Back in January 2022, Trump declared that if he was arrested for his crimes, his followers needed to launch "the biggest protest we have ever had" in cities all across the US. (And he would pardon them once they put him back in power). In the aftermath of the "wild protests" of the Insurrection, the only way this "protest" could possibly interpreted is a call for civil war.
Now, Trump has announced he expects to be arrested soon, and once again called for a "protest" to "take the nation back". In other words, he has again called for a civil war.
"Donald Trump has posted on his platform Truth Social that he expects to be arrested on Tuesday in the criminal case in New York involving hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
[...]
But without any official confirmation, Trump, who is running for the Republican , posted a message, referring to himself in the third person, saying: “The far and away leading Republican candidate and former president of the United States of America will be arrested on Tuesday of next week.”
[...]
There has been no public announcement of any timeframe or any indictment.
A spokesperson and a lawyer for Trump said later on Saturday that his post was based on media reports rather than any actual update from, or communication with, prosecutors. Trump’s post cited “illegal leaks from a corrupt and highly political Manhattan district attorney’s office”."
Immediately, the (illegally-serving) Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy jumped to defend Trump, by promising to obstruct justice.
"Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy is well aware how much he owes his current position to former President Donald Trump. “I do want to especially thank President Trump,” McCarthy told reporters in January, after finally gaining enough votes to win the speaker’s gavel. “I don’t think anyone should doubt his influence. He was with me from the beginning.”
That indebtedness — or at least perceived indebtedness — helps explain McCarthy’s cowardly response on Saturday to the looming threat of indictment that Trump faces in New York City. A few hours after Trump claimed he would be arrested on Tuesday, McCarthy called Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into Trump’s alleged hush money payments to Stormy Daniels “an outrageous abuse of power by a radical DA who lets violent criminals walk as he pursues political vengeance against President Trump.”
McCarthy's wading into an ongoing criminal investigation is bad enough. But the California Republican added a bit of extra spice to try to keep up the façade that he’s just doing his job as speaker. “I’m directing relevant committees to immediately investigate if federal funds are being used to subvert our democracy by interfering in elections with politically motivated prosecutions,” McCarthy wrote. Arguably not his best work as far as fig leaves go.
His tweet is clearly a political threat in the guise of apolitical concern-trolling."
The District Attorney apparently saw the Republican threats as credible enough to release an internal memo reassuring employees they would remain safe.
"Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg offered a private retort to Donald Trump’s message Saturday urging supporters to protest his expected indictment, telling office employees in an email that “we do not tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of law in New York,” according to a copy obtained by POLITICO.
“Our law enforcement partners will ensure that any specific or credible threats against the office will be fully investigated and that the proper safeguards are in place so all 1,600 of us have a secure work environment,” Bragg wrote, adding that the office has been coordinating with the New York Police Department and Office of Court Administration, the administrative arm of the court system in New York.
Bragg added that “as with all of our investigations, we will continue to apply the law evenly and fairly, and speak publicly only when appropriate.” In his email, Bragg didn’t identify Trump by name, referring only to the “public comments surrounding an ongoing investigation by this office.”"
If Trump gets arrested it's important to keep in mind that there isn't a cause for celebration just yet.
• Firstly, he is going to be charged for his role in the Stormy Daniels illegal use of campaign funds debacle. He is not being charged for attempting to rig the 2020 election results in Georgia or the Insurrection and coup attempt.
He is 5 years overdue for arrest on this, and over 2 years overdue on being arrested for coup-related crimes...
• Thirdly, an arrest means nothing. He needs to be found guilty and convicted for the crime.
• Fourthly, if he is found guilty his lawyers will certainly appeal, and who knows what will happen to the case. If it goes to the Trumpist Supreme court, his illegitimate appointees will certainly not recuse themselves from hearing the case, so justice may never be dealt.
• Fifthly, if he is not soon charged AT MINIMUM for his attempt to rig the election results in Georgia, AND charged with sedition for his role in kicking off a coup attempt, AND charged with espionage for his theft of top secret documents, then there has been a miscarriage of justice and intentional coverup by the so-called Justice Department. Charges for these crimes may not necessarily come at the same time, but if they simply try to charge him with some financial crime and then call it a day, then the so-called Justice Department will have done more to cover up Trump's crimes than his own appointees (such as Bill Barr)!
• Sixthly, even if Trump is convicted of ALL the crimes he is responsible for, he was far from the only one involved in bringing the coup attempt into reality.147 Republican politicians voted to overthrow the government on January 6th. Multiple lawyers (such as John Eastman) wrote coup memos outlining how the coup should take place. Multiple Republican-controlled state legislatures tried to overturn the results and play their role in the wide-reaching seditious conspiracy. And much more.
Trump's coup attempt failed, but Republicans successfully took control of the House of Representatives, despite being Constitutionally ineligible. That was a successful coup, completely allowed and enabled by the Biden administration and Democratic "leaders" in Congress.
• Lastly, EVEN IF all of the above players in the attempt to overthrow the US government are put in prison or executed for treason, there are tens of millions of die-hard Trumpers who will remain dangerous for the rest of their lives.
Even if they do not rise up now for Trump's call to civil war, they will work their way up into positions of power in police forces, local government, state government, the legal system, the military, and the federal government, and decades from now we will face a very similar crisis.
...And even if they DO answer Trump's orders, and are defeated in the civil war, they will still work their way up into these positions (just as former Confederates did), unless they are ruthlessly removed from society.
***
I hope all left-wing and non-treasonous Americans have prepared ourselves by (legally) acquiring firearms so we can defend ourselves against the violence Trump has repeatedly called for over the years.
If not, they will gladly slaughter you without a second thought.
Previously I discussed how Republicans (successfully) carried out a type of coup called a self-coup in Congress, lasting from around 2016 to 2021. A "self-coup" differs from a "regular" coup because the regime or individuals carrying out a self-coup come to power legally, but illegally and systematically exceed the authority granted to them, without a constitutional change or other obvious change of regime. Usually this is temporary and will dissolve when an emergency declaration ends or a coalition loses power (just as Republicans lost power in January 2021 when Democrats took control of both the House and Senate).
What happens when control of the government is taken by those who come to power illegally? That's just a regular coup.
On January 6th, 2021, 147 Republican members of Congress voted to overthrow the government of the United States. From that moment on, all of those 147 individuals were occupying their position in Congress illegally--having violated their oath of office, becoming Constitutionally ineligible for office under the 14th Amendment, and having committed treason by becoming domestic enemies of the United States.
Of course, the laws and even Constitution itself apparently don't mean anything, as Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Party leadership allowed these treasonous Republicans to serve their entire term in office in the 117th Congress.
***
According to section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution:
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
As both the January 6th Committee and this blog have documented, the Insurrection was a component of a larger coup attempt that was organized and directed at the highest levels of the Republican Party, the planning of which involved hundreds of politicians at the federal and lower levels.
