![]() I could spend the rest of my life trying to figure out what had happened in those 50 days or I could try to record it as quickly as possible and have a conversation with my family, my friends and my constituents in the country about it. "I was sleepless for most of the year, so I was up all night anyway," he says, adding: "I realized it was something I had to do. The book gave him a chance to reflect on his son's life - and kept him busy during long nights. Still, the writing process was helpful for Raskin, who found himself in the throes of grief in the aftermath of Tommy's death. Any glimpses of understanding I got, I was willing to share."ĪNDREW HARNIK/POOL/AFP via Getty Jamie Raskin "Everybody's just on their journey in dealing with death just like everybody's on the journey and dealing with life. "My book is not a how-to book on grieving because I don't know that that exists," Raskin says. ![]() Capitol, and the impeachment effort - led by Raskin - to hold Trump accountable. 4, details those harrowing first 50 days of 2021, which would permanently alter Raskin's life, beginning with his son's death, and including that harrowing day at the U.S. The devastation hasn't waned, of course, though the 59-year-old Democrat was able to begin what he calls an "extremely cathartic and therapeutic" journey of writing and talking about his son in the months after his death. The congressman announced the death of Tommy, a second-year student at Harvard Law School, in January, saying in a statement at the time that he and his wife Sarah were "devastated and demolished to be without him." In a lengthy and emotional tribute, his family said Tommy died by suicide. Harper Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy by Jamie Raskin But many more have been requested to appear, such as House minority leader Kevin McCarthy and Fox host Sean Hannity.Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy by Jamie Raskin So far, the committee has subpoenaed everyone from former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to ex-Trump advisor Stephen Bannon. “We don’t know the exact proportions for every part of the assault on the election, because we don’t have complete testimony yet,” he tells Katie. Though the investigation has been underway for more than a year now, he says it still has a long way to go. ![]() 6 insurrection, the events leading up to it, and the people behind it. Raskin’s now serving on the House select committee charged with investigating the Jan. “What were these fascists and hooligans going to do that could be worse than what I’d already experienced? But I was very angry about what was taking place and I set my mind to try to figure out exactly what they had done.” “Although it was an objectively terrifying situation, I really experienced no fear because I felt like the very worst thing that could ever happen to me had already happened,” he says. His daughter had asked him not to go into the Capitol that day, but he tells Katie that he saw it as his constitutional responsibility to be there and to formally recognize President Biden’s victory in the 2020 election. He remembers the night before the insurrection very well. Then, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked him to serve as the lead manager in the second impeachment trial of President Trump. In his new memoir, Unthinkable, Raskin recalls a time when he wasn’t sure he was going to ever be able to do anything again because of his grief over the loss of his son. “It’s been described as the beast, as an endless dark tunnel of terror and horror.” Raskin’s son took his own life after a long battle with depression. “We suffered the catastrophe of losing Tommy on the last day of December in 2020 - that’s an inexpressible nightmare.” ![]() “You’re talking about the worst week of my life,” Raskin tells Katie in the latest episode of Next Question. First his 25-year-old son, Tommy, committed suicide on New Year’s Eve, and then days later he was at work when a violent mob stormed the U.S. Jamie Raskin experienced not just one but two unimaginable traumas in the span of a single week.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |