, on Thursday asserted that President Donald Trump made no efforts to stop rioters even as Vice President Mike Pence attempted to order National Guard troops to quell the violence.

Not only did President Trump refuse to tell the mob to leave the Capitol, he placed no call to any element of the United States government to instruct that the Capitol be defended, said Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., during the panels wide-ranging Thursday night hearing on the event.

He did not call his secretary of defense on Jan. 6. He did not talk to his Attorney General. He did not talk to the Department of Homeland Security, Cheney added. President Trump gave no order to deploy the National Guard that day. And he made no effort to work with the Department of Justice to coordinate and deploy law enforcement assets.

The statements were backed up with testimony from Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, who said that Pence told Pentagon leaders to get the Guard down here, put down this situation.

In contrast, Milley said, Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told Milley that military officials needed to kill the narrative that the Vice President is making all the decisions and worked against sending personnel to help with the escalating situation.

Questions over the reason behind delays in the deployment of National Guard troops to the Capitol complex have been a key point of contention in accounts of Jan. 6. Hundreds of pro-Trump supporters breached the Capitol building that day in an attempt to block certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results.

Five people died during the riot, and three Capitol Police officers died in the days following the attack.

Trump administration officials have blamed Democratic lawmakers for the delay in deploying military members on Jan. 6, saying requests for help didnt come until hours into the violence.

Thursdays hearing the first in a series of primetime events designed to offer a comprehensive account of the attack also featured testimony from several of those officers. They countered Trumps repeated assertions that the crowd that pushed past police lines that day were peaceful and lawful.

There were officers on the ground. They were bleeding. They were throwing up, said Caroline Edwards, an officer working security that day.

I saw friends with blood all over their faces. I was slipping in peoples blood I just remember that moment of stepping behind the line and just seeing the absolute war zone that the west front had become.

Thousands of National Guard troops were eventually deployed to Capitol Hill to clear out and secure the area, but not until hours after the rioters had pushed inside the Capitol building and ransacked multiple offices.

The assault forced both the House and Senate to suspend their certification proceedings and scramble to secure areas.

Officials have said Pence narrowly avoided direct confrontation with the crowd members, many of whom were chanting that he was a traitor for not overturning the election results a move that most legal experts have said was unconstitutional and impossible.

Milley described Pence as very animated, very direct, very firm in the need for Guard troops to help with crowd control as soon as possible. But he said other White House officials did not share the same opinion.

Committee members also noted other accounts of potential military misuse by the Trump administration, including a plan discussed weeks before the Capitol assault for military forces to seize voting machines and declare state elections invalid by executive decree.

Jan. 6 was the culmination of an attempted coup, a brazen attempt to overthrow the government, said committee chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss. The violence was no accident. It represented Trumps last stand, a most desperate chance to halt the transfer of power.

The committee has two more hearings planned for next week to delve further into the instigation and response to the riots. Republican leadership in the House and Senate have refused to take part in the proceedings, labeling them politically motivated theater.

Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award.

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Pence not Trump asked Guard troops to help defend Capitol on Jan. 6 ...