New York Times article: Now the real work begins now that the January 6 Commission has released its report

The New York Times published an article by a historian in which he compared the report of the US House of Representatives Committee on the events of January 6, 2021, and the "Watergate road map" that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon on August 9. August 1974.

Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University, Julian Zelizer, explained in his article that the final report - which directly and explicitly accused former President Donald Trump of criminally engaging in a "multilateral conspiracy" to overturn the legal results of the 2020 presidential elections, and his failure to act to prevent his supporters from Attack on Capitol Hill - comes almost half a century after the completion of another rather famous report, known as the "Watergate Roadmap".

In its report issued last Thursday, the "January 6 Committee" stressed the need for broad and long-term legislative and political reforms, "if Congress is to prevent further destabilization of the democratic system" in the United States.

The author of the article recalled what happened after the resignation of former President Nixon, and cited what the Washington Post reporter, Carl Bernstein, who had a role with his colleague Robert Woodward in exposing the Watergate scandal, said at the time, that the American system had succeeded in dealing with with the crisis.

Zelizer believes - in his article - that the American system has not corrected itself after Watergate, describing this saying as a "dangerous myth", as it creates an illusory sense of confidence whenever America goes through major political and constitutional crises.

As is the case with the "Watergate Road Map", the report of the January 6 Commission does not put an end to the crisis of American democracy, according to Zelizer, who adds that the report indicates that the attempt to overthrow the democratic system might have succeeded if there had been a few other groups who were in control. Key positions of power, such as attorneys for the Ministry of Justice and senior officials in the State Department.

And if there is criticism of the House Committee report, it is - in the opinion of a history professor at Princeton University - that it focuses too much on former President Donald Trump and his accomplices, and does not do enough to stress the urgent need to move forward with institutional reforms to protect the American electoral system.

He continued, "When I look at Watergate, I don't see a self-correcting constitutional order. I see an era in which a coalition of reformers - lawmakers, regulators, and journalists - took it upon themselves to try to fix the institutional problems that enabled President Richard Nixon to do the bad things he did" with his widespread abuse. scope of the executive branch.

Democratic lawmakers, who won congressional seats in the first midterm elections after Nixon's resignation in 1974, devoted their political capital to reform.

The younger generation of investigative journalists also took inspiration from Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.

As a result of these efforts, Congress approved some bills "aimed at restoring the balance of power, such as the War Powers Resolution of 1973, and many others."

Other bills passed after Nixon left office, such as the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, and the Government Ethics Act of 1978.

However, the problems highlighted by the January 6 commission report are different in nature from those that occurred during the Watergate scandal, according to the New York Times article.

Although the report dealt with the issue of abuse of executive power, it revealed the extent to which the "defective" American electoral system can create opportunities to undermine the democratic process, which makes it difficult to reproduce the alliance pattern that was pivotal in the post-Watergate period, according to Written by Zelizer.

In sum, the recommendations contained in the January 6 Commission report are only the beginning, from the point of view of the article whose author suggests that Congress pass legislation restoring federal protection for the right to vote, a protective shield for any functioning democracy.