“Let me be very clear to all of you, and I've been very clear to the President. He bears responsibilities for his words and actions — no ifs, ands or buts. I asked him personally today, does he hold responsibility for what happened? Does he feel bad about what happened? He told me he does have some responsibility for what happened and he needs to acknowledge that.”

—House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, speaking with fellow Republicans about Donald Trump’s culpability for the attack on the Capital on January 6th of last year.

The US House of Representatives' Special Committee investigating that attack and efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election will hold its first public hearing tonight. WYPR will carry NPR’s live coverage beginning at 8:00pm

Today on Midday, a conversation with New York Times national correspondent Alexander Burns about a compelling and comprehensive book he co-authored with his Times colleague, Jonathan Martin, about the last year of the Trump administration, including the months preceding the insurrection, through the first months of the Biden Administration.

Burns and Martin make a strong case for the fragility of the basic architecture of American democracy. They argue that government cannot function in a two-party system in which neither party is internally coherent and serious about governing. It is a book full of excellent reporting and trenchant insights.

It’s called This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America’s Future.

Alexander Burns joins us on Zoom from Washington, DC…

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