Despite the support of the majority of the Republican Party, the Insurrection and Coup Vote on January 6th failed to illegally keep Republicans in control of the Presidency.
However, the refusal of Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Party leadership to enforce the Constitution and expel illegally-serving Republicans after January 6th, 2021 did what Republicans could not. They allowed Republicans to illegally hold on to offices they did not legally possess.
The swearing in of Constitutionally-ineligible individuals to the 118th Congress on January 3rd, 2023 did what the Insurrection and Coup Vote could not. Republicans have illegally taken control of the majority of the House of Representatives.
While his vote two years ago failed, things have come full circle and McCarthy has praised Trump's role in the first successful coup attempt against the US federal government.
Prostrating before Trump in such a conspicuous manner (two years and one day after the Insurrection no less!) should serve as a very clear signal that the danger Trumpism poses to America is far from over. Trump may have lost the election and failed his coup attempt, but the Republican Party is "winning" in their objectives to overthrow the government and are not going to stop any time soon.
***
So, what does the 118th Congress mean for America?
Legislatively, Republicans will be unable to enact any laws since Democrats retain control of the Senate. The Senate holds the power to confirm judges, so Republicans cannot cause another Constitutional Crisis if a Supreme Court vacancy opens up (although we remain in an unresolved Constitutional Crisis stemming from the Trump-appointed judges, and from a having a Supreme Court judge who supported a coup attempt).
Republicans pledged that impeaching Biden and impeaching Attorney General Garland will be among their first orders of business in the House (although nothing will come of this, since the Senate will not remove them). (Also, I don't know why they'd impeach Garland, considering he is essentially legalizing coups through his inaction. Thanks alot).
The real damage will come after the 118th Congress ends.
The Democratic Party has set the precedent that coup attempts are not only legal, but can succeed. Democratic Party leadership in Congress bent over backwards to ignore the very clear wording of the Constitution to allow Republicans who violated the Constitution and oath of office to remain in Congress. Attorney General Garland (who could easily be replaced if Biden cared, considering Trump burned through plenty of AGs, including Bill Barr--whose only purpose was to cover up the Mueller Investigation) has done nothing to punish the Republicans who organized the coup attempt at the highest levels.
Maybe he actually is doing something. But how many times did the media lie to us and tell us the Mueller Investigation was going slowly in order to provide an air-tight case that couldn't be ignored? Haha... People get arrested immediately for having an illegal plant, but people who committed treason on live TV, people who admitted to planning a coup, and people who boast about taking actions to prepare for another coup have had no consequences befall them?
We now have a successful Republican coup because the Democratic Party gave it their stamp of approval.
The House is just the start. Republicans will not stop until every part of federal, state, and local governments have been seized by any and all means.
***
The situation in America will continue to get worse, and worse, and worse.
If even the most powerful politicians and critical US infrastructure are not safe from these terrorists, then regular citizens are certainly not safe.
All non-treasonous and left-wing Americans need to (legally) get armed ASAP so we can defend ourselves against far-right terrorism. We are running out of time. If we wait until mass waves of violence begin, it will be too late.
On October 28, 2022, David DePape broke into Democratic Party Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's home. He brutally beat her husband Paul with a hammer when he realized Nancy was not home.
Paul Pelosi is well-known in right-wing circles for profiting off of insider trading information he gets from Nancy, so it is likely he was an intended target as well.
According to DePape's own words, he planned to brutally torture her with the hammer. His presentation of a "neutralized" Pelosi to Congress would then apparently have kicked off another coup.
"The criminal complaint was based on an affidavit by FBI Special Agent Stephanie Minor and states that Mr DePape attacked Mr Pelosi “with intent to retaliate against” the speaker “on account of the performance of official duties”.
“DePape stated that he was going to hold Nancy hostage and talk to her. If Nancy were to tell DePape the ‘truth,’ he would let her go, and if she ‘lied,’ he was going to break ‘her kneecaps’,” the complaint said. “DePape was certain that Nancy would not have told the ‘truth.’ In the course of the interview, DePape articulated he viewed Nancy as the ‘leader of the pack’ of lies told by the Democratic Party.”
The document continues: “DePape also later explained that by breaking Nancy’s kneecaps, she would then have to be wheeled into Congress, which would show other Members of Congress there were consequences to actions. DePape also explained generally that he wanted to use Nancy to lure another individual to DePape.”
In Mr DePape’s backpack, police found “a roll of tape, white rope, one hammer, one pair of rubber and cloth gloves, and a journal”.
The suspect allegedly first made his way into the Democratic leader’s home by breaking through a backdoor before making it all the way to the second floor to confront Mr Pelosi, as Ms Pelosi was still in Washington DC.
“It was a forced entry into the rear door of the home and that he ultimately did make his way upstairs which is where he ultimately confronted Mr Pelosi,” San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said.
The suspect repeatedly shouted “where is Nancy?” when he confronted Mr Pelosi, who was alone at the time of the break-in, according to CBS News.
“When Pelosi told him that Nancy was not there, DePape stated that he would sit and wait. Pelosi stated that his wife would not be home for several days and then DePape reiterated that he would wait. DePape stated he wanted to tie Pelosi up so that DePape could go to sleep as he was tired from having had to carry a backpack to the Pelosi residence,” the complaint said, at which point he began “taking out twist ties from his pocket so that he could restrain Pelosi. Pelosi moved towards another part of the house, but DePape stopped him and together they went back into the bedroom”."
DePape seems like an unhinged nutjob who didn't prepare very well. Now that far-rightists know how easy things are, the next terrorist will probably bring more than a hammer...
Prominent Republican members of Congress, such as Marjorie Taylor Greene (who may be Trump's new Vice President if he's illegally allowed to run again), have constantly said Democrats such as Pelosi should be killed.
Greene stated before being elected to Congress in 2020: "[Pelosi's] a traitor to our country, she's guilty of treason. She took an oath to protect American citizens and uphold our laws and she gives aid and comfort to our enemies who illegally invade our land—that's what treason is." Greene was referring to Pelosi not supporting former President Donald Trump's border wall, according to CNN.
Greene added: "And by our law, representatives and senators can be kicked out and no longer serve in our government, and it's a crime punishable by death is what treason is. Nancy Pelosi is guilty of treason and we want her out of our government."
(Greene's not wrong about the treason part. But she conveniently ignores she and the rest of her party would also be at the gallows alongside Pelosi.)
Greene's violent rhetoric was so extreme that she was removed from her committee seats in Congress in February 2021 precisely because she had political advertisements saying Pelosi should be killed! The Republican Party responded by giving Greene a standing ovation--signalling that they still supported assassinations, just a month after the Insurrection... They've reaffirmed this position again and again, particularly when they declared insurrections and coup attempts were part of "legitimate political discourse."
Is anyone really shocked some far-rightist finally took up the call? And there are millions more waiting for their opportunity to get in on the action.
