Why the televised hearings on the January 6 insurrection will be historic | Robert Reich

They will mark a milestone in the battle between democracy and autocracy. Everyone should tune in and watch them

The televised hearings of the House select committee on the January 6 insurrection, which begin Thursday, mark an historic milestone in the battle between democracy and autocracy. The events that culminated in the attack on the Capitol constitute the first attempted presidential coup in our nation's 233-year history.

To a large degree, the success of these hearings will depend on the Wyoming Republican congresswoman and vice-chair of the committee, Liz Cheney.

more likely than not that President Trump corruptly attempted to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2021," and concluded that Trump and Eastman launched a campaign to overturn a democratic election, an action unprecedented in American history [...] The illegality of the plan was obvious."

Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His new book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com