January 6

The Path to January 6 Ran Through the Obama-Era Tea Party

The closeness of the Oath Keepers militia group to the Tea Party movement was hardly a guarded secret in the 2010s. 

Proud Boys' Convictions for Seditious Conspiracy Won't End the Far Right Threat

by Tom Mockaitis

Despite the conviction of leading organizers of the January 6 attack on the Capitol (which aimed at overturning Joe Biden's election), the extreme right will remain a threat, partly because of the flourishing of online channels for hate and partly because the Republican Party has framed the insurrection as legitimate political expression. 

Like the Klan, January 6 Deniers Will Lose

by Adam Serwer

During Reconstruction, the rapid growth of partisan media outlets made it impossible to tell whether stories of Klan atrocities were true or "fake news." Elaine Frantz Parsons explains how the reality of the Klan became established. 

Can Rebellion Be Too Big To Fail? Reflections on Jefferson Davis and Trump

by Wallace Hettle

If Jefferson Davis's release on bail in 1867 and pardon before trial in 1868 seemed to signal his diminishment as a national figure, the rise of the Lost Cause mythology with Davis as its martyr showed it was a serious mistake to excuse insurrection. 

New Graphic Fiction Asks: What if January 6 Had Succeeded?

Harvard Law professor Alan Jenkins collaborated with a group of artists and writers to explore what might have happened if a mob attacking the Capitol had made a right turn instead of a left. 

The Real Failures of January 6

by Karen J. Greenberg

Despite surface similarities, the attack on Brazil's government buildings earlier this month differed from January 6, 2021 in one key respect: the transfer of presidential power had already been accomplished. The contrast is sobering—for America. 

Was the Civil War Inevitable?

by David W. Blight

As a growing number of Americans entertain the idea that dissolving the nation might be better than holding its incompatible parts together, it's worth revisiting the series of decisions that led to the Civil War, and to ask whether the nation has, or will, experience the equivalent of the Dred Scott decision. 

Law Profs: First Amendment Hurdles to Trump Prosecution Real, Not Insurmountable

by Alan Z. Rozenshtein and Jed Shugerman

The defense that Trump's speech about a stolen election, even if deliberately untruthful, constitutes protected political speech is plausible, but prosecutors can situate the remarks in the context of other actions to overturn the election. 

Once Again, Republicans Will Choose Radicalization to Turn The Base Out

by Thomas Zimmer

The problem with the Republican Party isn't Trump, it's the fact that the party knows it can't win without riling up the far-right elements that compose a growing part of its base. 

Does Disqualifying a January 6 Participant from Office Threaten Democracy?

Disqualifying particular candidates does nothing to fight the broad-based embrace of election denialism and authoritarianism, and it further deprives voters of the right to repudiate those things at the polls, say three law professors. 

Whatever Else, Applaud Liz Cheney's Defense of the Constitution

by James M. Banner Jr.

James M. Banner writes "as difficult as it may be for Democrats, like me, who reject most of Cheney’s positions on specific issues to do, we owe her a salute for her elemental moral and civic clarity."

Milbank: January 6 Roots Begin with Gingrich, Not Trump

While relatively little of Newt Gingrich's "Contract With America" became law, the House Speaker who rose to power in 1994 set the tone for the Republican Party's rigid partisanship and demonization of the opposition, a stance that justifies antidemocratic steps to keep power. 

The Dangerous Misunderstanding of America's History of Mob Action

by Stefan Lund

Contrary to the protestations of January 6th apologists, mob action in America has usually worked to suppress, rather than defend, democracy.

Far Right Extremism, Paramilitarization, and Misogyny – Statement of Alexandra Stern to the January 6 Committee

by Alexandra Minna Stern

The alt-right groups represented at the Capitol on January 6 drew organizing power from online communities where grievance politics around race and gender flourished. Key features were heavy doses of irony that gave deniability to violent rhetoric and extreme misogyny. 

The Secessionist Roots of January 6

by Elizabeth R. Varon

"The story of Southern secession provides illuminating evidence that the Jan. 6 insurgency was, indeed, precedented, rooted in long-standing efforts to preempt, delegitimize and suppress Black voting."

Garrett Graff: A "Conspiratorial Mindset" Links Trump and Nixon Actions

Garrett Graff, author of "Watergate: A New History" argues that both January 6 and Watergate were the logical culminations of the broader politics of the Trump and Nixon administrations and the movements that sustained them. 

Prosecutor: The Two-Prong Test that Could Determine Trump's Legal Risk

Isaac Chotiner interviews former federal prosecutor and current law professor Barbara McQuade about the prospects of a criminal case against Trump over January 6. 

Historian Jeff Shesol: Ginni Thomas's 1/6 Involvement Poses Unprecedented Crisis for Court's Legitimacy

"In a very real sense, Clarence and Ginni Thomas are answerable only to Clarence and Ginni Thomas. The Trump Administration gave us all a hard lesson in how few actual rules bind the behavior of our national leaders."

Missing from the Conversation on Christian Nationalism? Whiteness

by Peter Laarman

The extreme wing of the Christian right is attracting attention for its rhetoric equating freedom with their own power to determine the course of society. A minister argues that recent works in religious history show that it's a mistake to leave out the significance of white racial identity to that movement. 

NC Elections Board Affirms it has Power to Bar Rep. Cawthorn from Ballot over Jan. 6 Actions

Without stating whether such action would proceed, North Carolina's elections authority affirmed that it has the power to bar Rep. Madison Cawthorn from seeking reelection if his actions on January 6 are determined to amount to support for insurrection.