***
The Pelosi incident is chickens coming home to roost, quite frankly. Pelosi refused to impeach George W. Bush (who even Trump agreed should be impeached), allowing the Republican party to commit increasingly larger crimes and use more extreme rhetoric. Pelosi dragged her feet on impeaching Trump--REFUSING to impeach on the basis of the Mueller Report, despite public indignation against Trump being at its highest! She only decided to impeach him after Trump made his "perfect" phone call the very same day the media suspiciously declared the Mueller Report dead (despite the media having previously spent years hyping it up and telling the public to just keeping waiting for the inevitable moment when Mueller and Congress would pull through for us...)
The Democratic Party (and their friends in the "liberal" media) tried very hard to sweep all Trump's crimes during his first few years in office under the rug, and all it did was enable a coup attempt. Thanks alot.
And among those 147 treasonous Republicans was Greene.
Once again, Greene spent years encouraging far-rightists to kill Pelosi, and the only consequence that befell her was removal from her committees in Congress. She is still in Congress, despite advocating for terrorism and committing literal treason. Normal people go to jail for far less.
I wonder if Pelosi has finally realized this isn't a game, and that the Constitution needs to be enforced if this nation is to survive...? If ANY of the 147 Republicans who were part of the Green Bay Sweep conspiracy to overthrow the government are sworn in to the 118th Congress on January 3, 2023, then we will know that the country will fall apart.
If a coup attempt (which has been extensively investigated by Congress and resulted in the criminal referral of Trump and some of his co-conspirators!), open planning and boasting about future coup attempts, and an assassination attempt of the 3rd highest ranking Democratic politician are not enough to convince the Democrats to enforce the most basic of laws and the Constitution itself, then nothing will spur the Democrats to action. At this point, if they don't act, they are part of the coup attempt. They will be the left fist positioning us for the right fist to knock America out during the next Republican coup attempt.
And let me make it very clear. The Democrats are not merely passively enabling future Republican crimes, they are actively enabling them. They are not merely playing a secondary role while the Republicans do the dirty work, but they are actually playing the most critical role. They are going out of their way to refuse to indict and arrest Republican coup organizers and the members of Congress who participated in the coup attempt. They're the corrupt cops pulling all the strings to keep their buddies from facing justice. They're the traitorous castle guardsmen opening the gates for the enemy.
They are not merely sweeping the coup attempt and crimes under the rug and helping in the cover up--far worse. They are opening the doors for any and all future crimes (that the Republicans have already been boasting about!) The positions they hold are the few safeguards we have to keep us safe, but they are intentionally sabotaging things.
They have a DUTY EXPLICITLY WRITTEN INTO THE CONSTITUTION to keep the politicians who COMMITTED TREASON out of Congress. By refusing to do that they are even worse than the Republicans who participated in the coup attempt. When the inevitable Republican coup succeeds in the future, it will be because of them. Not merely because they will be setting a precedent that coup attempts are legal, but because they were the only ones who have the legal authority to put them in prison and stop oath-breaking criminals who are Constitutionally banned from serving in Congress from making our laws! FFS...
***
The procedure for the swearing in of members of Congress will involve some of the current members swearing in the new members. In the Senate, the Vice President or President Pro Tempore (Democrats Kamala Harris or Patrick Leahy, respectively) will make newly-elected members swear the oath of office. They will swear "I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same". Senators not up for re-election already swore that oath. Of the 8 Senators who voted to overthrow the government (and who are thereby illegally serving in Congress), domestic enemy of the US John Kennedy was re-elected and will have to swear the oath that he broke again.
In the House of Representatives, the term of office is 2 years and every Representative must be sworn in again at the beginning of each new Congress. By convention, the House elects a new Speaker of the House before the swearing in begins. Then, the Dean of the House (the longest serving Representative--Hal Rogers, a Republican who voted in favor of the Coup Vote and is therefore illegally serving in Congress) swears in the Speaker (presumably a Republican, since they ostensibly gained a majority in the House; and statistically someone who is serving illegally, since a majority of the Republican Party voted in favor of the coup). The Speaker then swears in all other Representatives as a group.
After the electoral votes were officially done being counted at 3:40 AM on January 7th, 2021, the very first thing Congress should have done was expelled all 147 members who had just committed treason, broken their oaths, and were serving in violation of the 14th Amendment. Instead, they decided to ignore the flagrant violation of the oath of office and violation of the 14th Amendment and allowed all 147 of these traitors to serve their entire term in office... So, while Republicans will technically (illegally) oversee the swearing in of new House members on January 3rd, 2023, the fact that the 139 members of the House who participated in the seditious plot to overthrow the government of the United States were allowed to continue serving in Congress in flagrant violation of US law and the US Constitution falls squarely on Pelosi and Democratic Party leadership.
Once again, regardless of who is in charge of the bureaucratic process in January 2023, we can confidently say that if, and when, a single Republican who participated in the coup attempt is sworn in to either branch of Congress for the 118th Congress, the highest levels of Democratic leadership are indisputably part of the coup. No ifs, ands, or buts.
No more. People have been sentenced to life in prison for stealing a few dollars or having a tiny amount of a plant. Yet TREASON receives no legal consequences? Yet the plain text of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution will not be enforced against a coup attempt which involved HUNDREDS of politicians at the federal, state, and local levels of government?!?!
At that point, what's the point in having laws or a Constitution?
The Democratic Party's refusal to act is not just a small oversight. It's a critical action in setting the stage for the next coup attempt. They are actively helping Republicans with their plans to overthrow the government. Both parties are openly treasonous at this stage.
***
The death of the United States will likely be a prolonged rot instead of a powder keg, and we cannot ever make a smooth recovery if the most clear and basic elements of the Constitution aren't enforced against both the party which attempted a well-organized coup and the party which willingly covered it up and is helping pave the way for the next coup attempt.
As predicted hundreds of years ago, our death will come from within. And it will be the Democrats who have dealt the death blow, paving the way for Republicans to then defile the corpse.
"We find ourselves in the peaceful possession of the fairest portion of the earth, as regards extent of territory, fertility of soil, and salubrity of climate. We find ourselves under the government of a system of political institutions, conducing more essentially to the ends of civil and religious liberty, than any of which the history of former times tells us.
[...]
At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? -- Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never! -- All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years.
At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide." -Abraham Lincoln (1838)
***
People's attention spans are short these days and we expect major events to happen at the drop of a hat. The US didn't become an apocalypse movie on January 7th, 2021, and it won't on January 4th, 2023. Does that mean we are "normal", that there isn't a terminal cancer killing our nation?
Let's look at history.
Thomas Jefferson predicted the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and the issue of slavery would rip the country apart. This escalated to the Nullification Crisis from 1828-1832. This escalated to a series of failed compromises in the 1840s and 1850s over the expansion of slavery. This escalated to Bleeding Kansas (a full-on civil war within the state of Kansas) from 1854-1859. This escalated to secession and the nation-wide Civil War from 1860-1865.
The end of the Civil War led to Reconstruction to ensure that we could finally get on the path towards national healing, and the 14th Amendment to ensure that treasonous individuals would never again hold power in America.
