Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022 | 2 a.m.
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“Let’s throw things at the wall and see what sticks” is not usually the most encouraging phrase to hear from the leader in a team setting. That’s especially true if the thing that sticks happens to be ketchup from a discarded cheeseburger, and if the one doing the throwing is the president of the United States in the midst of a failed coup attempt.
But while ketchup stains will come out with a little club soda and vinegar, the stain on our nation that was the Jan. 6 attack on our Capitol is not so easy to remove.
The House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 Attack has held a series of public hearings to lay out its findings of the investigation into the attack on the Capitol and the months-long criminal conspiracy leading up to it. The hearings prove that former President Donald Trump and his MAGA allies abandoned their oaths and attempted to overthrow the will of the people in a scheme they knew was illegal and unconstitutional.
I’ve spent my life advocating for people in Nevada to continue to have the right to pick who leads us. In the past few years, MAGA Republicans have made it clear that they will stop at nothing to take away the right to vote. But never has it been more obvious than in the months leading up to Jan. 6, 2021, and the violent attack that took place that day.
Voting is one of the most fundamental and important rights we have as Americans and as Nevadans. But it is under attack from multiple fronts by Republicans. In 2020, Trump and his MAGA allies wanted to make it harder for people to vote. And when he lost the election, he and his cronies concocted a scheme to pressure state legislatures to overturn the results in their states. And when that didn’t work, Trump encouraged his supporters to go take the Capitol by force.
And when that didn’t work, Trump and MAGA Republicans turned to states, sowing distrust in any election they lose, changing the laws to make it harder to vote, and replacing local election officials with people who will do their bidding. We see this today in Nevada, as baseless and unsubstantiated accusations of voter fraud remain the centerpiece of Republican campaigns, and have driven dedicated public servants from their jobs due to threats of violence.
The House committee has shown that Trump and his associates planned, promoted and paid for the criminal conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. They tried to take away our fundamental, most American right of selecting who leads us, by overturning the will of the people. This is proven by testimony from former Trump officials and state officials he and his cronies bullied and pressured.
Even though their scheme failed, their plot is still ongoing. MAGA Republicans in other states are replacing state and local election officials with election deniers, passing laws making it harder to vote, and continuing to harass and intimidate hard-working election staff. Nevada has stood apart from states like Georgia or Arizona, instead expanding the freedom to vote, with laws signed by Gov. Steve Sisolak to provide all registered voters with mail-in ballots, expand automatic voter registration, and allow accessible options for all voters. But all of this progress could be rolled back if, in 2022, Trump’s election denier allies, such as Adam Laxalt, Joe Lombardo and Jim Marchant, are elected into office.
Republicans in Nevada and across the country are set on seizing and holding on to power through whatever means necessary, even if it means disregarding the will of Nevada voters altogether. The current MAGA campaign is to sabotage future elections by changing state laws, threatening state officials and packing election administration offices so that they can have the final say over election results — even when they lose.
Getting to the truth during these hearings, and then demanding accountability at the courts and the ballot box, is how we stop them. I hope Nevadans will continue to tune into the hearings and hear more of the full truth as these proceedings move forward.
Annette Magnus is executive director of Battle Born Progress.
