An English Major Reads the January 6th Report
Well, friends, I did it again. After reading the entire Mueller Report back in 2019, I’m back to provide you with in-depth summaries of the January 6th Report. Over the next couple days I’ll break the entire 814-page report into two chunks. Part 1 will summarize the Executive Summary and Chapters 1-4, while Part 2 will summarize Chapters 5-8, the Select Committee’s recommendations, and the four appendixes.
First, some quick stats: My summaries doc is 58 single-spaced pages and totals 29,087 words. (For comparison, my Mueller Report summaries were a little over 33 single-spaced pages and around 16,000 words.) The January 6th Report is twice as long as the Mueller Report, and it took me about twice as long to read and summarize: 77 days — 11 weeks, so almost three months. And while the Mueller Report had large swaths that were redacted, the January 6th Report didn’t contain a single redaction.
So, how was it? It was incredible. The Select Committee has put together a truly astounding document. I was in continual awe over how much research they conducted. Not only that, but it was amazing how they organized all that data into a cohesive narrative. They assembled a meticulously thorough report which covers the two months after the 2020 presidential election and how Trump tried to illegally overturn the results.
How does it compare with the Mueller Report? It’s hard to say, mostly since it’s been so long since I read the Mueller Report. I feel like the January 6th Report is a little more readable than the Mueller Report (although I was surprised how easy it was to read the Mueller Report!), but the January 6th Report is definitely more damning. There’s no question that Trump and his team went out of their way to try every strategy they could think of to subvert the election results. It’s shocking (although, sadly, not surprising) that Trump is still considered the leading Republican nominee for the 2024 election. There’s no way he should be allowed anywhere near a role in government ever again.
In case you want a quick overview of what to expect, here’s what each of the parts of the January 6th Report entails:
The Executive Summary is the first ~125 pages of the report and provides an excellent rundown of the entire report. If you only have time to read a small part of my summaries, read this.
Chapter 1 focuses on the Big Lie. This is a very interesting and important chapter because the Big Lie was the justification Trump and company used for all of their subsequent tactics. The Select Committee swiftly debunks the Big Lie and illustrates that Trump knew his purported examples of voter fraud were lies.
Chapter 2 talks about Trump and company’s efforts to pressure state-level election officials (all of whom were Republicans!) to change votes, “find” votes, or otherwise alter the lawful vote counts within their states.
Chapter 3 discusses the fake electors scheme. This is another good one to read if you’re strapped for time, if for no other reason than it’s kind of hilarious how spectacularly they fail here.
Chapter 4 is the chapter I find the most interesting and chilling, only because it’s the closest any of Trump’s tactics came to working. This chapter talks about how Trump wanted to use the Department of Justice to push the Big Lie and, thus, change the election results. Definitely read this chapter!
Chapter 5 investigates John Eastman’s nutty plan to have Mike Pence reject valid electoral slates during the January 6th joint session. This is another mind-boggling chapter, as Eastman himself admits basically every step along the way that there’s no legal basis for what he’s pushing.
Chapter 6 gives a great overview of the various right-wing extremist groups who began to mobilize and plan for violence after Trump posted his “Be there, will be wild!” tweet on December 19th.
Chapter 7 is maybe the least interesting chapter, although it’s very damning. This covers the roughly three hours on the 6th when Trump refused to do anything to stop the insurrection.
Chapter 8 outlines the attack on the Capitol, particularly how the Proud Boys led surges that broke past police lines. My summaries for this chapter contain the most direct quotes from the report, mainly because so many of them made my jaw drop.
There are then 11 short recommendations from the Select Committee for how Congress can help prevent another January 6th-type insurrection.
Appendix 1 talks about the government’s preparation for and response to January 6th. Appendix 2 talks about the D.C. National Guard’s preparation and delayed deployment. I found both of these appendixes to be rather boring. This was the only time when I really skimmed the report. (Throw me a bone here — I was 700 pages in and feeling fatigued!)
Appendix 3 is an absolute must-read. It talks about the fundraising emails the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee sent out after the election, plus how that money was actually used. This is one of my favorite parts of the entire report.
Appendix 4 looks at foreign influence in the 2020 election, mostly from Russia and mostly using disinformation that came from Trump himself.
Put that all together, add in a whole lot of endnotes, and you have yourself an 814-page report!
I don’t want to spoil all of my favorite moments from the report because I want you to be able to discover and enjoy them the way I did as I was reading through. However, a few gems to whet your appetite:
In Chapter 3, regarding the fake electors: A Trump lawyer named Kenneth Chesebro gave these fake electors very specific instructions for how they should submit their fake electoral college votes. The Select Committee notes that “[Chesebro] also gave some of the groups step-by-step logistical guidance, such as when and where they should convene, how many copies each person would need to sign, and to send their fake votes to Congress via registered mail. ‘Pretty Simple!’ he commented in some of these emails” (350). I love how flippantly Chesebro describes his plan to subvert democracy.
