Is Stepien's wife working on breaking the record for the longest labor, ever...

[Baitball Blogger]

or are the reporters slow on reporting the birth, which is public record?

[brooklynite]

1. Perhaps the actual birth, while a matter of public record, isn't newsworthy...

The Hearing was held; Stepien's evidence was presented.

Thompson, Cheney and other members of the Committee wished them well.

All I see is a reluctance to let go of a conspiracy theory.

[Baitball Blogger]

4. Conspiracy theory?

You're really taking this to extremes. I just read a Huffington post article that claims that the man is still profiting from Trump, and I think his veracity can be ascertained with a simple check to see if his story held up regarding his wife's labor.

[Bucky]

35. Josh Marshall of TPM.com also found the timing suspicious

Marshall is no conspiracy theorist. He's very mainstream, very respected in Washington. He's this generation's David Broder. But he too thought it seemed fishy, a little too convenient that Stepien had to skeedaddle at the most public and most important testimony of his life.

My guess is that Stepien isn't exactly a perfect witness, that he might still be throwing out pro-Trump messaging in his testimony, or at least wants to stay less than candid about the anti-Trump facts he's being asked to provide.

Remember that this isn't just a fait accompli presentation of facts. It's still an ongoing investigation of a very active and recalcitrant criminal conspiracy.

[Baitball Blogger]

38. Thank you for your point of view and info.

[MissMillie]

9. I'm calling it a "nothing burger"

I think that the taped testimony was enough, and if it wasn't they can call him back in, or ask him to respond to new questions in writing (as they have suggested may happen the witnesses who did appear publicly).

I don't see the need for any of us to hang on to this "story."

Bigger fish to fry.

We talk about reproductive rights as being an issue of privacy. Let's demonstrate that we believe that sentiment.

[Baitball Blogger]

13. Except that births are public record. Except for that.

[MissMillie]

17. When I had my kid I had two weeks to get his dad's signature on the birth certificate...

...and file it with the city clerk.

Let's not get side-tracked by the shiny object.

On edit: The guy's taped testimony seemed to HELP the Committee. I think arguments that may question his credibility are counter-productive.

[onenote]

21. If it matters that much to you, why don't you look it up yourself?

I'm not seeing a widespread clamoring for this information from the public at large.

[Fiendish Thingy]

34. Public record in the community where the birth occurred

My grand daughter was born May 18 in Portland OR, and my son and his wife just received the birth certificate a couple of days ago.

Do you know where Stepien lives? That would be where the birth is recorded.

So, put your tinfoil hat away, at least for a couple of weeks.

[malaise]

23. Do you think Stepien thought the J6 Committe would have delayed the start

so that his taped interview could be shown?
I think the proven liar was trying to sabotage the hearing with a very good lie.
Was the baby born - simple question.

[MissMillie]

25. I have no idea what he was thinking

and I don't really care.

There are bigger fish to fry and this is, IMHO, a distraction we can do without.

[TwilightZone]

2. Who cares?

Is this really the kind of stuff that we think is important?

Considering the death threats some of these people are receiving, it wouldn't surprise me (or bother me, for that matter) if they're trying to retain some semblance of privacy.

[hlthe2b]

3. She may have only been experiencing Braxton Hicks (false contractions) and thus sent back home

to wait. Regardless, I think the 01/06 committee handled it extremely well with their video/audio interviews well interwoven as though he were there.

[Baitball Blogger]

6. The Jan. 6th Committee is five stars.

A master class on handling an investigation to an American coup.

[Meadowoak]

11. We have more important fish to fry.

[eShirl]

5. a lot of things can happen

maybe they are respecting the family's privacy

[Baitball Blogger]

7. If it's public record, it's no big deal.

[malaise]

24. The family posted about the baby shower on Facebook but not the birth

Spare me please. The fucking liar lied.

[Scrivener7]

8. Maybe he has to shut down the GW Bridge again to get there

and it's taking a lot longer this time.

(Yes, he's one of the guys who actually did that for Christie.)

[Baitball Blogger]

14. I don't get the impression that he's don working behind the scenes.

Thanks for that information.

