Congressional theater took another ugly turn on January 22 when a verbal brawl broke out during former special counsel Jack Smith’s House hearing, forcing a retired Green Beret and a former Metropolitan Police officer to be escorted from the room. The disruption exposed the media-fed chaos surrounding these proceedings and proved once again that what should be sober oversight has become a partisan circus.
The man who confronted Michael Fanone, Ivan Raiklin, is no run-of-the-mill protester; he is a retired lieutenant colonel and former Green Beret who spent decades in the defense and intelligence communities. Whether you agree with his politics or not, patriots who served in uniform deserve respect, not the automatic villain label from the coastal elite.
Michael Fanone’s story from January 6 is painful and real, and any veteran or citizen can sympathize with an officer who was badly hurt in the line of duty. But Fanone’s transformation into a constant Democratic talking point raises legitimate questions about impartiality when former officers sit as partisan props behind prosecutors. The optics of that arrangement — cheering and applause for one side while the other is shouted down — are terrible for trust in institutions.
Video from the hearing shows the confrontation rapidly escalating as Fanone lashed out with profanity, repeatedly telling Raiklin to “go fuck yourself,” and accusing him of threatening his family, while other officers intervened to restore order. The commotion was not a spontaneous clash between neutral citizens; it was the result of months of nationalized anger and narrative-building by elite media and political operatives.
All of this unfolded while Jack Smith defended his controversial subpoenas and prosecutions — moves many conservatives see as selective enforcement aimed squarely at President Trump and his allies. Republicans on the committee rightly pushed back about subpoenaing lawmakers’ records and the broader weaponization of the Justice Department, yet the media frame stayed laser-focused on theatrics instead of equal application of the law.
Patriots should be alarmed that hearings meant to examine the highest questions about our justice system have devolved into staged confrontations and partisan applause lines. Veterans like Raiklin stepped forward out of duty and conviction; they are owed a hearing free of automatic condemnation by the same elites who cheered anonymous accusations from afar.
Washington needs to stop turning truth into sound bites and start delivering real accountability that treats everyone the same under the law. Hardworking Americans deserve hearings that restore honor to public service, protect veterans, and finally end the double standard that lets powerful prosecutors and their handpicked witnesses play by different rules.
