The idea that the 6th committee or other investigatory bodies is leaking information as part of a smear campaign is on its face ridiculous.

A smear campaign would be if they were creating lies, spreading rumors, manufacturing false evidence, or other fraudulent behavior. That is not what is happening.

Providing journalists with access to public information is not a smear campaign. And information legally obtained through a government investigation or gov't processes is public information. The public has rights to that information.

What the Trumps, Meadows, McCarthy, Hannity and others are complaining about is the fact that their communications before, during and after the planning and execution of an insurrection against the United States government is now available to the public.

By calling the revealing of their words and behaviors to the public "smears", they are basically admitting this stuff looks really bad for them. And it does. It looks really really bad for them.

Also.

It's not quite equally ridiculous but still quite silly for Chairman Thompson to call information owned by the public being released to the public before staff have prepped their bosses on how to perform the disclosures during prime time "a danger to democracy."

There is no reason to believe that public access to public information would endanger our democracy.

Of course, if our part-time congress is out-pacing a professional criminal investigtion, that could be a whole different story.

Now, should this process be done more fairly and publicly so as not to invite questions of undue influence or propriety relationships between certain news organizations and public employess: Absolutely! 100%.

But it is nonsensical to complain about things leaking when it's beyond obvious the faucet isn't working properly.

Remember what Al Smith once said, "All the ills of democracy can be cured by more democracy."