More On The J6 Narrative Fail

This morning in the Mandate Reaction Roundup I briefly alluded to the Left’s need for a new target for demonization, for Otherization. The reason for this need is that the whole narrative of a Republican “insurrection” on January 6, an attempt to “overthrow the government”, is coming apart. This whole narrative was supposed to last all the way up to Election 2022, and save the Dem House. Instead, everything Zhou and the Dems touch keeps turning to sh*t, and the country--if it ever really did--no longer cares about the January 6 Event. Instead the country is increasingly focused on how badly Election 2020 turned out for the country. For example: Nearly 70% of Americans think things are bad in US: poll. The Dem solution? Persuade Americans to forget about how bad things are and turn to hating and punishing their unvaxxed neighbors. Talk about a stretch!

Paul Mirengoff this morning briefly notes just how badly things are going for the Zhou regime and for Pelosi’s Grand Insurrection narrative:

Judges question constitutionality of felony charge against Jan. 6 defendants

And these aren’t just any judges--they’re Obama judges. Judge Mehta, in particular, was supposed to be a rapidly rising star in the Left’s judicial firmament. Yet somehow these Obama judges are still under the influence of the US Constitution and White Supremacist notions of civil liberties.

Mirengoff begins by pointing out a “disconnect”:

If Code Pink demonstrators start screaming during a congressional hearing, should they be charged with a felony and sentenced to 20 years in prison? They have not been, and as much as I dislike Code Pink, they should not be. Thirty days in the hole seems like a sufficient sentence.

But the federal statute that criminalizes “obstructing an official proceeding” of Congress makes such obstruction a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. And according to the Washington Post, federal prosecutors are applying that statute to the protesters — at least 235 of them — who entered the Capitol in January of this year.

A few judges have noticed the disconnect. U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta recently asked how federal prosecutors distinguish felony conduct qualifying as “obstructing an official proceeding” of Congress from misdemeanor offenses the government has brought against those who interrupt congressional hearings. Dissatisfied with the answer, Judge Mehta complained:

Essentially, what you said is, ‘Trust us.’ And that is a real problem when it comes to criminal statutes, to suggest, ‘We know it when we see it, and we’ll pick and choose when it is an appropriate exercise of prosecutorial discretion.’ 

...

Mehta is the second judge to raise this concern in these cases. Judge Randolph Moss voiced it last month.

Moss and Mehta were appointed by President Obama.

Mirengoff goes on to contrast the “milling about” that the January 6 protesters engaged in with the very active disruption that Code Pink did. Milling about hardly qualifies as obstructing anything--not in any meaningful sense. So, with all the other problems these obviously abusive prosecutions are encountering, we now have Obama judges openly expressing an unwillingness to trust Merrick Garland’s DoJ. Well, Nancy Pelosi’s DoJ, but you know what I mean. Things are not looking good for the insurrection narrative--thus, the “Hate the unvaxxed” campaign.

Then, having noted that the prosecutors argued that there had been an attempt on January 6 to “intimidate” Congress, Mirengoff drops this contrasting example:

On a related note, I learned tonight that a group of leftists has told Justice Kavanaugh “you’re going to hear from us” over the Supreme Court’s dismissal of the initial challenge to that Texas abortion statute. They have scheduled a protest next week outside of Kavanaugh’s home.

18 U.S. Code § 1507 subjects those who “with the intent of interfering with, obstructing, or impeding the administration of justice, or with the intent of influencing any judge, juror, witness, or court officer, in the discharge of his duty, pickets or parades in or near a building housing a court of the United States, or in or near a building or residence occupied or used by such judge. . .shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both” (emphasis added). If the anti-Kavanaugh folks carry through with their threat, which would clearly amount to intimidation, will the Biden Justice Department prosecute them under this statute? Will it ask for a one-year prison sentence?

I very much doubt it. These protesters are on the DOJ’s side.