50 signatures reached
To: Representative Jan Shakowsky, IL 9th Congressional District
Shine the Light of Television on the Jan 6th Hearings
We, the undersigned, believe that transparency and the direct observation of the work of the Select Committee To investigate The January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, rather than learning about it through the filter of particular media, is the best way to ensure the future of our democracy. Therefore we request that you join with your Congressional colleagues in providing direct access of the upcoming hearings in their entirety via traditional broadcast media, radio, television and cable, as well as through social media platforms, especially when the central participants in the events of January 6th and the actions leading up to the attack on the Capitol aimed at preventing the certification of the 2020 Presidential election results are scheduled to testify, in their entirety. It is most important that the Public has complete and direct access to the testimony of Senators, Representatives and Trump administration personnel. We wish to remind Congress and the members of the Select Committee that the Watergate hearings, the 9/11 hearings, and the Iran/Contra hearings were all broadcast in the most accessible manner for the people of the United States to witness on their own in order that the American people could see and hear for themselves the actual testimony before those investigative committees
Why is this important?
The attack on the US Capital, during the certification of the results of the 2020 Presidential election, and the campaign to sow doubt over the results of that election, was one of the most serious attempts to subvert the will of the American people, and the Constitutional responsibilities of the US Senate, in our lifetimes. The Republican Party and it’s Congressional and Senate members have since joined in the campaign to convince the American people of the “Big Lie,” that there was massive fraud during the 2020 elections, and are blocking the passage of The Voters Rights and John Lewis Acts that would prevent Republican controlled State legislatures from passing bills that would disenfranchise minority voters, continue "extreme gerrymandering,” and permit partisan election officials to overturn the results in future election cycles. At the same time, ex-President Trump, his advisors, lawyers and enablers, have exhausted their legal fight to prevent their subpoenaed testimony before the Special January 6th Investigative Commission and the denial of access to documents related to their roles in the events leading up to the January 6th, 2021, attack on our nation’s Capital. The upcoming sessions of the Special Commission, when the central figures in that attempt to prevent the certification of the Presidential election results will be testifying, are crucial to our understanding of the persons responsible for the campaigns of disinformation and events leading up to and during the attack, in order to prevent future attempts to overturn elections that are central to the survival of our democracy. The light of full media coverage of that testimony is the best way to ensure that the Special Committee achieves it goals and prevent those opposed to its investigation from continuing “The Big Lie” and delegitimizing the Commission and it’s findings/recommendations.
How it will be delivered
In person, directly to Representative Jan Shakowsky, at her Chicago Office in Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, where all the petitioners reside. If possible, we will arrange for Press Coverage of the petition delivery.