Amid a decaying culture, rampant crime, record-high inflation, struggling wages, and surging gas prices (among other things), Monday’s CBS Mornings and NBC’s Today want Americans to focus this week on a different issue: primetime hearings from the House Select Committee on January 6. On Monday’s shows, the two combined for five minutes and 37 seconds of coverage doing the bidding of their loyal source, Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA).
CBS co-host Tony Dokoupil boasted that come Thursday, his fellow liberals are “promising to show Americans never-before-seen evidence of the most violent assault on the capitol in more than 200 years.”
Hired from the Washington D.C. NBC affiliate after having made January 6 a key focus of his time, congressional correspondent Scott MacFarlane laid it on thick for Schiff and his pals:
The House Select January 6th committee has conducted nearly 1,000 interviews and collected nearly 140,000 records, but this week they're searching for something else — an audience for their work. An assault unlike any in American history has led to an investigation unlike any other. Now, the findings will be presented in primetime.
Following a Schiff soundbite, MacFarlane shared that the “special committee of seven Democrats and two Republicans have held a series of high-profile interviews and depositions with key members of former President Trump's inner circle, members of his family, even accused rioters themselves, including those charged with conspiring to violently attack and others of conspiring to orchestrate the riots.”
MacFarlane ignored its partisan nature and refusal by Democrats to accept Republican appointments and instead fretted that “Republicans have largely boycotted the panel after also blocking plans for an independent commission.”
Like with many liberal priorities, MacFarlane conceded his pals have “a big hurdle” ahead in “capturing America's attention” with hearings that’ll use “[v]ideo presentations and witness testimony.”
NBC’s Today was also enthused at a pet project that matters little to those outside insufferably elite and liberal newsrooms and The Swamp. Co-host Savannah Guthrie hyped in an opening tease:
Prime time. The January 6 Committee set to hold the first public hearings into the Capitol insurrection this week. A series of evening broadcasts plan to grab the nation's attention. Who will testify and what evidence is yet to be revealed. We're live on Capitol Hill.
Tossing to senior Capitol Hill correspondent Garrett Haake, Guthrie insisted the hearings are “a major story to watch” with the committee “tak[ing] its case to the public.”
Haake said the primetime show trial “will be the culmination of a year of work by the committee, more than a thousand witness interviews and the review of more than 125,000 documents” that make for what “the committee thinks” is “a powerful story...about what caused January 6th.”
He added the similar qualifier that MacFarlane did, briefly conceding that Democrats and faux Republicans “hope the country is willing to listen.”
Haake added (click “expand”):
This morning, the House committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol is preparing its case for the American people, launching a series of televised hearings beginning Thursday night that committee members suggest will link the assault by supporters of former President Trump to a wider plot to overturn President Biden's election victory stemming from the Trump White House.
(....)
To tell that story, the committee is expected to feature live testimony from key witnesses who were inside the Trump White House along with taped witness depositions, including those of Trump family members, like the former President’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her husband, Jared Kushner, according to a source familar with the planning. In a March court filing, the committee said Mr. Trump and “his campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy” to overturn his election defeat. Congresswoman Liz Cheney, one of two Republicans serving on the committee, says she believes there was a conspiracy.
Haake closed by noting opposition to the committee but brushed it aside as “a familiar line of attack....labeling them part of a partisan witch hunt."
He also closed on a skeptical note, fretting that “a new NBC News poll shows...fewer Americans hold the President responsible for the attack compared to last year” as “45 percent say they hold him solely or mainly responsible. That’s down from 52 percent shortly after the insurrection.”
This fruitless attempt to have voters make January 6 a major priority was made possible thanks to advertisers such as Claritin (on CBS) and Wayfair (on NBC). Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant transcripts from June 6, click “expand.” Thanks to NewsBusters intern Aidan Moorehouse for assistance with the transcripts.
CBS Mornings
June 6, 2022
7:12 a.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: January 6th Committee in Primetime; Investigators Plan to Reveal Findings Thursday Night]
TONY DOKOUPIL: The House Select Committee investigating the January 6th attack is promising to show Americans never-before-seen evidence of the most violent assault on the capitol in more than 200 years. It starts with a primetime hearing Thursday night about the effort by former President Trump's supporters to stop President Biden from succeeding him. Scott MacFarlane is on Capitol Hill for us. Scott, good morning.
SCOTT MACFARLANE: Hey Tony, good morning. The House Select January 6th committee has conducted nearly 1,000 interviews and collected nearly 140,000 records, but this week they're searching for something else — an audience for their work. An assault unlike any in American history has led to an investigation unlike any other. Now, the findings will be presented in primetime.
ADAM SCHIFF [on CBS’s Face the Nation, 06/05/22]: The public hasn't seen it woven together, how one thing led to another, how one line of effort to overturn the election led to another.
