A congressional hearing for former Special Counsel Jack Smith descended into chaos on Wednesday when a far-right extremist taunted a retired police officer who nearly died defending the U.S. Capitol on January 6—and got exactly the response he deserved.
WHAT’S GOING ON: Expletives flew during a recess in Smith’s first-ever public testimony about his investigations into Donald Trump. The confrontation came when Ivan Raiklin, a well-known far-right election denier, approached retired Metropolitan Police officer Michael Fanone at the hearing.
Fanone, if you don’t remember, has testified about being beaten and tasered while defending the Capitol during the insurrection. He suffered a heart attack and traumatic brain injury that day. He’s the cop who was dragged into the mob and screamed “I have kids!” while rioters attacked him.
OF COURSE: Raiklin—a self-styled “deep state marauder” who has openly called for the prosecution of election officials and has been linked to extremist networks—apparently thought it would be a good idea to provoke someone who literally fought Nazis (or at least their modern equivalents) with his bare hands.
It did not go well for him.
Also at the hearing, Fanone, whom some are calling an American hero, literally called bullshit when a Republican congressman tried to blame the failed January 6 coup on Capitol Police rather than Donald Trump.
WHY IT MATTERS: These confrontations are a perfect snapshot of where we are right now. On one side, you have a man who nearly gave his life defending democracy. On the other, you have a far-right provocateur who’s been welcomed into MAGA’s inner circles, harassing him at a hearing where the former special counsel is testifying about Trump’s crimes.
The hearing itself was already significant—this marks the first time Smith has testified publicly about his investigations into Trump, which include the classified documents case and the January 6 case. Both were derailed when Trump won the 2024 election and the Justice Department dropped the charges, citing its policy against prosecuting sitting presidents.
BOTTOM LINE: The people who defended the Capitol on January 6 continue to be targets of harassment from the very movement that tried to overthrow the government that day. And they’re still fighting back.