What’s Happening in Washington?

ANNE APPLEBAUM,”THE ATLANTIC”: Yes, one of the things that we have learned over the past several years is that the power of repetitive disinformation, in other words, things that people see over and over again, slogans, memes, stories, altered video, that that is actually more powerful now than many real-life experiences. We see it during the pandemic, not just in the United States, but in many countries, that the effect of online disinformation about vaccines is stronger than real-life recommendations from people that — from trusted sources, from family doctors, from physicians, from local hospitals. And so the power of online propaganda is now something that I think we’re just beginning to grapple with. You mentioned at the beginning authoritarian states. I think both China and Russia, and particularly Russia, understood that a little bit before we did. And the United States is now beginning to learn how to deal with that. But it’s a very sharp learning curve.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA: And it’s something that President Trump very successfully promoted throughout his presidency and even after it, sort of, don’t believe what you see and hear, believe what I tell you. Richard, this bipartisan — or this partisan brawl is actually taking place before the select committee has even begun its work. And I’m curious to get your perspective on this, given your background. You have been involved in the Watergate investigation. You were a special prosecutor there. You were a member of the 9/11 Commission. How important is an investigation into the January 6 insurrection right now, a bipartisan investigation?

RICHARD BEN-VENISTE, FORMER 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER: Well, I think it’s critical that America takes note of what happened, what the motivations of these insurrectionists were, which it appears to me to be to disrupt the constitutional process that is at the very heart of our democracy. That is the transfer of power from one administration to another without rancor, without arms, but peaceful. And that has shown to be a hallmark of American democracy and has made us a lighthouse among nations for democracy. So, to have a bipartisan investigation, as we did with 9/11, where we dealt with a horrendous act, which could have been politicized, but, instead, the members of the commission were able to put aside whatever political and partisan impulses they had in favor of doing the work of the people.