How the Journalist John Nichols Became Another January 6th Conspiracy-Theory Target

The Political Scene | The New Yorker

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🗓️ 8 January 2024

⏱️ 18 minutes

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Summary

The veteran political reporter John Nichols was taking his daughter to the orthodontist on January 6, 2021, the fateful day when the transfer of Presidential power was temporarily derailed by a mob at the Capitol. On March 4th of this year, the former President Donald Trump is scheduled to stand trial for his actions on and around that day, and, in a court filing last November, his attorneys implied that the government is withholding information about whether Nichols, and others, had a role to play in the Capitol attack. This bizarre move not only thrust Nichols uncomfortably into the center of yet another January 6th conspiracy theory but raised some questions about the seriousness of the defense that Trump intends to mount in the case. “It looks like they’re throwing things at the wall,” Nichols tells David Remnick. “Just trying for dozens and dozens of possible conspiracy theories.” And, though Nichols has endured only teasing from his colleagues for getting name-checked in Trump discovery documents, he notes that many other journalists have been targeted and doxed by far-right actors. False allegations like the John Nichols conspiracy theory can be almost amusing, but they are a dire indicator of the state of American politics. “There are people who desperately want to drive the deepest possible wedges,” Nichols says. “To believe that those who disagree with them don’t just disagree with them but are actually evil.”

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0:44.0	Things people love.
0:49.3	This is the political scene, and I'm David Remnick.
0:57.0	Late in November, Donald Trump's legal team filed discovery documents in the federal criminal case against him,
1:04.0	which should be a routine legal matter.
1:08.0	But the documents from Trump's lawyers were rife with heated political rhetoric and conspiracy
1:12.2	theories about what had happened on January 6th. His lawyers referred to foreign actors who sought to,
1:20.9	quote, undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process. They mentioned Antifa, of course, because
1:26.4	why not? And they also wanted information
1:29.2	from the Justice Department on John Nichols or any similar persons who were encouraged or participated
1:36.0	in any illegal activities on January 6th. Some January 6th conspiracy theorists believe that John Nichols,
1:43.3	who was in Wisconsin on January 6th,
1:45.9	not in D.C., appeared at the Capitol in order to trick Trump supporters into ransacking the place
1:51.7	to make them look bad. They've got like a nickname for him and some video they think they've identified
	...

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