[Demsrule86]

10. Who cares...he could have used it to get our of testifying or not...she could have had false

labor...I don't think it matters. The tapes were pretty damn good.

[Sympthsical]

12. The preoccupation with this is weird

[Baitball Blogger]

16. Is it?

[Sympthsical]

18. I do not usually spend multiple days preoccupied with another woman's uterus

But apparently mileage on that one is varying.

[TwilightZone]

19. Agreed.

[mopinko]

15. my 1st took 4 days to get here.

anyone know if this is her 1st?

[mnhtnbb]

20. Probably. They were married April 2021.

[onenote]

22. The Committee was prepared for the possibility that he might not be available

It was no secret that his wife was pregnant and was due the week of the hearing. She posted on FB about her baby shower back on May 1 and indicated there that she had six weeks to go.

I'm willing to bet that the Committee was advised of the possibility that he would be unavailable well in advance and thus was prepared to go forward with the video presentation.

Not that this information will quiet the tin foilers on this thread.

[malaise]

28. It was not

That’s why the start was delayed. You could say they had contingency plans in the event of a withdrawal but it took them 45 minutes to organize.
My bet is that he did not expect this to work.

[Mr. Ected]

26. I am completely on your side on this one

The news media reported that Stepien missed the hearing because his wife was in labor.

He doesn't show. The committee scrambled to present his evidence in a different way. They were successful. Yay!

Now, circle back to Mr. Stepien's claim. Was it the truth or was it another Trump administration lie?

I'm betting on the latter. And whether it was consequential in the end or not, it would be just another instance of a Trump official denigrating our institutions.

[AngryOldDem]

29. The committee excused him from testifying because of this.

That’s what’s infuriating. Stepien may have used his wife and kid for sympathy points to get out of directly answering questions.

[AngryOldDem]

27. If this was all bullshit, can Stepien be held in contempt?

[Sympthsical]

36. You do realize this isn't a criminal court, right?

Because I'm beginning to wonder if people understand what the hearings are based on this.

Stepian's appearance would be to answer questions he already answered in deposition and that the committee knows the answers to.

The testimony and questions are prepared. That is why they have the deposition video ready to go. The committee said last week that they have contingencies like this in case anyone couldn't appear. It changes nothing to their approach or the kinds of testimony we'll be seeing. It only caused a small delay so they could get the video up and running.

Are people . . . expecting a cross examination or something? That this is a courtroom and there's going to be some relevatory gotcha moment?

That's not what this is. The committee has made no bones that this is not what this is.

I think I'm understanding a bit better why this bizarre obsession with this woman's uterus is happening.

Stepian has dodged nothing. All his answers are right there. Nothing has been withheld by this. They said he might appear later.

I don't get why people can't be normalsauce for just one day.

[AngryOldDem]

37. So it's okay to lie, if in fact he did lie?

He was supposed to show, gave a reason why he shouldn’t, and was excused for what is looking like a fabrication.

And the “normalsauce” comment was uncalled for.

[mnhtnbb]

30. When I learned the excuse for a "family emergency" was his wife had gone into labor

I laughed. Immediately posted that it would probably turn out to be Braxton Hicks contractions (false labor). Great excuse, because who is going to criticize him for wanting to immediately go be with his wife? Posted this at 10:15 am yesterday:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=16794399

But I think it was planned. A con from the guy who ran the campaign for the greatest con of the American people in our history.

[Tommy Carcetti]

31. My friend's wife recently was in labor for nearly 3 days.

So, it's not out of the realm of possibility.

Whatever. The committee appears to believe it was authentic, we got his video testimony which was damning enough, so it's really not an issue at this point.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

32. This fucking place.

[BettyonRed]

33. We went to the hospital three times

With false labour. This is a nothing burger and an actual birth doesn’t really prove he didn’t need to be at his wife’s side.

[usedtobedemgurl]

39. My very first labor was 94 hours.

Just sayin’. I don’t believe she was in labor, but if she was, maybe she could still be in labor. If still in labor, there would be no birth announcement.

[VGNonly]

40. In other news

Francisco Franco is still dead.