The Justice Department this week released a three-hour video of a battle between rioters and the police at the US Capitol Building on January 6 where rioters brandished weapons, officers were viciously beaten, and a member of the mob died on Capitol steps.

The assault on the Lower West Terrace was one of the most violent confrontations between Capitol Police and the crowd. Officers held the line until the building was cleared without letting rioters inside. Some officers have since said they did not know the Capitol had already been breached in other areas.

The video, taken from a Capitol security camera, does not have sound. It starts as officers retreat, helping each other as they stumble inside and washing their eyes out with water from chemical spray. Rioters crowd in behind them, coordinate efforts to attack and push through in infamous moments that have haunted the public, and officers, ever since.

The Justice Department released the videos after CNN and other outlets sued for access. It is the longest video from the riot released by the government thus far.

That’s true. There were reasons historically that Republicans who fared well in prior nominating contests continued on to later win the nomination. For one, they had experience building infrastructure and raising the money needed for an extended national campaign. For another, they built relationships with members of the establishment that helped them more quickly solidify support.

But that system was essentially shattered in the very campaign in which Cruz came in second.

Trump’s candidacy succeeded explicitly because he wasn’t operating in that system. He didn’t need to raise as much money, given his high profile and ability to attract media attention (to frame it generously on the media’s end). He built a ferociously loyal following that allowed him to outlast a crowded field and let him essentially forgo competition in 2020.

Even before that, the system didn’t always work the way Cruz suggests. The 2000 nominee was George W. Bush, not 1996 runner-up Pat Buchanan. In 2012, it was now-Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), not 2008 runner-up Mike Huckabee. According to Cruz’s theory, 2016 should have been the year of former senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) — but he barely made a splash. Santorum’s success in 2012 was, to some extent, a marker of the anti-establishment path the Republican Party was headed down. In 2016, it got there.
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The 2024 Republican nomination is very unlikely to be settled using the well-worn desired paths that guided the process before Trump’s ascendance. Trump himself might run, which would certainly upend the ambitions of most other candidates. Even if he doesn’t, the most vocal and energized part of the Republican base, the voters any candidate will need to secure, is the part of the base that seems likely to be responsive to Trump-style campaigning.

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Wednesday that it will hear challenges to two Biden administration mandates on COVID-19 vaccines. Texas is among the states and businesses suing over the proposed requirements.

The court picked Jan. 7 to hear oral arguments in the cases, which seek to overturn the administration’s vaccine requirements for large employers and health care facilities.

An appeals court on Friday ruled the mandate on businesses with at least 100 employees could take effect next month.

Gov. Greg Abbott celebrated the Supreme Court's decision to hear the cases, tweeting that “if the Justices apply the Constitution they will strike down those mandates.” — Patrick Svitek