Bruce DePuyt Maryland Matters

With Republicans poised to take control of he U.S. House of Representatives in January, the committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol will likely be dissolved in the coming weeks.

But Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) told constituents this week that the committee will issue a final report that draws damning conclusions about former President Trump’s efforts to block the peaceful transfer of power following the 2020 election.

“We are going to have a report that will state our findings, that will summarize the action. You will be able to access different parts of the hearings in order to make vivid what it is we’re talking about,” he declared. “And then we’re going to talk about the clear and continuing present danger of the forces that have been unleashed against us.”

A constitutional scholar and a leading member of the panel, Raskin made his remarks during an appearance before the Democratic Club of Leisure World in Silver Spring Thursday night. The Montgomery Democrat was greeted as something of a hero by members of the club.

In addition to cataloguing the efforts Trump and his allies made to block Joe Biden from taking office, the Jan. 6 committee will lay out the role played by leading social media sites. Those sites, Raskin said, “were perfectly aware, from their own employees, that danger was coming, that there were ultra-right-wing forces calling for race war, calling for civil war, calling for revolution against the American government, and yet did nothing.”

The lawmaker said the committee’s upcoming report “will make a bunch of recommendations” for the country and its leaders to consider, but he conceded that “we’re not going to be able to get all of them — or even most of them — done before the end of the Congress” because of Republican gains in November.

The Select Committee on the January 6 Attack was formed six months after a violent mob breached the U.S. Capitol, delaying by hours the certification of Biden’s win. Five people lost their lives in the melee.

The panel interviewed more than a thousand people and reviewed more than a million pages of documents. The public hearings that the panel held riveted the American people, drawing them deep inside the bloody siege, including the former president’s steadfast refusal to get his supporters to leave the Capitol complex.

Although many Republicans and conservative opinion leaders accused the panel of engaging in partisanship, Raskin noted that two GOP lawmakers serve on the committee. Nearly all of the panel’s most dramatic moments came during testimony from former Trump loyalists.

Raskin predicted that Republican voters “will continue to follow the Big Lie” about the 2020 election, which Biden won, “and they will continue to follow every form of propaganda and disinformation against us.”

“The political scientists tell us that the signs of an authoritarian political party are this: 1) they don’t accept the results of democratic elections if they don’t go their way; 2) they embrace political violence or refuse to disavow it…; and 3) they are organized around a charismatic or allegedly charismatic political figure.”

Raskin said the report would be released in the coming days, though he didn’t say when. He answered several question from the audience, but when he was asked if the Jan. 6 committee will recommend “criminal action” against the former president, he declined to say.

“This is probably the first time I’ve ever had to say ‘no comment’ at Leisure World,” the lawmaker said to laughter.

Several published reports this week have suggested that the committee may make a handful of criminal referrals to the Justice Department.

“We’re going to put this [report] to the American people and it will be a challenge for everybody across the political spectrum, across the country, to stand up for democratic institutions,” he said.

The state’s popular and term-limited chief executive stopped short of announcing a 2024 bid for the White House and he insisted that he has not made any decisions about his future. But his twin fundraisers at Maryland Live! Casino and Hotel in Hanover, one of them a glittery reception, appeared crafted to push open the door of possibilities at least a little.

“I think you all know that I do care very deeply about this country and I’ve never been more concerned about the direction of our nation,” Hogan declared. “What I can tell you tonight is that I am not about to give up on the Republican Party or on America.”

The crowd of perhaps 1,200 people roared its approval.

Hogan entered the hall following the most glowing introduction imaginable.

“Please welcome America’ most popular governor and the most successful governor in Maryland’s history, Gov. Larry Hogan,” an announcer shouted.

Wearing a wireless mic as he wandered the stage, with what appeared to be a TelePrompter-style device positioned before him, Hogan played up his long history as an underdog.

The Hogan hype machine was in overdrive, his brief remarks sandwiched between two slick videos touting the governor’s leadership abilities: The first traced the now-familiar arc of the last eight years — “the 43 consecutive tax increases” enacted by his predecessor; the takeover of the government response to the unrest in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray; a successful and very public battle against an often-fatal form of cancer; his by-most-accounts stellar response to the COVID-19 pandemic; the use of Maryland National Guard personnel to help quell the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol; and his emergence as a leading GOP critic of President Trump.

