Nine Questions for the Capitol Insurrection Commission
4. What was the role of social media companies?
“The insurrectionists were in Facebook groups, shared plans on Parler, talked to one another on the walkie-talkie app Zello, and otherwise took advantage of the ease and reach of social media companies…. Were the social media companies aware of what was happening on their own platforms? Did they coordinate with other platforms to gain a sense of the bigger picture? Did they convey this information to government officials”
5. What can investigators reasonably conclude regarding the personal responsibility of President Trump?
“What made the Capitol assault distinct from other forms of political violence that America has witnessed was the direct role of the president, who called on people to come to Washington, promised it was going to be “wild,” and then gave an incendiary speech to the crowd before it stormed the Capitol. All of this followed months of egging supporters on in various ways. As the violence was unfolding, Trump initially rebuffeda request to mobilize the D.C. National Guard.”
The Senate will render political judgment in the impeachment trial, and the Justice Department will deal with any criminal questions. “But there’s also an important historical and analytical question—indeed, a moral one—that neither the Senate nor any criminal investigation can address”: “To what extent should analysts draw a clear or even indirect line of causation between how the then-president acted and what happened at the Capitol?”
6. Who else enabled the violence?
“The president deserves intense scrutiny, but he was not alone: A number of other politicians also played a role. Some of this involved playing up false claims about voter fraud in the 2020 election, but others reportedly played a more direct role.”
7. Should the rioters have been allowed to walk away?
Many of the rioters appear to have walked out despite a police presence or otherwise were not arrested. “It is impossible to believe that a group of non-white or left-wing protesters would have been allowed to disperse nationwide after such an episode, leaving the FBI with a gigantic criminal probe involving hundreds of unidentified subjects scattered to the winds…. Who exactly made the decision to let the rioters walk away—and why?”
8. Was there a foreign role?
“Foreign governments, notably Russia, have long tried to incite public opinion in the United States and to delegitimize U.S. elections. What was the role of foreign powers in fostering the broader radical narrative, and what efforts were undertaken to stop them?”
9. How might history have looked if different decisions were made?
“Counterfactuals are notoriously tricky, but they are also necessary.” The commission should ask a few counterfactual questions: “What would have happened if warnings were shared more consistently early on based on the best analytic work product available to the government? If the Capitol Police had taken a more aggressive posture toward the rioters, up to and including more use of lethal force, would the results likely have been better or worse? How would things have been different if the president had not been actively involved in inciting the violence?”
