Mike Johnson survives a crucial House Speaker reelection.
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Wednesday, January 8
As I write this note, it is two days before you’re reading it — Jan. 6, 2025. Four years after the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol by rioters who, influenced by President Donald Trump’s words, tried to thwart democracy and overturn the lawful results of the 2020 election. As a reporter on the scene that day, it has weighed heavily on me and my work in the years since. Also in this edition: Mike Johnson’s reelection as House Speaker exposes some cracks in the GOP’s foundation and a look back at the people and groups who tried to disenfranchise voters in 2024.
As always, thanks for reading.
— Matt Cohen, Senior Staff Writer
At Democracy Docket, we prioritize our readers in everything we do. Help support our pro-democracy news outlet as we continue to hold those in power accountable. Join us ([link removed]) in the fight for a stronger, more transparent democracy.
** Four Years Later
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On the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, I arrived in downtown Washington, D.C. early, on assignment at the time for Mother Jones to report on what was expected to be a big rally for Trump in front of the White House Ellipse, just before certification of the 2020 presidential election in Congress.
I’d covered dozens of right-wing rallies before that day. Tense gatherings, with occasional violent skirmishes. And ones that people thought might turn into a violent scene but ultimately ended without incident. But, as soon as I stepped foot in D.C. that day, something felt different. I ended up being one of the first reporters on the scene ([link removed]) as violent Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, pushing their way through police barricades and breaking into the building in a deadly attack that lasted for hours.
Four years later, Congress certified Trump’s 2024 election victory in a peaceful, routine transfer of power, unlike what happened on that day in 2021. It’s a surreal anniversary, mostly because of how Trump and the GOP have essentially tried to rewrite history to paint the attack as anything but that. Nearly 1,600 people have been charged ([link removed]) with crimes for their actions on that day — dozens are still in jail serving out their sentences ([link removed]) . But one question lingers: Will Trump pardon them?
On the campaign trail, Trump praised the Jan. 6 rioters and, in a recent interview ([link removed]) on Meet the Press, said he would “most likely” pardon them “very quickly.” With the prospect of pardons on the horizon, U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger, in an interview with the Washington Post ([link removed]) , expressed dismay if Trump were to pardon the some 600 people charged with felony assault or obstruction of police during a civil disorder. “What message does that send? What message does that send to police officers across this nation, if someone doesn’t think that a conviction for an assault or worse against a police officer is something that should be upheld, given what we ask police officers to do every day?” he said.
Four years later and I still somehow can’t believe that there hasn’t been more of a national reckoning for Trump and the GOP over the events of Jan. 6. And yet, I am somehow not at all surprised. But trying to understand and explain how we got here is what drives me to do this work, and I’ll keep doing it for the next four years and beyond.
** Mike Johnson Survives House Speaker Vote
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The first big test of the Republican-controlled Congress in the second Trump era came last week with the reelection of Rep. Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House.
It wasn’t a seamless process, with a small contingent of far-right hardliners initially refusing to vote ([link removed]) for him on the first ballot. In the end, and thanks to a behind-the-scenes effort ([link removed]) from Trump, Johnson secured enough votes for reelection. Though the process wasn’t nearly as dramatic as his predecessor — former Rep. Kevin McCarthy infamously lost 15 ballots before he was reluctantly elected as the 55th Speaker of the House, only to be removed less than a year later — it nonetheless exposed the cracks in the Congressional GOP majority’s foundation.
With the far-right members of the House’s Freedom Caucus very publicly expressing their trepidation with Johnson, it leaves the GOP in a precarious position as Trump prepares to come back to the White House. In a letter ([link removed]) sent to fellow Republicans shortly after Johnson’s reelection, the members of the Freedom Caucus made it clear that they aren’t happy with his leadership and, should he not fall in line with Trump, they could move to replace him. “Today, we voted for Mike Johnson for Speaker of the House because of our steadfast support of President Trump and to ensure the timely certification of his electors,” the letter reads. “We did this despite our sincere reservations regarding the Speaker’s track record over the past 15 months.”
It’s no secret that many Republicans in Congress aren’t as on board ([link removed]) with Trump as others, and it’ll be interesting to see how future divisions could play out in Congress. Who will go against Trump, and who will fall in line?
** Looking Back at the People and Groups Who Tried to Disenfranchise Voters
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Throughout 2024, I spent a bulk of my time at Democracy Docket investigating the people and groups who tried to disenfranchise voters ([link removed]) . Countless hours of digging through nonprofit tax filings, old press clippings and interviews with dozens of various sources helped me produce more than a handful of deep dives on people like Harmeet Dhillon ([link removed]) — who Trump picked ([link removed]) as assistant attorney general for civil rights — and groups like the Public Interest Legal Foundation ([link removed]) (PILF) who’ve worked hard to manipulate the courts in order to suppress
voting rights.
Looking back at seven features I wrote in 2024 — zeroing in on Dhillon and PILF, along with groups like the Arizona Free Enterprise Club ([link removed]) , United Sovereign Americans ([link removed]) , Judicial Watch ([link removed]) , America First Legal ([link removed]) and the America First Policy Institute ([link removed]) — they outline exactly how the incoming Trump administration will work to roll back voting rights: weaponizing disinformation about rampant voter fraud and
noncitizen voting to implement new rules and regulations for who can vote, how and when. The result will, inevitably, make it harder for millions of eligible voters to go to the polls.
But the best weapon to prevent this from happening is knowledge. By continuing to report on various people and groups on the right and their efforts to disenfranchise voters, it makes it harder for them to carry it out. And so you can count on more from me doing just that in 2025.
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