Jamie Raskin, Democrat Congressman, House Committe to Investigative January 6th Attack
The Interview
BBC
4.3 • 537 Ratings
🗓️ 18 February 2022
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Early last year American democracy came under attack from within. Supporters of defeated President Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol and provoked deadly violence. Stephen Sackur speaks to the Democrat Congressman Jamie Raskin, a key player in the subsequent impeachment of Trump and the Congressional investigation into the 6 January assault. All this, as Congressman Raskin has faced up to personal tragedy - what happens when the pillars of personal and political life come crashing down all at once.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Hard Talk on the BBC World Service with me, Stephen Sacker. |
| 0:04.5 | My guest today is a democratic congressman whose personal and political life was turned upside down in a couple of terrible weeks at the close of 2020 and the beginning of 2021. |
| 0:16.8 | Jamie Raskin is a devoted family man, proud husband and father of three adult children, |
| 0:23.1 | Hannah, Tommy and Tabitha. On New Year's Eve 2020, the congressman discovered the body of his only son, |
| 0:30.1 | Tommy, in the family home. He'd taken his own life. Only days after that unimaginable tragedy, |
| 0:36.4 | Jamie Raskin was inside the US Capitol when a Trump-support |
| 0:40.5 | invaded the building and attempted to thwart certification of the 2020 presidential election result. |
| 0:47.4 | Days after that, Congressman Raskin, a professor of constitutional law in his previous life, |
| 0:53.3 | was one of the Democrats tasked with |
| 0:55.5 | making the case against Donald Trump in the second impeachment trial of the now former president, |
| 1:01.7 | this time for inciting insurrection against the U.S. government. How did Jamie Raskin, |
| 1:07.2 | in the middle of personal trauma, carry out a political task of such significance. How does he |
| 1:13.6 | continue to deal with the burden of personal loss while playing a leading role in the continued |
| 1:18.9 | investigation of the failed January 6th insurrection? What's happened to his core beliefs after this |
| 1:25.7 | unthinkable confluence of events in his life. Well, Congressman |
| 1:29.9 | Jamie Raskin joins me now. Welcome to Hard Talk. Thank you so much for having me. |
| 1:35.3 | It is a real pleasure, Congressman. You have chosen to share with the public the worst experience |
| 1:43.3 | of your life, frankly, the worst experience perhaps |
| 1:45.7 | anybody can imagine. That is the loss of your son. Why did you decide to do that? Well, I felt |
| 1:53.6 | like I didn't really have a choice. I was drowning in grief and agony, and Tommy was a remarkable young man who had great moral and political |
| 2:05.3 | passion in his life, and he grew increasingly despondent during the COVID-19 period of |
| 2:13.0 | isolation and despondency, and his depression overcame him. But Tommy left us a farewell note, |
... |
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