Spoiler alert, Reconstruction was an utter failure because it was not ruthlessly enforced. Section 3 of the 14th Amendment may as well never have been written, since no one cared about it back then and certainly no one in the government cares about it today.
What did those failures lead to? To the KKK and Jim Crow within decades of the Civil War's end. To a massive revival of the KKK in the 1920s and literal air attacks against "black" Americans. To another rise of the KKK throughout the 1950s-60s during the Civil Rights era, and all the bloody church bombings, lynchings, beatings, and assassinations...
How much will the cancer grow in the next 50 years? Do you think someone alive in 1820 could have ever imagined the carnage of the 1860s? Do you think someone watching the Watergate investigations on TV would have ever imagined they would watch a coup attempt with insurrectionists chanting about murdering the Vice President 50 years later? Do you think they would have imagined that a Republican Party who turned on Nixon for something as "minor" as a little break-in would eventually declare insurrections and coup attempts (where their own Vice President's life was threatened, no less) as "legitimate political discourse"?
Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. These events in American history are a small taste of what is to come if the Democratic Party is fully dedicated to helping the Republicans commit their next coup. We may not end up in a Yugoslav-civil-war-style mass ethnic cleansing or Soviet-style totalitarianism immediately, but we will descend further and further into hell each passing year until our nation is unrecognizable.
It will get much, much worse.
***
Already--enabled by the Democratic Party's consistent refusal to enforce the most basic laws--far-right violence has been increasing. Unfortunately, it seems all but certain that it will continue to increase.
During January 6th, rightists had planned insurrections at state capitols throughout the nation. Although they lacked the manpower for those plans to successfully go through, they had previously come close to executing a coup attempt against the Michigan state government and should not be underestimated.
As we speak, far-rightist terrorists have commenced attacks on the power grid in multiple states. What's next, and why is the so-called Justice Department not taking far-right terrorism (i.e. the fact that a majority of Republican politicians have openly embraced terrorism for years) seriously?
"That event inspired protests involving armed individuals clad in military gear and the participation of groups such as Moore County Citizens for Freedom, whose director, former U.S. Army psychological operations officer Emily Grace Rainey, was questioned by the Moore County Sheriff's Office after the attack.
Rainey, who was implicated in the January 6, 2021 storming of the Capitol by pro-President Donald Trump crowds seeking to overturn the presidential election, attributed the substation shootings to "God," whom she said was "chastising Moore County" over the drag show.
Far-right chatter also drew a connection between the attacks and the drag show, which was ultimately held in spite of its detractors. One neo-Nazi Telegram post laden with slurs against the LGBT+ community and shared with Newsweek by the SITE Intelligence Group celebrated the "magnificent act of sabotage" as a "beautiful escalation" in a broader culture war.
Another neo-Nazi publication warned that "these attacks will only continue" unless such events are not held. A number of posts on message board 4Chan described specific tactics to cause further damage to the power grid, and others proposed conducting similar actions in larger cities such as New York and Washington, D.C. because they "are not majority white.""
The danger to America will not go away until every last one of the Republican politicians who attempted to overthrow the government and promote terrorism are punished for their crimes. The danger to America will not go away as long as the most basic elements of the Constitution are not enforced.
In order to prepare for the worst case scenario, all left-wing and non-treasonous Americans MUST arm ourselves and prepare to defend our communities against terrorists.
The danger will not go away. If even the most powerful politicians are not safe, why would we delude ourselves into thinking we are? We certainly won't be safe if the Democrats have already willingly opened the flood gates for the treasonous Republicans to be sworn in to Congress in violation of one of the clearest passages of the Constitution. At that point, it will be confirmed that both major political parties are actively working to kill America and that both support the Republican coup plans.
We MUST (legally) arm ourselves and prepare to defend our communities against these terrorists. If we wait, it will be too late.
After rescheduling the hearing that was supposed to happen yesterday, the January 6th Select Committee began the third day of its hearings on June 16, 2022.
Day 3 of the hearings revolved around Trump's pressure on Vice President Pence to throw out legal electoral votes, and John Eastman's role in organizing that plot. Trump, and even John Eastman himself, were aware that the plan had no legal standing, but they moved forward with it anyway. Trump's focus on Pence led to Pence's life being at stake, and Trump continued to tweet threats to Pence even after Trump was aware of the violence engulfing the Capitol.
1:05 PM - Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney gives an overview of the previous hearing and today's hearing.
1:06 PM - Video of Vice President Pence giving a speech to the Federalist Society, on February 4, 2022, saying he had "no right to overturn the election".
1:07 PM - Testimony from Marc Short (Pence's Chief of Staff), saying that Pence had repeatedly told Trump that he did not have the power to overturn the election.
1:08 PM - Testimony from Greg Jacob (the Vice President's general counsel). Jacob testifies that on January 4, 2021, John Eastman had told Trump that his plan would violate the Electoral Count Act, and hence be illegal.
1:09 PM - Testimony from Greg Jacob that Mike Pence said following the law on January 6th would be the most important thing he's ever done.
1:10 PM - Committee member Pete Aguilar gives an opening statement summarizing the day's topic.
1:12 PM - Video of Trump at his January 6th rally targeting Mike Pence. Video of Insurrectionists saying they are going to drag politicians through the streets if Pence fails to follow through. Video of other Insurrectionists chanting "Hang Mike Pence".
1:14 PM - Bennie Thompson introduces the day's witnesses. Retired Judge J. Michael Luttig (who was appointed by George H. W. Bush to the US Court of Appeals), who provided advice to Pence. As well as Greg Jacob, who extensively researched the Electoral Count Act and was with Pence during January 6th. Both men gave legal advice to Pence, making clear the plot to overthrow the election was illegal.
1:18 PM - Live testimony from Greg Jacob explaining that Pence had become familiar with the various schemes planned for him by December 7, 2020. Pence asked Jacob for an overview of the rules regarding the process of counting electoral votes. Jacob says Pence's first instinct was that the Constitution could not allow the Vice President to unilaterally determine the President. Jacob concluded that it was indeed Unconstitutional for the Vice President to unilaterally determine the outcome of the election.
***
1:21 PM - Cheney begins asking questions to retired Judge Michael Luttig. She notes that Luttig released a statement to the Committee earlier today, which she encouraged everyone to read.
Here are some important passages from this document. Luttig's testimony today was quite anxiety-ridden and difficult to follow, but his written statement is very articulate.
"America was at war on that fateful day, but not against a foreign power. She was at war against herself. We Americans were at war with each other -- over our democracy.
January 6 was but the next, foreseeable battle in a war that had been raging in America for years, though that day was the most consequential battle of that war even to date. In fact, January 6 was a separate war unto itself, a war for America’s democracy, a war irresponsibly instigated and prosecuted by the former president, his political party allies, and his supporters. Both wars are raging to this day.