MACFARLANE: A special committee of seven Democrats and two Republicans have held a series of high-profile interviews and depositions with key members of former President Trump's inner circle, members of his family, even accused rioters themselves, including those charged with conspiring to violently attack and others of conspiring to orchestrate the riots. In recent court filings, the committee has shown some of its cards, stating it has enough evidence to believe that Trump conspired to defraud the U.S. Congresswoman Liz Cheney, Vice-Chair of the Committee, spoke to it on CBS Sunday Morning.
ROBERT COSTA [on CBS Sunday Morning, 06/05/22]: Was it a conspiracy?
LIZ CHENEY [on CBS Sunday Morning, 06/05/22]: I think certainly, I mean — look, if you look at the court filings, you look —
COSTA [on CBS Sunday Morning, 06/05/22]: Do you believe it was a conspiracy?
CHENEY [on CBS Sunday Morning, 06/05/22]: I do.
MACFARLANE: Republicans have largely boycotted the panel after also blocking plans for an independent commission, including leader Kevin McCarthy, one of five House Republicans who also defied Committee subpoenas seeking interviews about what Donald Trump knew and when.
HOUSE MINORITY LEADER KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA) [on FNC’s Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo, 06/05/22]: So is this really a legitimate committee, or is this a political committee going after their opponents?
MACFARLANE: But Capitol police officer Harry Dunn, who helped defend the Capitol on January 6th, says there is more at stake.
HARRY DUNN: I want justice. I want accountability and I want justice for what me and my co-workers went through.
MACFARLANE: A big hurdle — capturing America's attention right now. Video presentations and witness testimony are expected at these hearings, all of which will be conducted in June. One member of the Committee tells me, though, the investigation and the interviews will continue even after the hearings begin. Tony?
DOKOUPIL: Alright, Scott, got it. Thank you. CBS News will bring live coverage of the select committee hearing this Thursday in primetime.
-------
NBC’s Today
June 6, 2022
7:01 a.m. Eastern [TEASE][ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Prime Time]
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Prime time. The January 6 Committee set to hold the first public hearings into the Capitol insurrection this week. A series of evening broadcasts plan to grab the nation's attention. Who will testify and what evidence is yet to be revealed. We're live on Capitol Hill.
(....)
7:10 a.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: January 6th Hearings Set to Begin]
GUTHRIE: We turn to a major story to watch in Washington this week. Nearly 18 months after the January 6 attack on the Capitol, the House committee investigating that assault is getting ready to take its case to the public, kicking off a series of televised series in primetime. NBC’s senior Capitol Hill correspondent Garrett Haake in Washington with more. Garrett, good morning.
GARRETT HAAKE: Hey, Savannah. Good morning. Yeah, these hearings will be the culmination of a year of work by the committee, more than a thousand witness interviews and the review of more than 125,000 documents. Now, the committee thinks they have a powerful story to tell about what caused January 6th and they hope the country is still willing to listen. This morning, the House committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol is preparing its case for the American people, launching a series of televised hearings beginning Thursday night that committee members suggest will link the assault by supporters of former President Trump to a wider plot to overturn President Biden's election victory stemming from the Trump White House.
CONGRESSMAN ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA) [on CBS’s Face the Nation, 06/05/22]: The American people, I think, know a great deal already. They’ve seen a number of bombshells already. There’s a great deal they haven’t seen, but perhaps most important the public hasn't seen it woven together.
HAAKE: To tell that story, the committee is expected to feature live testimony from key witnesses who were inside the Trump White House along with taped witness depositions, including those of Trump family members, like the former President’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her husband, Jared Kushner, according to a source familiar with the planning. In a March court filing, the committee said Mr. Trump and “his campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy” to overturn his election defeat. Congresswoman Liz Cheney, one of two Republicans serving on the committee, says she believes there was a conspiracy.
CONGRESSWOMAN LIZ CHENEY (R-WY) [on CBS Sunday Morning, 06/05/22]: It is extremely broad. It’s extremely well organized. It’s really chilling.
HAAKE: This just days after the Justice Department indicted former Trump trade advisor Peter Navarro on two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate.
PETER NAVARRO [on 06/02/22]: What that kangaroo committee is doing right now is investigating for punitive purposes.
HAAKE: The Justice Department says it will not bring charges against former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows or adviser Dan Scavino. The House committee, in a statement, calls that DOJ decision puzzling. Trump now turning to allies, formally endorsing Kevin McCarthy for another term in Congress Saturday. McCarthy, who was heard on a leaked tape slamming the former President after the Capitol, is signaling he'll defy a subpoena from the committee investigating the attack. And as for former President Trump, he and his allies are expected to stick with a familiar line of attack against these hearings, labeling them part of a partisan witch hunt and a new NBC News poll shows more Americans maybe agreeing with him, revealing fewer Americans hold the President responsible for the attack compared to last year. Now 45 percent say they hold him solely or mainly responsible. That’s down from 52 percent shortly after the insurrection, Savannah.
GUTHRIE: Alright, Garrett Haake. Thank you very much.
