Now that the dust is settling after the “bombshells” dropped by Nancy Pelosi’s “star witness” this week, let’s review.

Since January 6, 2021, I have condemned in the strongest words the riotous jackasses who fought with police outside and inside the Capitol building that day. Granted, many of those who entered the building did no damage — but all who entered the building did irreparable damage to the reputation of all of us who had supported Donald Trump’s administrative policies over the previous four years. Likewise, I have condemned Trump for both his actions and inaction that day.

I have also condemned Nancy Pelosi’s histrionic J6 dog and pony show, her “Insurrection™” inquisition that, for the first time in the history of such special committees, disallowed any appointees by the minority leader. In other words, Pelosi and her leftist thugs assured there would be no cross-examination of witnesses.

This week began with a much-publicized and politicized special session of Pelosi’s J6 Committee in a desperate attempt to regain some media traction lost amid the fanfare of critically important Supreme Court decisions last week.

It worked! At least until it didn’t…

The “dramatic” uncorroborated and uncontested hearsay testimony of the committee’s witness, Cassidy Hutchinson, a former staff assistant to Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, went viral. She obviously attempted to paint herself as a heroine among Trump villains. But no sooner had she completed her unchallenged testimony than key elements of her claims were dismantled.

As you are likely aware, among those claims was her now wholly disemboweled assertion that Trump attempted to commandeer his armored SUV after completing his unfortunate remarks that fateful morning and force Secret Service agents to take him to the Capitol building. According to Hutchinson: “The president reached up towards the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel. Mr. Engel grabbed his arm and said, ‘Sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel. We’re going back to the West Wing. We’re not going to the Capitol.’” She added that she heard that “the president said something to the effect of ‘I’m the f**king president, take me to the Capitol now.’”

For the record, I have been “up close and personal” with the armored presidential fleet vehicles, and it is clear that Hutchinson’s testimony was wholly fabricated. There are barriers between the back and front compartments of the AV/SUV that would make that contortionist act very difficult for an agile young person — much less Trump. Indeed, within hours, NBC chief White House correspondent Peter Alexander declared, “A source close to the Secret Service tells me both Bobby Engel, the lead agent, and the presidential limousine/SUV driver are prepared to testify under oath that neither man was assaulted and that Mr. Trump never lunged for the steering wheel.”

In what amounts to an amazingly sloppy vetting of this “witness” in the rush to get her claims out to the Demos’ Leftmedia talkingheads and scribes, the committee did not contact the Secret Service to vet the tales told by Hutchinson. I presume the calculus was that once the lie was out, the damage could not be undone.

The usual leftist protagonists were all giddy about the Hutchinson revelations, as were the once-conservative, now-enlightened centrist parrots, those suffering chronic Trump Derangement Syndrome like the emotionally incontinent Jonah Goldberg and his sidekick David French.

What I did not expect among the chronically infected TDS crowd was a blustery missive from National Review’s otherwise erudite Andrew McCarthy, which read like it was heavily influenced by more than a neat scotch throwback.

Claiming “Hutchinson’s testimony against Trump is devastating,” despite the fact that virtually all her testimony was hearsay, he insisted it was conclusive evidence that “former president Donald Trump is singularly culpable for the Capitol riot.” It was her uncorroborated interpretation of events, not the facts, and with no cross-examination. None. You know, kinda like listening to CNN.

But even CNN’s Jake Tapper, in an interview with one of Pelosi’s lap dogs, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), insisted, “As of now, it is hearsay.” Raskin responded, “Oh, sure.”

Attorney and political analyst Megyn Kelly, no fan of Trump, declared, “A first year law student could have driven a truck through the holes in that testimonial.” She said of the committee: “It cloaks itself in sanctimony, purporting to be a fair-minded, down-the-middle finder of fact, just looking to get to the truth of January 6th. It’s a lie. And they prove every time they get together it’s a lie.”

You would think the minor detail of no cross-examination would be reason for McCarthy, a former federal prosecutor, to hit pause rather than quoting Hutchinson’s hearsay and opinion as if it was indisputable fact.

McCarthy concluded: “Instead of trying to stop it, he willfully exacerbated the problem — and would apparently have made it worse still if the Secret Service had not been courageously insubordinate. That’s what we learned [from this testimony]. Things will not be the same after this.”

Well, no, we didn’t learn that after all, and “things” are the same today as they were on day one of Pelosi’s kangaroo court.

That being said, I do think there are findings from this testimony that will be used to subpoena others to testify, and that will definitely hurt Trump, Meadows, and everybody else around them — except, of course, for the heroic Cassidy Hutchinson. As political analyst Byron York concluded: “The actions of Trump, along with the actions of the portion of the crowd that attacked the Capitol — the rioters — deserve serious, balanced scrutiny. They’re not getting it from the one-sided J6 committee.”

Among the many problems with Pelosi’s effort to collect enough evidence to charge Trump with some version of “insurrection” is the fact that Trump had authorized deployment of the National Guard ahead of the events that day in case things went sideways. According to then-Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller: “DJT authorized the use of the military to support local and federal law enforcement on 6 Jan. He directed that I provide whatever support was requested. So, technically, he authorized unlimited military support.”

Miller’s top aide, then-Pentagon Chief of Staff Kash Patel, affirmed: “There’s zero chance the DoD doesn’t have a record of that. DoD spoke to Capitol Police (who report to Nancy Pelosi) before Jan. 6 multiple times, and they repeatedly rejected any National Guard assistance, as did D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.”

Of those facts, political observer Deroy Murdock asks, “If you planned to rob the Bank of America branch on Manhattan’s Union Square, would they call 911 before this heist and urge the NYPD to scramble 100 squad cars to the scene of the crime?”

Even WaPo noted that Steven Sund, then-U.S. Capitol Police chief, asked for National Guardsmen on January 4, but that “was the first of six times Sund’s request for help was rejected or delayed.” Those requests went to the House and Senate sergeant-at-arms, both of whom report to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer, respectively, and were denied.

None of this excuses Trump’s actions and inaction that day, nor that of a fringe group of “Trump supporters” who disgracefully fought with police and entered the Capitol building. But equal condemnation and scrutiny should be afforded Pelosi’s J6 hearings.

Finally, as a reminder of who genuine American Patriots were and are today, I invite you to read my Independence Day column, “Our Legacy of Liberty.”

Footnote: Joe Biden got no bounce from Pelosi’s J6 charade. He hit record approval lows this week, including the RCP average of polls, where Biden is now below 38%. Those disapproving are now 57.5%, making for a 19.5-point split, as Demo voter rolls are hemorrhaging.

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Pro Deo et Libertate — 1776