Profiles in Courage: The Women of the January 6th Committee Hearings

The January 6th House committee hearings have been riveting, revelatory and, as New York Times TV critic James Poniewozik noted in a recent summary — "great TV." As a former documentary producer, I am impressed by the way they have turned what could be tedious hearing processes into compelling storytelling, connecting the often chilling revelations from first person witnesses to the larger narrative of a democracy on the brink.

Over the course of eight hearings (watch them all here), including two airing in prime-time, the committee presented its findings that former President Donald Trump, as Committee Vice Chair Rep. Liz Cheney declared in her opening statement, "oversaw and coordinated a sophisticated seven part plan to overturn the Presidential election and prevent the transfer of Presidential power."

Rep. Cheney has been an impressive leader throughout the hearings, and in her role as Vice Chair, she has done something else that is worth noting and celebrating — she has made special notice of the brave women who have come forward to present the facts of what they knew about in the days leading up to, and on, January 6th.

An 'Inspiration to American women and to American girls'

In her closing statement, Cheney acknowledged the women — Sarah Matthews, former deputy White House press secretary; Cassidy Hutchinson, aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows; Caroline Edwards, a Capitol Police officer who suffered a concussion in the insurrection and continued to fight; and Shaye Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, election workers from Georgia who were harassed and threatened by Trump supporters in the days and weeks following the election — for their bravery in coming forward to speak their truth, calling them an "inspiration to American women and to American girls."

*Cassidy Hutchinson is sworn in to testify during the sixth hearing on the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, June 28 [Andrew Harnik/Reuters pool]*

Cassidy Hutchinson, the secret witness who revealed the bombshell story of Trump's car tantrum, is 26 years old, and Cheney said she “sat here alone, took the oath and testified before millions of Americans. She knew all along that she would be attacked by President Trump and by the 50-, 60- and 70-year-old men who hide themselves behind executive privilege. But like our witnesses today, she has courage and she did it anyway."

Though it's true that all of the witnesses who spoke to the committee have been denigrated and belittled by supporters of Trump and the former president himself, the women have been attacked more viciously than the men.

Online abuse, threats, and gendered disinformation

As Annie Karni and Maggie Haberman write in The New York Times, gender has been a "potent undercurrent" of the hearings. "Their statements, and the attacks that ensued, laid bare how women often still pay a higher price than men for speaking up."

Numerous studies have shown that women public figures are more likely to be targeted with higher volumes of online abuse and "gendered disinformation." According to researcher Lucina DiMeco and her cohorts at #ShePersisted, gendered disinformation makes use of "story lines that draw on misogyny, and gendered stereotypes — the goal of these attacks is to frame female politicians and government officials as inherently untrustworthy, unintelligent, unlikable, or uncontrollable, [and] too emotional to hold office or participate in democratic politics."

Wandrea "Shaye" Moss, a former Georgia election worker, testifies as her mother, Ruby Freeman listens, at a June 21, 2022 hearing of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. (AP)

One doesn't have to look very hard to find one particular purveyor of gendered disinformation. The reason Shaye Moss and her mother were called before the committee to testify was because of numerous public statements made by our former president. He and his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, in the weeks following the election falsely accused the women of sabotaging the election in Georgia with a USB drive stuffed with fake ballots. And in their case, the disinformation they faced was not only misogynistic, it was also racist. In one interview, Giuliani said Moss's mother handed her a thumb drive "like they were vials of heroin or cocaine.

Moss testified at the hearing that her mother was not passing her a USB drive, she was passing her a ginger mint.

As Tera Hunter, Edwards Professor of American History and a professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, writes, "Undoubtedly, Trump and Giuliani’s racialized language was meant as fodder to incense followers of the Big Lie who wanted to believe that Black and other voters of color in inner cities like Philadelphia, Chicago and Detroit stole the election. Moss testified that Trump supporters sent her messages saying that she should “be glad it’s 2020 and not 1920.”

“A lot of them were racist,” Moss said of messages she received on Facebook Messenger. “A lot [of] them were just hateful.” Moss and her mother had to flee their homes and go into hiding, fearing for their safety in the months following the election. And yet, they agreed to testify on national television. They had their lives turned upside down by vicious lies and they chose to speak out and stand up for their truth. I am still awed by their bravery and patriotism. They are true American heroes.

But all of these women have endured attacks from Trump and his supporters. In his responses to the committee hearings, the former president has again and again focused his vitriol on the women witnesses. In an interview with Newsmax, he dismissed Hutchinson as "a girl" who made up stories. “She’s got serious problems, let me put it that way,” he said. “Mental problems.”

As Karni and Haberman observe, "Mr. Trump’s targeting of her and Ms. Hutchinson was in line with how the former president has often publicly treated women who challenge him, criticizing them in personal terms intended to call into question their credibility, sanity and self-worth."

Will the Hearings make a difference?

In her closing arguments, Cheney noted that the very room they were sitting in was the convening place for debates about women's suffrage in 1918. “This room is full of history," she said. "and we on this committee know we have a solemn obligation not to idly squander what so many Americans have fought and died for."

"The suffragists of the early 20th century famously wore white as they fought for the right for women to vote," write Barbara Rodriguez and Mariel Padilla in The 19th News. "Rep. Liz Cheney also wore white as she centered the role of women in defending democracy once again… [and] paid tribute to the witnesses who have come forward for their 'bravery and honor.'"

In referencing the 1918 hearings, held two years before the ratification of the 19th Amendment, historian Rachel Gunter told The 19th News that she believed Cheney was "trying to make the point that hearings have done things for democracy in our past."

"We need to not underestimate what hearings can do. Because [in] 1918 — nobody really knew if that thing was gonna pass. It’d been blocked several times. They weren’t sure. … We look back at 1918 going, ‘Well, of course two years before suffrage.’ But in 1918, they had no idea if they would win or not.”

Like Cheney, I also hope that the hearings will successfully convince enough Americans of Trump's culpability in the January 6th insurrection. I also hope that we'll see some justice brought to bear by the DOJ.

But as we wait for more hearings to convene in September, I hope you'll also give some thought to the incredible service these women have shown our country over the past six weeks. They showed us what strong, brave leadership looks like.

It isn't raising a fist in the air for an opportunistic photo. It isn't saying what you really think in private while publicly towing the party line. And it certainly isn't hiding behind some invented idea of executive privilege because you're too scared to tell the truth about your boss.

All of these women — Liz, Caroline, Cassidy, Sarah, and especially Shaye and Ruby — are profiles in courage. May they serve as inspiration for women and girls. But may we also think about ways to protect them going forward.

Onward!

-Pat