A peaceful end to these wars is desperately needed. The war for our democracy could lead to the peaceful end to the war for America’s cultural heart and soul. But if a peaceful end to the war for America’s democracy is not achievable, there is little chance for a peaceful end to that war.
[...]
These senseless wars are of our own making, and they are now being waged throughout the land, in our city centers and town squares, in our streets and in our schools, where we work and where we play, in our houses of worship -- even within our own families. These wars were conceived and instigated from our Nation’s Capital by our own political leaders collectively and they have been cynically prosecuted by them to fever pitch, now to the point that they have recklessly put America herself at stake.
America is now the stake in these unholy wars.
Serious thinkers about the American experiment who are not given to apocalyptic prophesying question whether America is on the verge of a literal civil war. But is even this figurative civil war to be our generation’s legacy to posterity?
[...]
The war on democracy instigated by the former president and his political party allies on January 6 was the natural and foreseeable culmination of the war for America. It was the final fateful day for the execution of a well-developed plan by the former president to overturn the 2020 presidential election at any cost, so that he could cling to power that the American People had decided to confer upon his successor, the next president of the United States instead. Knowing full well that he had lost the 2020 presidential election, the former president and his allies and supporters falsely claimed and proclaimed to the nation that he had won the election, and then he and they set about to overturn the election that he and they knew the former president had lost.
[...]
Soon thereafter, the rioters stormed the Capitol itself, breaching, occupying, and ransacking the temple of our democracy for seemingly endless wrenching hours -- at the precise democratic moment when the Congress of the United States convened in Joint Session to begin the constitutional counting of the votes for the presidency of the United States.
[...]
Over a year and a half later, in continued defiance of our democracy, both the former president and his political party allies still maintain that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” from him, despite all evidence -- all evidence now -- that that is simply false. All the while, this false and reckless insistence that the former president won the 2020 presidential election has laid waste to Americans’ confidence in their national elections.
[...]
... And almost two years thence, one of America’s two political parties cannot even agree whether that day was good or bad, right or wrong. Worse, it cannot agree over whether January 6 was needed, or not. Needed or not. Pause for a moment and reflect on that. The former president and his party cannot decide whether the revolt at the United States Capitol to disrupt and prevent the constitutional counting of the votes for the presidency was needed, and therefore whether another revolt might be needed at a future date to accomplish that which the previous revolt failed to accomplish.
If one of our national political parties -- one of the two political guardians of our democracy -- cannot agree even as to whether the violent riot and occupation of the United States Capitol, inspired by the President of the United States and carried out by his followers to prevent Congress from counting the votes for the presidency of those same United States, was reprehensible insurrection or needed, legitimate political discourse, we all can agree on nothing.
[...]
America is at a perilous crossroads. Who is it that we have become and what is it that America has become? Is this who we want to be and what we want America to be? And if not, just who is it that we Americans want to be? And just what is it that we want our America to be?
[...]
On the other hand, if we fail to learn the lessons that are there to be learned, or worse, deny even that there are lessons there to be learned, we will consign ourselves to another January 6 in the not-too-distant future, and another after that, and another after that. While for some, that is their wish, that cannot be our wish for America."
While Judge Luttig's statement is very powerful, I will take a moment to remind everyone that January 6th and the Republican coup attempt were only possible because of democracy in the first place. It is the very partisan nature of democracy itself which has divided Americans almost 50-50 into different factions. It is democracy itself which allowed for the narrative of a "rigged and stolen election". It was the democratically-elected state legislatures, the democratically-cast electoral votes, and democratically-elected Congress and Vice President which were at the core of Eastman's plan to overthrow the government.
If the president served for life (like Founding Fathers such as Alexander Hamilton argued in favor of), January 6th never could have happened. Without democracy, someone as insane and unqualified as Trump never would have been up for election in the first place, ffs.
The battle over the soul of America will persist as long as we have democratic factionalism poisoning our freedom and liberties.
"As in all things, the essence of our participation in democracy is not knowledge, but judgment -- studied, discerning judgment. No more so is this true than in the Constitution and in the Law.
[...]
Reeling from twin wars, leaderless, and rudderless, America is in need of help. Our polarized political leaders have shamefully and shamelessly failed us. They have summoned our worst demons at the very moment when we needed summoned our better angels.
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But today our politicians live in a different world from the rest of us, and in a different world than that ordained by the Constitution. They live in a fictional world of divided loyalties between party and country, a world of their own unfaithful making."
I think the poor quality of judgment from voters, Republican politicians, and Democratic politicians speaks for itself. So, why do we allow unqualified demons to elect other unqualified demons to run our nation?
"As a consequence, America finds itself in desperate need of either a reawakening and quickening to the vision, truths, values, principles, beliefs, hopes, and dreams upon which the country was founded and that have made America the greatest nation in the world -- a revival of America and the American spirit.
Or, if it is to be, we are in need of a revival around a new vision, new truths, new values, new principles, new beliefs, new hopes and dreams that hopefully could once again bind our divided nation together into the more perfect union that “We the People” originally ordained and established it to be.
[...]
We cannot hobble along much longer, politically paralyzed and hopelessly divided, directionless and undecided as to which revival it will be -- if any at all.
Where do we begin? This is the easier question. Who has the patriotic and political courage to go first? This is the harder question."
Yes, we need a revival around a new vision. It starts here. We Dare to Dream for America and will not let the dream die.
The difficult truth is that the only way for freedom, liberty, and justice to endure is to replace democracy with a superior form a government. At no time in our nation's history has democracy ever been able to uphold the most basic liberty or justice. Slavery, ethnic cleansing of Native Americans, Jim Crow, colonialist wars, Trumpism...the list goes on and on.
We have been duped into thinking democracy is an unchangeable part of being American. But many early Americans such as Alexander Hamilton readily acknowledged that alternatives to democracy would likely be far better suited to upholding liberty and justice.
***
Luttig also gave a nearly-three-hour interview with PBS Frontline on May 25, 2022, which was easier to follow.
In the interview linked above, Luttig says the Constitution functioned perfectly throughout the Trump administration despite the pressure put on it. That seems a bit baffling for anyone who knows the definition of "functional" (or for anyone who noticed that courts ruled certain "Acting" executive branch officials were serving illegally, yet continued to occupy office), and speaks to how ideologically conservative Luttig is on Constitutional matters. In other words, it is something of high significance for someone as ideologically conservative as Luttig to be willing to go on the record about the severity of the coup attempt and the danger of future coup attempts.
Additionally, on April 27, 2022, Luttig published an article titled "The Republican blueprint to steal the 2024 election". Luttig warns that the only way to stop the Republican coup attempt in 2024 is for the Supreme Court to reject the "independent state legislature doctrine":
1:22 PM - Live testimony from Luttig. At 1:26 PM Luttig says, had Pence gone through with the plot, the US would have been plunged into a revolution over the most profound Constitutional Crisis the US has ever faced.
1:28 PM - Cheney refers to the Chesebro emails, which discusses the "alternate electors" plot. On December 13, 2020, Chesebro wrote to Rudy Guiliani with his memo outlining ideas to reject the official electoral votes and accept "alternate electors" instead.
