The opening hearing of the House Select Committee on January 6 calls to mind the adage about how a prosecutor can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich. The hearing presented slickly-edited video of the riot, inter-spliced with snippets of the committee’s closed door interviews with such figures as Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. Yet there wasn’t a moment of cross-examination or a hint of the hoary concept of due process.

In marking that point it’s not our intention to defend President Trump’s actions — or inactions — on January 6, or during the run-up to the riot or his desperate last attempts to hold onto his  presidency. It is our intention, though, to mark the importance of due process, never more so than when one is dealing with the kind of chaos we saw on Capitol Hill January 6. Our Constitution sees due process as an indispensable element of justice.