The second was more of a look ahead to Hogan’s desire to remain relevant in the conversation about the nation’s political future. It featured quick but not so subtle footage of Hogan at the Iowa State Fair last summer and of the late President Reagan, a personal hero of Hogan’s, on a TV screen, saluting.

“This is just the beginning,” the second video concluded, in the most tantalizing messaging of the evening.

Moments later, the first song the band played after Hogan and his wife Yumi and Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford (R) and his wife Monica waved to the crowd, was Sam and Dave’s iconic “Hold on, I’m Coming” — another not so subtle message. Confetti fell from both sides of the stage.

Although he has governed alongside a General Assembly where Democrats were routinely able to override his policy vetoes, Hogan has enjoyed historically high job-approval ratings since taking office. Voters in a reliably blue state gave him substantial victories in 2014 and 2018 and may well have awarded him a third term if state law allowed it.

Hogan told supporters that the style of leadership he has used in Annapolis could easily be replicated elsewhere. “If we can do that here in Maryland, then there’s no place in America where these very same principles would not succeed,” he said.

Hogan’s remarks come at a time of increased national visibility for the one-time real estate developer. He has travelled the country, hitting early presidential nominating states like Iowa and New Hampshire, giving speeches, and contributing to political campaigns. The host of an issues and ideas forum in Annapolis on Wednesday morning, Hogan has emerged as a fixture on Sunday morning talk shows.

The two events held at Live! on Wednesday — a “VIP” reception and a larger “celebration” of his governorship — were intended to raise funds for his political organizations, An American United and a relatively new federal political action committee called Better Path Forward PAC.

By Hogan’s reckoning, there were 1,700 people present, though the crowd size seemed a little smaller. David Weinman, who heads An America United, said the governor has raised about $1.2 million for the two entities since announcing the Wednesday night fundraising events earlier in the fall.

Hogan later told reporters that his supporters have given him and his team “1.2 million reasons” to consider launching a national campaign.

The crowd was a mix of business leaders, Hogan administration officials past and present, the remnants of the Hogan wing of the Maryland Republican Party, some Democrats, the usual Maryland political hangers-on, and the few Annapolis lobbyists with personal ties to Hogan or who still have reason to pay tribute (most of the transactional Annapolis lobbying crowd has already moved on to Gov.-elect Wes Moore, a Democrat). As is often the case at Hogan events, it was a more racially diverse crowd than most Republican leaders attract.

Hogan’s videos show that more than eight years after his first electoral victory, and 7 1/2 years after the unrest in Baltimore, Hogan is still campaigning against former Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) for the state of the Maryland economy when he left office, and former Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (D), who, as Hogan describes it, was prepared to be lenient with potential rioters.

Jaymi Sterling, Hogan’s step-daughter, who was just elected state’s attorney in St. Mary’s County, figured prominently in the first video, talking about how “relatable” her dad is to everyday Marylanders. It’s clear that Sterling’s political success is a source of great pride for Hogan. And it’s equally clear that she could be a rising star in the state GOP, depending on what direction party leaders decide to take following the wipeout of Del. Dan Cox (R-Frederick), the Trump-endorsed candidate, in the gubernatorial election.

Hogan continues to be one of the few elected Republicans in the U.S. willing to openly criticize the former president.

After making his way through hundreds of well-wishers, Hogan moved to the back of the room for what’s known as a press gaggle. The music from the very talented R&B band was deafening, and bodyguards formed a semi- circle behind Hogan’s back, cutting off access for many of the reporters straining to hear what he was trying to say.

While a handful of Maryland political reporters were effectively shut out of the conversation, standing in close proximity to Hogan, and absorbing the governor’s every word, was Robert Costa, the CBS news national political reporter formerly of The Washington Post and National Review. It seemed a fitting metaphor for Hogan’s political and media strategy for the future.

“We need to stop talking about Donald Trump,” he told reporters Wednesday night. “The party and the country need to move on from him.”

Campaigns usually encourage supporters to vote early. Not Michael Peroutka, the Republican candidate for state attorney general.

In a video that surfaced over the weekend, a top Peroutka aide encouraged supporters to arrive two hours before the polls close on Tuesday, Nov. 8.