1:29 PM - Regarding the Chesebro Memo, a federal judge concluded, "The draft memo pushed a strategy that knowingly violated the Electoral Count Act ..." "The memo is both intimately related to and clearly advanced the plan to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2021." Days after the Chesebro Memo was transmitted, John Eastman continued developing the plot to obstruct the Joint Session with "dual slates" of "alternate electors".
1:30-1:31 PM - Excerpt from the Eastman Memos about the "alternate electors".
1:31 PM - Cheney mentions that Eastman knew the "alternate electors" did not have legal authority. On December 19, 2020 (days before Eastman transmitted his second memo), Eastman admitted in an email that the "alternate electors" had no legal significance.
1:32 PM - Judge Luttig testifies that there is no legal support for the "alternate electors". Luttig mentions that Eastman claimed there was both legal and historic precedent for utilizing "alternate electors", but that both claims are incorrect.
1:36 PM - John Wood (senior investigative counsel for the January 6th Committee) questions Luttig about the Eastman Memo's claim that Pence could unilaterally reject electoral votes. Wood mentions that both he and Eastman formerly served as law clerks for Judge Luttig.
1:44 PM - Wood asks Jacob about the process of researching the Vice President's role in counting electoral votes. Jacob found that there was no legal or historical reason to believe the Vice President had authority to object to or reject electoral votes. Jacob says Eastman told him that Vice President Gore in 2000 did not, and should not have had, the ability to declare himself the winner in the disputed election. (But Eastman wanted Pence to do so nevertheless).
1:50 PM - Testimonies from Trump administration legal advisors that they knew the Eastman Memo was illegal and that the Vice President didn't have authority to reject the election outcome.
Marc Short says Mark Meadows knew the Vice President didn't have the authority to reject the election outcome. Jason Miller and Eric Herschmann detail conversations with Eastman and others. They did not believe that the Vice President had the power to determine the election's outcome.
1:54 PM - Texts from Sean Hannity to Mark Meadows, where he was concerned the entire White House counsel's office could quit if Trump continued pressuring Pence.
1:55 PM - Testimony from Jared Kushner that he did not take seriously Pat Cipollone's threats to resign. Kushner also said, "my interest at that time is I'm trying to get as many pardons done." Yikes.
1:55 PM - Testimony from Eric Herschmann about the morning of January 6th. He had a conversation with Rudy Giuliani about Eastman's plan, and Giuliani conceded that it was likely the plan was not supportable.
1:57 PM - Video of Rudy Giuliani at Trump's January 6th rally, saying that everything planned is "perfectly legal". He introduces John Eastman and says his plan is legal and that the Vice President can reject electoral votes or send them back to state legislatures.
1:58 PM - Video of John Eastman at Trump's January 6th rally. He says he wants Pence to send the electoral votes back so the state legislatures can determine the final outcome.
1:59 PM - Jacob testifies that he had a 1.5-2 hour conversation with John Eastman on January 5th. Eastman acknowledged that not a single Supreme Court judge would support Eastman's legal arguments if the matter came before the court.
2:00 PM - A draft letter from October 2020 is shown. Eastman wrote comments on the draft saying that the Vice President cannot unilaterally reject electoral votes. In other words, he knew the legal arguments in his memo were incorrect.
2:00 PM - Luttig testifies. At 2:04 Luttig says the supposed historical precedent was the most critical role of Eastman's argument, not arguments based in law.
2:07 PM - Video of Al Gore saying it's a pretty easy choice not to overthrow the election.
2:08 PM - Jacob testifies that Eastman acknowledged Vice President Gore did not have the authority to overturn the election in 2000, and that he believed Vice President Harris should not have that authority in 2024.
2:09 PM - Testimony from Marc Short about receiving a phone call from former Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. Ryan called to voice his view that Pence could not overturn the election.
2:11 PM - Video of Trump on January 4, 2021, saying he hopes Pence "comes through for us".
2:11 PM - Video of Marc Short, Rudy Giuliani, Steve Bannon, John Eastman, and Jason Miller about how all eyes were on Pence leading up to January 6th. Miller said on Fox News leading up to the election that he hoped Pence would "do the right thing" to ensure the election wasn't handed to "the Democrats and the people who cheated and stole their way through this election." Now Miller is trying to save himself by testifying to the Committee about how Trump and others knew the plots to overthrow the election were illegal...
2:13 PM - Trump retweeted a plot on December 23, 2020, about how Pence should refuse to certify the election. This is one of the earliest examples of Trump publicly pressuring Pence.
2:14 PM - Aguilar summarizes the times Trump pressured Pence over a "multi-week campaign".
2:15 PM - Jacob testifies about what Eastman said at a January 4th meeting (which included Trump, Pence, Eastman, and others). Eastman argued Pence had two options: he could reject electoral votes outright, or he could suspend the proceedings and declare a 10 day recess during which "disputed" state legislatures could change their electoral votes. Eastman favored the second option, as he believed it was more likely to be publicly accepted.
2:17 PM - Jacob testifies that Pence never wavered on his position. In the January 4th meeting, Jacob mentioned Eastman's plan would violate several provisions of the Electoral Count Act. Eastman acknowledged that his plan would indeed violate the Electoral Count Act, but he believed it didn't matter since the Electoral Count Act was supposedly Unconstitutional. Despite the courts customarily being the final arbiters of what is Unconstitutional, Eastman believed the the courts would decline to hear the matter and just let them get away with it.
The next morning, Jacob and Eastman discussed further about whether the Supreme Court would support the argument, and Eastman agreed not a single Supreme Court judge would support it.
2:19 PM - Video of Trump during a rally in Georgia on the evening of January 4, where he publicly pressured Pence despite knowing Pence did not want to overturn the election.
2:20 PM - Tweet from Trump on January 5, 2021, where Trump declared that the Vice President could throw out electoral votes.
2:21 PM - Jacob testifies further about the January 5th meeting with Eastman. At this meeting, the first thing Eastman requested is that Pence reject the electoral votes outright. (The previous day Eastman had argued this was a less favorable and more high-stakes route).
2:23 PM - Notes written by Jacob during the meeting with Eastman.
2:25 PM - Jacob testifies that Eastman acknowledged Vice President Jefferson did not have the authority to reject electoral votes, and therefore there was no historical precedent. Nevertheless, Eastman claimed Jefferson did at Trump's January 6th rally.
2:27 PM - Jacob says that Republican leaders in state legislatures put out statements saying they had no intention of reversing the outcome of the elections.
Eastman believed the courts would not get involved if Pence overturned the election. Jacob says he told Eastman that, if Pence had overturned the election and the courts did not get involved, this would mean the outcome of the election would be "decided in the streets".
2:30 PM - Jacobs had at least two other conversations with Eastman on January 5th. Eastman seems to have realized the resistance against rejecting outright, so he circled back to the plan of sending electoral votes back to the states.
