TEHRAN – An American writer describes the congressional hearings investigating the 6 January attack on the Capitol as a "show trial".

“House participants were not selected according to House rules nor are targets of these nakedly partisan politicians treated fairly,” Charles Ortel tells the Tehran Times.

Ortel says, “It is a ‘show trial’ and should be abandoned before it does more damage to participants and to those who cover it breathlessly in corporate-owned media.” 

Up until now, the congressional hearings were missing a key piece of the puzzle - the testimony of someone who could offer a first-hand account of the situation in the White House in the hours before and during the attack.

Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top aide to White House Chief of Staff, filled in the blanks. And she has painted a devastating picture, including an allegation, which Trump denies, that he tried to grab the steering wheel of the car he was traveling in and wrestled with a Secret Service officer in an attempt to divert his motorcade to the Capitol, where his supporters were gathering.

However political observers believe that outcome of the hearings wouldn’t affect the attitudes of Republicans.

There is a serious doubt that Trump's supporters to be swayed by anything that has been divulged in the current hearings, and the Republicans, especially the party's leadership and core supporters, are likely to dismiss both the utility and the legitimacy of the January 6th committee.

“In the end, this stunt likely will increase turnout against Democrats and against RINOs in 2022 and 2024,” Ortel argues.

Following is the text of the interview with Charles Ortel:

Q: How do you evaluate the Jan 6th hearing?

A: The January 6 hearing is a disgraceful display of demagoguery. 

Under the American system of Justice, all persons are, in fact, innocent until proven guilty. Defendants must be indicted in processes where they are represented by counsel, can challenge assertions by prosecutors, and can obtain relevant evidence.

In contrast, House participants were not selected according to House rules nor are targets of these nakedly partisan politicians treated fairly. It is a "show trial" and should be abandoned before it does more damage to participants and to those who cover it breathlessly in corporate-owned media. 

In the end, this stunt likely will increase turnout against Democrats and against RINOs in 2022 and 2024.

Q: How do you assess the differences between Trump and Mike Pence and other White House staff? Either Pence is liar or Trump.

A: Mike Pence is a career politician who likely did not fully support Donald Trump in key efforts to defang the Deep State and the DC crony establishment.

In every administration, there are tensions between the staff of the President and the Vice President. 

I am more inclined to trust Trump's account of what happened than accounts by staffers, particularly low-level young staffers.

Q: Trump was relatively successful when it comes to the economy, but many political observers see him as an abnormal impulsive personality. The racist and supremacist groups were strengthened after Trump. What is your view?

A: Until the shutdown, the primary winners in Trump's turnaround of the anemic Obama economy were women and minority groups as statistics show clearly.

Yes, regrettably there are extremist groups of many varieties in America. There are also groups that incite violence as tactics to gain personally and politically.

But the surge in crime rates is happening now under Biden and Harris and it is happening most in large cities, controlled in many cases by Democrats for decades, many of whom are from minority groups.

Q: Given the rate of violence and racism, do you think America is following the teachings of its founders?

A: Few people today study history carefully enough.

No governance system will approach perfection anywhere on earth. But America's founders took massive and positive steps to free people from the despotic rule of monarchy.

To see this clearly one needs simply to compare penalties then applied under the British system to approaches taken under the Articles of Confederation and then under the Constitution.

The biggest threat to America today is not racism but intolerance and apathy in what passes for our education system. Propaganda is sold as fact when it is clearly incorrect and damaging to the long-term interests of people who hope to flourish in an interconnected global community.

Q: How do you see the future of American democracy? Is America Essentially a democracy?

A: America is a Republic and not a Democracy. Our Founders understood through personal experience and through the study of ancient history how easily Democracy can descend into mob rule and anarchy.

We are experiencing a long-simmering "convulsion" like the one predicted by Thomas Jefferson:

“The spirit of the times may alter, will alter. Our rulers will become corrupt, our people careless... From the conclusion of this war, we shall be going downhill. It will not then be necessary to resort every moment to the people for support. They will be forgotten, therefore, and their rights disregarded. They will forget themselves, but in the sole faculty of making money, and will never think of uniting to effect a due respect for their rights. The shackles, therefore, will be made heavier and heavier, till our rights shall revive or expire in a convulsion.” 

Let us hope our rights end up being revived.