“Vote on November 8th as late in the day as possible,” said campaign coordinator Macky Stafford. “If everyone could stand in long, long lines at 6 o’clock, that would actually help us.”

The video was obtained by WBAL-TV reporter Kata Amara and was immediately denounced by the Maryland Democratic Party, which issued a news release that accused Maryland Republicans of “plotting to create chaos and laying the groundwork to challenge the upcoming election.”

“Legitimate campaigns do not attempt to orchestrate ‘long, long lines,’ divert volunteers to police drop boxes in the middle of the night, or focus on pushing hand count audits while votes are still up for grabs,” said spokesman Ernest Bailey. “These latest developments underscore the importance of soundly defeating [Republican gubernatorial hopeful Dan] Cox and his allies up and down the ballot.”

Former Gov. Robert Ehrlich, head of the Republicans Party’s statewide “2022 Victory campaign,” declined to comment, referring questions to state party chairman Dirk Haire. Haire did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Peroutka did not immediately respond to a request for comment left on his cell phone.

Stafford said in an email that she would do an interview if a reporter emailed questions ahead of time. After a reporter emailed a question, Stafford refused to make good on her pledge. “We are expecting historic numbers to turn out to vote for Michael Peroutka for Attorney General this election, hence the long lines,” she wrote, declining to explain why late-voting would advantage the controversial candidate.

Maryland voters have several options this year. They can vote by mail or they can vote in-person during the early voting period (through Thursday at 8 p.m.) or on Election Day (Nov. 8). As of Sunday night, a record 623,772 voters had requested a mail-in ballot.

In an email to supporters — whom she dubbed “Freedom Lovers, Truth Warriors & Soon-to-be-Winners” — on Monday, Stafford cautioned against using the state’s 96 early voting centers.

“No early voting, spread the word!!” she wrote. “The attorneys helping us have advised us all to vote as late in the day on Tuesday the 8th as possible. Let’s all pray we wait in historically long lines and while we are standing in line, inform fellow voters to only vote on paper once in the polls: no touch screens!”

Distrust of elections has morphed from the fringes of GOP thought into the mainstream.

Although he is being badly outspent by Democrat Wes Moore, Cox has spent nearly $27,000 on lawyers to wage a legal battle against the Maryland State Board of Elections, which wanted to count mail-in ballots as they came in, rather than wait until after Nov. 9. The state’s highest court ruled in favor of the elections board.

The Baltimore Sun reported earlier this month that a Cox-aligned group which has raised false claims of vote fraud is recruiting volunteers ahead of Election Day. The group’s outreach suggests it intends to conduct a citizen-led audit or recount of the election, which would appear to fall outside state law. Hogan sought to distance himself from the effort, saying Maryland “had no issues or problems whatsoever” with the 2020 election. “I don’t think that makes any sense,” he said.

Cox, an attorney, spent time in Philadelphia after the 2020 election hoping to uncover evidence of wrongdoing in the balloting there. His preferred candidate, then-President Trump, lost Pennsylvania to Joe Biden, tipping the election to the Democrat. He has recently encouraged supporters to stake out ballot drop boxes overnight, to catch people engaged in “nefarious activity” in the act.

For his part, Peroutka conducted an interview on a program called “American Medicine Today,” which airs on the right-wing Newsmax network. He said White House COVID-19 advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci “profited personally” from grants his agency receives and he called the pandemic an “obnoxious” attempt to harm Trump politically. He pledged to “impanel grand juries” to prosecute Fauci for “treason” and “acts of war” if elected attorney general.

The interview, which was posted on Saturday, had been viewed 35 times as of Monday afternoon.

Despite his low standing in a recent public opinion survey, Michael Peroutka, the Republican nominee for attorney general, signaled on Friday that he does not intend to modify his views in order to boost his chances of winning in November.

During an appearance on WAMU Radio (88.5 FM), Peroutka stuck to the hardline views that earned him the Constitution Party’s presidential nomination in 2004. He also pledged to take legal action against Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and local health officers for actions they took to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Although he is running to be the state’s top lawyer, the Anne Arundel Republican, who served for four years on the county council, again pledged to prioritize what he called “God-given, constitutionally-protected rights” over state and federal laws.