2:34 PM - Aguilar reads a passage from the book "Peril" by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, about a conversation where Trump privately pressured Pence.
2:35 PM - Testimony from Marc Short corroborating part of that conversation.
2:36 PM - On January 5th, Trump issued a statement falsely claiming that Pence agreed he could overturn the election.
2:37 PM - Testimony from Marc Short and Jason Miller about the statement that was issued.
2:40 PM - Marc Short talked with the head of Pence's Secret Security staff to inform him that Trump would "lash out" against Pence.
2:55 PM - Trump tweeted at Pence at 1:00 AM on January 6th pressuring Pence, and Trump sent another tweet around 8:00 AM.
2:57 PM - Testimony from Jacob. Trump called Pence on the morning of January 6th.
2:58 PM - Testimony from Eric Herschmann, Ivanka Trump, Nicholas Luna (assistant to Trump), General Keith Kellogg (National Security Advisor to Pence), and Julie Radford (Ivanka Trump's Chief of Staff) about the heated phone call.
3:01 PM - Aguilar mentions that the draft of Trump's January 6th rally speech did not include a mention of Pence, but Trump edited it to place pressure on him.
3:02 PM - Video of Trump's statements about Pence at the January 6th rally (which occurred after his heated phone call). Trump repeatedly insists that Pence needs to send the electoral votes back to the states.
3:03 PM - Aguilar states that testimony made clear that Pence was one of the primary targets of the Insurrectionists.
3:03 PM - Video of the Capitol being breached at 2:13 PM on January 6th.
3:04 PM - Aguilar states Mark Meadows had been notified about the violence at the Capitol by 2:00 PM, and likely earlier. Meadows quickly notified Trump. Despite this knowledge, Trump tweeted at 2:24 PM, which again pressured Pence.
3:05 PM - Video of Insurrectionists talking about how Pence "betrayed" Trump.
3:06 PM - Testimony from Ben Williamson (aide to Mark Meadows) and Sarah Matthews (White House Deputy Press Secretary). They testified that Meadows informed Trump about the violence before Trump issued his 2:24 PM tweet. They further state that they believed Trump needed to put out a statement about the violence, but were dismayed that Trump tweeted about Pence instead.
3:09 PM - Aguilar states that the investigation has revealed Trump's tweet significantly increased the intensity of the siege of the Capitol. Crowds both outside and inside of the Capitol grew, and Pence was escorted to a secure location.
Video about Pence's whereabouts in the Capitol and how the Insurrectionists came within 40 feet of Pence. By 2:24 PM, the Secret Service moved Pence to an office. Soon after, Trump released his tweet. Within a minute, Insurrectionists were on the floor below Pence. He was escorted downstairs to a secure location. During this time, he came within 40 feet of Insurrectionists.
3:12 PM - Aguilar states that Pence's life was indeed danger. An informant in the Proud Boys testified to the Department of Justice that the Proud Boys would have killed Pence, Pelosi, and other politicians if the Proud Boys came into contact with them.
3:13-3:14 PM - Never-before-seen photos of Pence sheltering from the Insurrectionists. Jacob testifies about how Pence refused to leave the Capitol.
3:16 PM - Marc Short testifies that Representative Kevin McCarthy had spoken with someone at the White House and was frustrated that they weren't taking the situation seriously.
3:17 PM - Email conversation between Jacob and Eastman. Eastman claims the Insurrection was Pence's fault for not following through with things.
3:18 PM - As part of this email conversation, Eastman told Jacob that Trump had been informed the plot had no legal backing, but Trump decided to go through with it anyway.
3:20 PM - Jacob testifies that Eastman asked once again if Pence could suspend the counting of electoral votes and send them back to the states. This email was sent on 11:44 PM on January 6th--after the Insurrection! Excerpt of the email is shown.
3:26 PM - Testimony from Eric Herschmann about receiving a call from Eastman on January 7th. Herschmann told Eastman he better get a good criminal defense lawyer.
3:27 PM - Eastman emailed Giuliani requesting to be on a list of pardons.
3:28 PM - John Eastman's deposition to the January 6th Committee.
3:29 PM - Aguilar reads several excerpts from the court case Eastman v. Thompson, written by Judge David Carter.
Page 36:
"Based on the evidence, the Court finds it more likely than not that President Trump corruptly attempted to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2021."
Page 40:
"Based on the evidence, the Court finds that it is more likely than not that President Trump and Dr. Eastman dishonestly conspired to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2021."
Page 44:
"Dr. Eastman and President Trump launched a campaign to overturn a democratic election, an action unprecedented in American history. Their campaign was not confined to the ivory tower--it was a coup in search of a legal theory."
3:31 PM - Aguilar reads an excerpt from Judge Luttig's written statement from earlier today:
"... the most reckless, insidious, and calamitous failures in both legal and political judgment in American history."
3:32 PM - Aguilar reads his closing statements. Trump was aware of the illegality of the plot to overthrow the election.
3:33 PM - Cheney makes closing statements, summarizing today's hearing and the topic of an upcoming hearing (pressure on state legislatures).
3:37 PM - Thompson reads an excerpt from Judge Luttig's op-ed about the in-progress 2024 coup attempt and allows him to give further thoughts.
"I have written, as you said, Chairman Thompson, that today, almost two years after that fateful day in January 2021, that still, Donald Trump and his allies and supporters are a clear and present danger to American democracy. That's not because of what happened on January 6th. It's because, to this very day, the former President, his allies, and supporters pledge that in the presidential election of 2024, if the former president or his anointed successor as the Republican Party presidential candidate were to lose that election, that they would attempt to overturn that 2024 election in the same way that they attempted to overturn the 2020 election, but succeed in 2024 where they failed in 2020.
I don't speak those words lightly. I would have never spoken those words ever in my life, except that that's what the former president and his allies are telling us. As I said in that New York Times op-ed, wherein I was speaking about the Electoral Count Act of 1887, the former president and his allies are executing that blueprint for 2024 in open and plain view of the American public. I repeat, I would have never uttered one single one of those words, unless the former president and his allies were candidly and proudly speaking those exact words to America."
3:45 PM - Committee adjourned.
*** ***
As always, we must warn that the danger is not over until every last organizer of the coup attempt and every single coup participant in Congress is put in prison. Judge Luttig has echoed this same sentiment.
In the year and a half since the Insurrection, the Republican Party and other far-right terrorists have constantly warned us that they are in the process of organizing another coup--one which will be far more bloody than the last.
All non-treasonous Americans need to (legally) arm ourselves so we can prepare to defend ourselves in the scenario that the Republican Party follows through on the bloodshed it has continuously been promising. Until every last one of them is put in prison, we are not safe.
Day 2 of the hearings was about Trump's propaganda campaign to convince the public he won (the Big Lie). Behind the scenes, Trump was fully aware that there was no electoral fraud and that legal avenues for challenging the outcome consistently showed that he lost. Not only did Trump use the Big Lie as a pretext for the coup attempt, but he used it to extract over $250,000,000 in fundraising from his supporters.
