Former Congressman Jim Kolbe reacts to Jan. 6 Commission

TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) - Former Arizona Congressman Jim Kolbe says the Jan. 6 hearings in Washington, D.C. are necessary in order to preserve democracy in America.

“I think democracy is on the line with this, yes” Kolbe said on the day before the hearings began. “I don’t think we’ve been under this much stress and the nation’s been so polarized since the civil war.”

Kolbe is a lifelong Republican who started his career in politics in the Arizona legislature in the early 1970′s. He spent 22 years in Congress. He was always considered a moderate.

Much like Liz Cheney, a moderate Republican from Wyoming, who is vice-chair of the committee which is investigating the Jan 6th insurrection, he feels the GOP should be more engaged in the hearings.

“Tonight I say this to my Republican colleagues, you are defending the indefensible, there will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain,” Cheney said on the opening night of the hearings.

Kolbe, while not as pointed, feels it could hurt the party.

“I think it’s a black mark for the Republicans as the leadership has chosen to ignore this hearing,” he said. “But I think it will still prove to be very valuable.”

Valuable to the nation because of the country’s bitter divide. The hearings have a possibility to bridge some of that gap.

“I certainly hope it will bring us together,” he said. “I’m not sure that it will, it’s going to be a difficult task to do so.”

But there needs to be a first step because the insurrection is something the nation has never confronted before.

“We’ve never had this type of experience before in our history,” Kolbe said. “Just a violent attempt to stop the transition of government from one president to another and from one party to another.”

The US has always had a peaceful transition of power until the 2020 election. Results have been disputed but never to this extent.

“What this could portend for the future very much is a test for our democracy,” he said. “So this is a real test for us.”

Whether the country passes the test will depend on whether the people believe the select committee is trying to get to the bottom of what’s happening honestly or whether some people believe it’s a partisan exercise.

Kolbe believes the former.

“It’s been completely objective,” Kolbe said. “They have not used adjectives or adverbs to describe things in a bad way.”

Kolbe likes the way language has been used leading up to the hearings.

“They have been objective about trying to get to the bottom of this,” he said. “This investigation is and should be completely non partisan.”

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