During the wide-ranging interview:

• Peroutka declared that all abortion is murder. “I believe abortion to be against the law of God,” he said. “And I believe it to be violative of the principles set forth in the Declaration of Independence.” Asked by host Kojo Nnamdi whether he would defend Maryland’s existing laws, which protect abortion access, Peroutka replied: “You call it a law, but in fact, if something is repugnant to the Constitution, then it’s not a law.” He suggested that no law can recognize exceptions due to rape or incest without violating the Constitution. “Abortion would be treated like murder, which it is. There’s no exception to the intentional termination of innocent life.”
• Peroutka offered a similar stance on same-sex marriage, which was approved by statewide referendum and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. “You’re calling it legal. On what basis do you call it legal?” He then added: “The question is whether the court is above the Constitution…”
• Asked whether he still believes his prior claim that public schools are “a plan in the Communist Manifesto,” Peroutka said a “constitutional and moral” approach to education would be to have parents “set the agenda and the curriculum for the children, not the state or the federal government.” He called for the “dis-establishment” of the existing system.
  “All education, to one degree or another, is indoctrination,” he said. “The washing of children’s brains — I’m not necessarily saying brainwashing is bad, because every education system brainwashes in some sense — but I believe that those decisions need to be made by local people.”

Like the Republican nominee for governor, Del. Dan Cox (Frederick), Peroutka is a staunch opponent of the restrictions on commerce and social interaction that were imposed to slow the spread of COVID-19. Both men also fought mask and vaccine mandates the state imposed.

If elected, Peroutka said on the radio, he would make sure the people responsible for those policies are “brought to justice.” Asked by Maryland Matters Friday if he was referring to Hogan and local health officers, Peroutka said yes. “The violations of constitutionally protected rights of assembly, worship, speech, and privacy are deserving of investigation and prosecution,” he wrote in response.

Hogan, who won broad praise for his handling of the pandemic, has slammed Peroutka for spreading “disgusting lies” about the Sept. 11 attacks. The popular, term-limited governor has not endorsed Cox or Peroutka. Michael Ricci, a spokesman for Hogan, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Peroutka also applauded Cox for seeking to block the counting of mail-in ballots as they come in. Cox sought a court order to delay the counting of mail ballots until after Election Day, citing state law. While the Court of Special Appeals has denied Cox’s request seeking a stay to prevent early ballot-counting, the court will hear oral arguments on Cox’s motion next Friday.

Peroutka said that when courts get involved in election matters, they are usurping power that the state constitution gives to the General Assembly. “It would kind of lead to anarchy,” he said. “It’s really the legislative branch’s job to set those rules, and they shouldn’t be overturned by a judge in my view.”

He skipped lightly over his decision to resign from the League of the South, an organization that advocates for a white-dominated, independent South, referring listeners to his website, where he said he laid out his decision to resign from the group.

When asked if he accepts President Biden’s victory in 2020, Peroutka said: “I don’t know.” He claimed that there is a “body of argument” suggesting that “there was serious anomalies and problems and corruption with the election” and another “body of argument” rejecting those claims. He said he would accept the results of November’s election if they “appear to be lawful and legal.”

Peroutka is running against U.S. Rep. Anthony Brown (D). The congressman is scheduled to appear on WAMU on Oct. 14. Peroutka and Brown are scheduled to have back-to-back conversations with representatives of the Maryland League of Women Voters that will be available online on Oct. 12. Maryland Matters is a co-sponsor of that event.

The Maryland Democratic Party issued a statement on Friday shortly after Peroutka’s comments. “There’s no place for his rhetoric here in Maryland,” the statement said. “He’s racist, he’s sexist, and he’s dangerous.”

On paper, Republican gubernatorial hopeful Dan Cox has one main opponent this fall — Democrat Wes Moore, the best-selling author and former nonprofit CEO.

Increasingly, however, the Frederick County lawmaker is being forced to beat back attacks from a second high-profile foe — the state’s popular governor, Republican Larry Hogan.

Hogan has repeatedly called the Trump-endorsed Cox a “QAnon whack job” and a “nut job.” He has said he will not be voting for him or supporting him in any way. And he declared that he wouldn’t let the lawmaker set foot in the governor’s office.

