On this somber anniversary, Paul is joined by the “great and powerful” Scott MacFarlane, CBS News justice correspondent and arguably the most trusted reporter on January 6th in America. Reporting from inside the Cannon House Office Building, Scott reveals that Republican leadership is doing nothing official to mark the day—no memorials, no floor speeches, no shared remembrance for officers who were beaten, gassed, traumatized or killed—creating what he calls a real‑time whitewashing of history, as he details the emotional toll on Capitol Police and congressional staff who hid under desks, called their families, and then came back to work in the same halls that were under siege. He breaks down the state of accountability now: mass clemency for more than 1,500 rioters, pardons that wiped away cases even for people not yet arrested, halted and refunded restitution payments, the new pipe‑bomb arrest outside the RNC and DNC, the slow grind of the Maduro case, and how denialism has shifted from rejecting the 2020 result to denying the insurrection itself.​

Paul zooms out to connect Trump’s unchecked global strikes, the risk of another government shutdown, the dissolution of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting after 58 years of funding PBS, NPR and local stations, and new efforts in New York to require teaching January 6th alongside 9/11 to kids growing up in a time when that history is being rewritten. He spotlights independent veteran Senate hopeful Ty Pinkins of Mississippi and reminds listeners why Independent Veterans of America was created to back patriots like him, then rounds out the episode with culture and sports—from the X‑Men’s big‑screen return to Montana State’s first FCS title in 41 years and the power of football as one of America’s last shared rituals—before he and Scott close by saluting the officers and staffers who “stood the line” on January 6th. For everyone tired of partisan gaslighting who knows January 6th was real and still matters, this is a home for country over party, people over politics, and light over heat—and a call to subscribe, share, support independent media, and stay vigilant, especially on January 6th.

Because every episode of Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff breaks down the most important news stories--and offers light to contrast the heat of other politics and news shows. It’s independent content for independent Americans. In these trying times especially, Independent Americans is your trusted place for independent news, politics, inspiration and hope. The podcast that helps you stay ahead of the curve--and stay vigilant.

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