I also want to take a moment to say how sad I am that one of my favorite quotes from the Select Committee’s public hearings didn’t make it into Chapter 4. During his testimony, White House lawyer and senior advisor Eric Herschmann recalled how unqualified a guy named Jeffery Clark would be for the Acting Attorney General role. “Clark's proposal was nuts. I mean this guy, at a certain point, listen, the best I can tell is the only thing you know about environmental and elections challenges is they both start with E. And based on your answers tonight, I'm not even certain you know that.”
The award for most brazenly racist moment in the report is a two-way tie. The first runner-up comes in Chapter 2. As part of their scheme to coerce state election officials to change votes or recertify results for Trump, Giuliani and his team held a series of sham “hearings” in various states. In Michigan, one witness criticized Michigan’s voter identification process by saying: “I think Chinese all look alike. So how can you tell? If some Chow shows up, you can be anybody and you can vote” (279). The second runner-up is in relation to the two Black election workers in Georgia whom Trump and company falsely accused of criminal misconduct. As a result, these two women were harassed and targeted by Trump supporters. One woman’s son received threatening phone calls, too, one of which said he “should hang alongside your nigger momma” (306).
Profile in courage: Alex Jones, after leading a mob on January 6th in chants of “1776,” was told that he would likely get blamed for the insurrection. Shortly thereafter, as insurrectionists poured into the Capitol, Jones left the Capitol grounds altogether.
And more! Lots more!
A few other ideas worth reiterating:
It’s incredible how hard Trump tried to subvert the election results. First he claimed that the election was rigged or somehow stolen from him. His team filed lawsuits and asked for recounts, which are perfectly legal and normal things to do after an election. However, he lost all but one of those 62 lawsuits. From there he tried to get Republican election officials in swing states to change their states’ results. When that didn’t work he created his own slate of fake electoral votes which were sent to Congress. While all of that was going on, he wanted the Department of Justice to bend to his will and pressure states to change their results. This plan came scarily close to happening, but when it didn’t then everything rested on Pence’s shoulders on January 6th. That’s why Trump pushed so hard to rile up his supporters. That’s why he lied to make it seem like Pence could change the outcome of the election. January 6th was his last hope.
Many (if not all?) members of Congress who helped Trump overturn the election are still in office.
Almost everyone the Select Committee interviewed were Republicans. This was not a partisan witch hunt. Kevin McCarthy had the chance to add more Republicans to the Committee, but he ultimately withdrew all of his nominees. That’s why the only two Republicans on the Committee were ones selected by Pelosi: Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.
Just because people like Mike Pence didn’t cave to Trump’s demands doesn’t necessarily make them heroes. Pence has continued to avoid testifying about the events surrounding January 6th, and other White House lawyers kept their knowledge of those days to themselves until they were subpoenaed. I’m glad these people did their part to thwart authoritarianism, but that feels less like something worthy of praise and more like the bare minimum we should expect of our leaders.
The more time we spend demonizing one another, the more we play into Putin’s hands. Remember that their influence operations often use online trolls to sow divisions. We need to try to work together, not tear each other apart.
Finally, there are a good number of names in the report. I’ll leave you with a list of the most important names I think you should keep in mind as you’re reading the summaries, grouped together by their linked association.
The White House
Mark Meadows (Trump’s chief of staff)
Cassidy Hutchinson (aide to Meadows)
Pat Cipollone (lawyer)
Eric Herschmann (lawyer and senior advisor to Trump)
The Trump campaign
Bill Stepien (2020 campaign manager)
Jason Miller (senior advisor)
Dan Scavino (social media director)
Trump’s new legal team after the election
Rudy Giuliani
Jenna Ellis
John Eastman
Kenneth Chesebro
Sidney Powell
Department of Justice officials
Bill Barr (Attorney General, until his resignation in mid-December 2020)
Jeffrey Rosen (Acting Attorney General)
Richard Donoghue (Acting Deputy Attorney General)
Jeffrey Clark (a dude)
“Stop the Steal” organizers
Ali Alexander (far-right activist)
Roger Stone (Trump political advisor)
Alex Jones
Far-right extremist groups and their leaders
The Proud Boys (Henry “Enrique” Tarrio)
The Oath Keepers (Stewart Rhodes)
America First, a.k.a. “Groypers” (Nick Fuentes)
Members of Congress
Representative Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)
Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH)
Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ)
Representative Scott Perry (R-PA)
