As much as I despise this dude and think he definitely deserves to be in prison for his role in J6, it rubs me the wrong way that somebody can be thrown in prison for refusing to testify. The first, fourth, and particularly fifth amendments were designed to protect against this even if courts have not interpreted them that way.

Sometimes refusing to testify is absolutely the morally right thing to do. Those who refused to rat on others during the McCarthy hearings did the right thing. Those who refused to testify to their knowledge of other people’s sexual orientation when being gay was a crime did the right thing. Those who refused to help the government locate and imprison people of Asian descent into internment camps did the right thing.

A person’s choice to testify is a check-and-balance on the power of the government, it must rely on people’s voluntary cooperation and their own investigative resources. People refusing to cooperate is a way to resist a prosecutorial effort or police force they find unjust, and it provides an incentive for the government to make sure it is doing the right thing all the time because they might need to lean on that goodwill later.

What exists in your head should be at your discretion to disclose, the government shouldn’t be able to throw you in prison simply because you refuse to talk, just as they can’t compel you to speak something you disagree with or worship a god you do not believe in.