Fanone Disrupts Hearing as GOP Deflects Jan. 6 Blame (Full Transcript)

At Jack Smith’s first public testimony, Rep. Troy Nehls blamed Capitol leadership for Jan. 6, prompting former officer Michael Fanone’s furious interruption.
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[00:00:00] Speaker 1: I would like to quickly address the police officers of January 6th, Mr. Dunn, Mr. Fanon, Mr. Gonel, Mr. Hodges. I'm a member of the new select committee to actually examine, actually examine what happened that day. And I can tell you, gentlemen, that the fault does not lie with Donald Trump. It lies with Yogananda Pittman and the U.S. Capitol leadership team. We know, we know they had the intelligence.

[00:00:32] Speaker 2: That was Michael Fanon, a former Capitol Police officer, interrupting the hearing where Jack Smith, the former special counsel, was testifying for the first time in public on his investigation of Donald Trump. What Fanon was doing was pushing back. He says, go F yourself. When Troy Nels, the Republican from Texas, was blaming the Capitol Police leadership, essentially, for what happened on January 6th, a lot of the hearing was focused on rewriting of history, blaming not everyone, someone else, not Donald Trump, for what happened on January 6th. That was what Republicans were trying to do. Democrats, for their part, were trying to get Jack Smith to reinforce what he found in his investigation. Now, we saw a lot of theatrics. We saw staff in the committee bring in pizza boxes, expecting this hearing to go long. It ended up being about five hours. We also saw Stuart Rhodes, who was the former leader of the Oath Keepers. He was convicted for a seditious conspiracy. And his sentence, his 18-year sentence, was commuted by Donald Trump when the president took office his second term.

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Arow Summary
During a congressional hearing where former special counsel Jack Smith testified publicly about his investigation into Donald Trump, Republican Rep. Troy Nehls argued that responsibility for the January 6 attack lay with Capitol Police leadership (including Yogananda Pittman) rather than Trump. Former Capitol Police officer Michael Fanone interrupted to protest what he viewed as an attempt to rewrite history and deflect blame from Trump. The hearing featured political theatrics, lasted about five hours, and included mention of Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes—convicted of seditious conspiracy—whose 18-year sentence was later commuted by Trump during his second term.
Arow Title
Fanone Interrupts Hearing as GOP Shifts Jan. 6 Blame
Arow Keywords
January 6 Remove
Capitol Police Remove
Michael Fanone Remove
Troy Nehls Remove
Jack Smith Remove
Donald Trump Remove
Yogananda Pittman Remove
hearing Remove
rewriting history Remove
Oath Keepers Remove
Stewart Rhodes Remove
seditious conspiracy Remove
sentence commutation Remove
Arow Key Takeaways
  • A GOP lawmaker argued Capitol Police leadership—not Trump—was primarily at fault for January 6 despite intelligence warnings.
  • Former officer Michael Fanone interrupted to reject what he saw as historical revisionism and deflection of responsibility.
  • Democrats sought to have Jack Smith reaffirm conclusions from his Trump investigation while Republicans emphasized alternative culpability.
  • The hearing included notable theatrics and lasted roughly five hours.
  • Stewart Rhodes’ conviction and later commutation by Trump were highlighted as context for extremist involvement.
Arow Sentiments
Neutral: The excerpt is largely descriptive of a contentious hearing, noting accusations of blame-shifting and an emotional interruption, but it reports events and perspectives from both parties without a sustained evaluative tone.
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