This week, Hogan went further, questioning the GOP standard-bearer’s sanity.

“He’s not, in my opinion, mentally stable,” Hogan told an Eastern Shore radio station, WGMD, this week. “Half of Republicans don’t support the guy because he’s a nut.”

The governor’s comments come at a crucial time for Cox.

As he pivots from the primary election to the general, he is trying to make the best possible first impression on Democrats and independents who may not have tracked the GOP primary. He also needs to court the voters who supported his main primary rival, former state commerce secretary Kelly Schulz.

Cox is also trying to professionalize the ad hoc team that helped him capture the nomination. In recent days, he opened a new campaign headquarters and hired a campaign manager and press secretary.

Sen. Johnny Ray Salling (R-Baltimore County), a Cox supporter, conceded that Hogan’s constant attacks are likely to make the GOP nominee’s uphill fight even more difficult.

“To me, it’s devastating, especially for your party,” said Salling. “You have somebody that you would think would be your supporter and it’s not.”

Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford (R), an outspoken Cox critic and Schulz supporter like Hogan, also predicted that the governor’s comments will hurt the GOP candidate. “You have a governor with 70% approval rating and if he’s saying that he doesn’t care for this other candidate, it’s going to have some impact,” he said.

Rutherford distanced himself from Hogan’s description of Cox as being “not mentally stable,” calling it “not terminology I would use.”

“The people who support Dan Cox, they support him for the positions that he takes,” Rutherford added.

In an email, Cox declined to characterize Hogan’s crack about his mental state. He said the choice for voters this fall center around the candidates on the ballot, not the current governor.

“On the ballot for November’s Governor race are Dan Cox and Wes Moore,” Cox wrote. “Wes Moore has made it clear that if elected he would continue governmental discrimination and overreach including more mandates, dictating gender indoctrination in our schools, forced masking, experimental vaccine passports to attend events and even to eat out, and more lockdowns. But the people of Maryland and I, as your governor, will return power to the people, end mandates, keep businesses and schools open and safe, and restore freedom to the Free State.”

Republicans who run statewide for most offices in Maryland — U.S. Senate, comptroller, attorney general — often fail by wide margins, thanks largely to the lopsided voter registration advantage that Democrats enjoy. GOP candidates for governor have won three of the last five governors races by appealing to a broad spectrum of the electorate.

Hogan’s comments about Cox imperil his ability to build that coalition. They could also hurt fundraising.

Goucher College political science professor Mileah Kromer said Hogan is “popular where it matters for winning general elections, popular among moderate-to-conservative Democrats and consistently popular among independents.”

Kromer said Hogan’s continual (and arguably unprecedented) takedowns of Cox only reinforce her core question about his candidacy — whether Cox has a mathematical path to victory. “You have a message from a very popular Republican governor basically saying ‘This guy’s not me,’” she said. “’There is a reason (voters) voted for me, but this guy’s not me.’”

In addition to making sharp-elbowed comments about Cox on the radio, Hogan went a step further on Friday, posing for pictures with Moore and wife Dawn during a chance encounter at the Maryland Association of Counties summer conference. The governor’s staff posted a photo of the trio online.

In an interview, Hogan denied trying to actively undermine Cox’s bid for high office. He said his comment about Cox’s mental stability came only after he received a litany of Cox-related questions.

“It doesn’t matter to me what happens to Dan Cox,” he said. “I was on the radio, talking about all the things that we’re doing, and everything we’ve accomplished for the [Eastern] Shore. And the guy asked me five, six questions about him. And I was just tired of answering the stupid questions.”

Hogan’s comments were picked up by several national media outlets, including The Hill, making it certain that former President Trump, with whom the governor has long sparred, was aware of them.

Democrats welcomed Hogan’s comments about Cox.

“The governor is incredibly popular, not just in Baltimore County but across the state,” said Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski (D). “I hope that his comments have a deep impact.”

“I think it says a lot when a sitting governor criticizes someone of their own party so resoundingly,” he added.

Former Secretary of State John Willis (D), a political science professor at the University of Baltimore, agreed. An early Moore supporter and Dawn Moore’s former boss when the two worked in the Secretary of State’s office, Willis said: “As the nominee of a party, you wouldn’t want the governor of the state making those comments about you in a general public setting.”