Will ‘Brown Scare’ Committees Like January 6 Become a Permanent Feature of U.S. Politics?
If the witch-hunting history and extra-constitutional nature of Congress’ investigatory powers were better known, we might begin to see the end of it.
By John Kline
February 17, 2022
Any low-information centrist passively watching the January 6 Select Committee’s work up to now should have felt a jolt to his spine after seeing the latest round of congressional subpoenas.
Late last month, far-right podcast personalities Nicholas Fuentes and Patrick Casey—individuals in no way involved with the smattering of crimes committed that day (one of them wasn’t even there)—received disclosure demands for a range of private and otherwise questionably relevant records, including encrypted messages and bank statements. Relying on reports from those paragons of ethical journalism at the Daily Beast and the Anti-Defamation League, the demand letters vaguely claim that the pair’s “election protest activities” put them somehow “within the scope” of the committee’s investigation, therefore, making them subject to its deposition and disclosure whims.
Of course, if Fuentes and Casey were truly under suspicion for organizing an “insurrection” on January 6, the FBI would have filed charges already. But unfortunately, this doesn’t count for much when it comes to Congress’ sweeping, inexhaustible, and arguably extraconstitutional investigatory powers.
As courts have confirmed over the years (with disappointingly little fanfare), manifestations of Congress’ investigatory power like the January 6 Committee may demand, under threat of criminal contempt charges, just about whatever they want from whomever they want, and there’s little to no constitutional protections for even the most arbitrarily targeted.
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https://amgreatness.com/2022/02/17/will-brown-scare-committees-like-january-6-become-a-permanent-feature-of-u-s-politics/
