In an op-ed which appeared in The Charlotte Observer yesterday called “Former Trump chief of staff: Republicans should pay attention to Jan. 6 hearings” written by Mick Mulvaney, former Chief of Staff to Donald Trump and head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at Trump’s behest, he noted Republicans need to be paying attention to the House Select Committee’s hearings. Here are a few paragraphs, with a link to the entire op-ed below.
“The significance of last week’s Congressional Jan. 6 committee hearings cannot be overstated. For the first time, evidence was presented that former President Trump knew some of the protesters were armed before encouraging them to go the Capitol, that right-wing extremist rioters communicated directly with the White House, that key Presidential advisers requested pardons, that the chief White House lawyer was concerned about getting ‘charged with every crime imaginable,’ and that someone within Trump world may be trying to tamper with committee witnesses. Serious stuff. But roughly half the country — the Republican half — isn’t watching.
They object that the hearings are a made-for-TV show trial, designed to attack the former president and salvage the Democrats’ dismal prospects in the upcoming midterms. They claim that the ‘Unselect Committee’ is made up entirely of Trump-haters and that there is no cross-examination of witnesses. They complain that the committee has heavily edited the evidence, and that the full testimonies of the witnesses have not been released. They point out that some of the evidence presented is hearsay that would never see the light of day in a legitimate court hearing. And they are correct. On every single point. But they still should be paying attention. That is because, despite all of the flaws in the structure of the heavily Democrat committee, almost all of the evidence presented so far is coming from eminently credible sources: Republicans….
…Yes, it is possible that all of those life-long Republicans succumbed to Trump Derangement Syndrome. It is possible they decided to ignore a life-long political affiliation. It is also possible they chose to perjure themselves about what they saw, heard and know. But if they didn’t, and half of the country isn’t paying attention, then that half of the country is clinging firmly to an opinion of Jan. 6, 2021 that is based on either false or incomplete information. And clinging firmly to a belief based on false or incomplete information can lead to disastrous results. January 6 itself is a stark reminder of that. When Republicans start testifying under oath that other Republicans lost the 2020 election and then broke the law to try to change that, Republicans should pay attention. Everyone should.“
Mulvaney is one of the first Republicans to speak out in favor of Cassidy Hutchinson saying he knows her and believes her. While I do not like some of his references to Trump Derangement Syndrome, as it is one of those labels to discount people, his message is clear – these are Republicans testifying under oath calling the former president on the carpet. I would love to see the former president and his allies under oath repeat their bogus election fraud claims and explain away their role in the insurrection. Lying under oath is a crime.
Read more at: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/article263174168.html#storylink=cpy
musingsofanoldfart 
Note to Readers: Here is a copy of the letter I sent in to the newspaper in response:
“Thank you for printing former Trump chief of staff Mick Mulvaney’s op-ed encouraging Republicans to pay attention to Republicans who are sharing their concerns under oath to the House Select Committee about the bogus election fraud claims and insurrection involvement by the former president and his allies. It is a crime to lie under oath, so their story has more relevance. As a former Republican, it is sad to see my former party in such a disarray. When the truth tellers are vilified (yet they speak the truth anyway) and the liars are aggrandized, it is a sad state of affairs. At some point, I am hopeful that folks will come to realize following the word of Trump and his sycophants is a fool’s errand, but they have been very good with their misinformation and misdirection. We need a viable Republican Party, but following Trumpism is not the right path forward.”
When one of Trump’s former sycophants speaks out as Mulvaney has done, it speaks volumes. No doubt, the hard-core Trump supporters will vilify Mulvaney for speaking against their beloved ‘leader’, but at the end of the day, some will listen, will ponder, will think and say, “Hmmmm … just maybe …” If the door is opened just a crack, it will ultimately be blown wide open. At least, that is my hope. I disagree with some of what Mulvaney says here, for Kevin McCarthy had the opportunity to place more Republicans on the committee, but in a fit of pique, he took his toys and went home. It’s a hard thing to admit you were wrong for four years, but I think some are beginning to do just that, and I give them a thumbs up for it.
Jill, thanks. I agree on all counts. As for the Trump Derangement Syndrome, the prognosticators look pretty prescient since the former president divided us further with his Big Lie and betrayed his country. We should also never forget the other reason why historians rate Trump so low – his mishandling of the pandemic caused more Americans to die. Keith
While the former guy may not have been responsible for the mentality that was bubbling just under the surface in 2016 (I will always believe it was pushback against a Black president for two terms), he certainly exploited it to further divide us, to damn near destroy this country. And yes, there was that pesky pandemic that got in his way and so he tried to ignore it, to downplay it, to encourage people to do the same … and meanwhile, more than a thousand were dying every day on his watch. But, will people remember that?
Jill, it has always surprised me the short attention span of Americans. Far too many do not pay attention to regular news at all, focusing on entertainment and sports news. Plus, regular news focuses too much on the winning and losing in politics and not the results or what is not getting resolved. So, Trump and his followers have lots of cans of white paint as they whitewash over the graffiti of their actions. Keith
I wish I could believe that these hearing will make a difference in American politics. But I fear we are too far gone. Too many people have drunk the cool-aide and the committee is doing little more than preaching to the choir. That said, I heartily applaud their efforts.
Linda, I think they are reaching a few of the less hard core MAGA fans. We do need to publicize the Republicans who are sounding the alarm. Yet, to your point, too many have been unswayingly fooled by the former president’s bogus election fraud claims and do not believe he acted seditiously. Keith
It’s so depressing and frightening.
Truly.