January 6th Committee Advocacy
This episode was recorded between the horrific murders in Buffalo and Uvalde. Gun violence played a role in these tragedies and white supremacy fueled Buffalo and elements of the January 6th insurrection. Our hearts are heavy, but we as a podcast and Alliance for Justice as an organization are determined to do what we can to fight against gun violence and white supremacy, and we hope you as listeners join us in that work.
On with the show.
The endgame of presidential elections used to be pretty straightforward. Congress plays a more-ceremonial-than-substantive role counting each state’s certified electoral college delegates. The candidate who won more than 270 electoral votes officially wins and the new President gets sworn in on January 20th. But January 6, 2021 was, of course, very different. The false rhetoric claiming the historically well-run election was “stolen,” led to the failed, but nonetheless deadly, January 6th insurrection. This month, a select committee of the House of Representatives is poised to lay out its findings on why this happened and who was behind the effort. On this episode, we talk about how nonprofits have a role to play in the investigation and the response to the revelations.
Our Lawyers for This Episode:
Natalie Roetzel Ossenfort Tim Mooney Quyen Tu
Quick Overview
- The Select Committee explained
- Live Tweeting the hearings – responding to revelations, fact checking, etc.
- Lobbying for specific responses
- Referral to DOJ for criminal investigation/prosecution
- New laws – amending Electoral Count Act, DC Statehood
- Disqualifying those that took part in the insurrection from running for federal office (14th Amendment plus new laws)
- Educating your constituencies (about what process is/what it isn’t…)
- Electoral work (nonpartisan voter education, or partisan c4 efforts)
- (c)(3): praising and criticizing incumbents, best practices
- (c)(4): can be more electorally-focused
Resources:
- Nonprofits’ Role in January 6th Investigations and Response (Blog)
- Praising & Criticizing Incumbents (Guide)
- The Rules of the Game (Podcast)
- The Connection
- Bolder Advocacy’s TA hotline: online form or 866-NP-LOBBY
- Email us at advocacy@afj.org