10:50 AM - Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney begins discussing about today's topic. It was made clear to Trump by both the courts and his advisors that there was no electoral fraud and that he lost.
10:53 AM - Testimony from Eric Herschmann (former White House lawyer) who says he never saw any evidence for the Dominion voting machine conspiracy pushed by Trump.
10:53 AM - Testimony from Matt Morgan (Trump campaign team top lawyer) who says there was not sufficient evidence of electoral fraud that could have changed the outcome of the election.
10:54 AM - Cheney makes clear that hundreds of Insurrectionists have already been charged and sentenced, because they came to the Capitol at the direction of Trump.
10:56 AM - Cheney says the Committee has more evidence than they can reasonably present at a single hearing regarding the Big Lie.
10:56 AM - Committee member Zoe Lofgren begins explaining the Big Lie plot. Trump and his advisors knew the claims of election fraud were false, but they promoted them anyway. Trump also used the Big Lie to extract hundreds of millions of dollars in donations from his supporters.
10:58 AM - Trump began preparing the Big Lie as early as April 8, 2020 (months prior to the election), claiming that the only way he would lose the election is if it was rigged and involved fraud. Videos of Trump from April 8, 2020; August 17, 2020; and September 29, 2020.
10:59 AM - Lofgren explains how Barr and other senior advisors to Trump told him claims of election fraud were baseless. Nevertheless, Trump pursued challenges to the election outcome in court. Despite losing these challenges, he refused to accept them and instead pursued the Big Lie narrative to convince his followers the election was stolen.
11:03 AM - Testimony from Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Jason Miller (Trump campaign senior advisor), Bill Stepien (Trump campaign manager), and Rudy Giuliani about the atmosphere on election night (November 3-4, 2020). Fox News was the first network to call that Arizona had been won by Biden, causing the campaign to be very disappointed in Fox.
Miller says Giuliani suggested that Trump should make a speech to declare victory outright, despite the all the votes not yet being counted and the election not yet being called. On the day of November 4, 2020, Trump made a speech declaring victory and declaring the impending Biden victory a fraud.
11:11 AM - Live testimony from from Chris Stirewalt (former Fox News political editor), saying Trump had no basis to declare victory on election night.
11:12 AM - Stirewalt explains the "Red Mirage" effect, where reported Republican votes would be higher on election night, while mail-in votes favoring Democrats would be counted in the following days. He claims Fox News election coverage had been warning viewers of the mirage effect and that the reported counts on election night were not the final outcome.
11:14 AM - Testimony from Attorney General Bill Barr about how Trump's team had been aware of the "Red Mirage" effect for weeks.
11:16 AM - Testimony of Stepien, where he explains how Trump was informed that votes would continue to be counted in the coming days.
11:17 AM - Video of Trump saying he wanted mail-in votes to stop being counted.
11:18 AM - Lofgren says Stepien was highly concerned about Trump's anti-mail-in voting stance, and that he met with Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy and Trump to defend mail-in voting. Testimony of Stepien explaining this.
11:20 AM - Stirewalt explains why Fox called the outcome of Arizona earlier than other networks.
11:24 AM - Audio of Stepien testifying about how in the days following election night, it became clearer that Biden was gaining a stronger lead. Trump was informed that his chances of winning were minimal.
11:26 AM - Audio of Stepien testifying about the allegations of fraud in Arizona which had been flowing to Trump. After the campaign team reviewed some of these claims, it became clear they were baseless.
11:29 AM - Stepien testifies that Giuliani became the head of the campaign's legal matters after Trump became dissatisfied with Stepien's team not pursuing the baseless claims.
11:33 AM - Rudy Giuliani interview on Fox News pushing insane election fraud conspiracies about shopping carts full of Biden ballots.
11:34 AM - Giuliani testimony to the January 6th Committee where he claims he still believes there was a massive amount of fraudulent ballots.
11:34 AM - Video clip of Sidney Powell on November 19, 2020, pushing insane election fraud conspiracies about voting machine algorithms "flipping" votes from Trump to Biden.
11:34 AM - Testimony from Powell saying she was informed by Mark Meadows that there was no evidence that any vote had been "flipped", but she was apparently unwilling to accept the truth.
11:34 AM - Testimony from Eric Herschmann (former White House attorney) about how he believed all the election fraud claims about foreign interference, etc., were crazy.
11:35 AM - Testimony from Jared Kushner. Kushner told Trump he shouldn't follow Giuliani's strategy.
11:35 AM - Matt Morgan says law firms were not comfortable pushing Giuliani's arguments about election fraud.
11:36 AM - Testimony from Attorney General Barr saying he told Trump the election fraud claims were "bullshit". Barr resigned in large part because he did not want to be part of an administration which was pushing fake claims about election fraud.
11:36 AM - Lofgren reminds us that Powell attempted to defend herself in a defamation lawsuit by arguing that no reasonable person would believe her statements.
11:38 AM - Testimony from Attorney General Barr about his opinion about the baselessness of election fraud claims. Barr says he spoke to Trump. Trump rambled on about the alleged fraud and said the Justice Department should do more to investigate the "fraud". Barr says Mark Meadows and Jared Kusher said Trump was getting "more realistic", and they were trying to wind him down from his Big Lie narrative.
11:43 AM - Video of Trump on Fox News ranting about how the FBI and Department of Justice might be involved in stealing the election since they weren't helping him.
11:43 AM - On December 1, 2020, Barr told the Associated Press there was no evidence of election fraud. Testimony from Barr about his statement to the press and the meeting with Trump after his statement was published. Barr says Trump was angrier than he had ever seen him, but he told Trump once again that the election fraud claims about Detroit and Dominion voting machines were "bullshit". Barr was aware that the Big Lie about voting machines had been having a big impact on the public.
11:46 AM - The day after the meeting, on December 2, 2020, Trump gave an angry presentation where he repeated the fraud claims Barr just told him were baseless. (Video of Trump's presentation).
11:48 AM - On December 14, 2020, Barr once again told Trump the claims of fraud were baseless. Testimony from Barr. Trump said he received a report with "absolute proof" about Dominion voting machine fraud, which was substantial enough that he would be guaranteed a second term. Barr says he believed Trump had become "detached from reality" if he truly believed this narrative. Barr gives his analysis of why the "2000 Mules" propaganda film by Dinesh D'Souza was nonsensical.
11:53 AM - Audio testimony from Jeffrey Rosen ("Acting" Attorney General after Barr resigned), explaining how Trump was again informed the allegations were baseless.
11:53 AM - Derek Lyons (Counselor to the President), explaining how Trump was informed the allegations were baseless.
11:54 AM - Testimony from Alex Cannon (Trump campaign lawyer), explaining how Peter Navarro was informed the allegations were baseless in November. Cannon also had a brief conversation with Vice President Pence in November, where Pence was told there wasn't fraud substantial enough to change the outcome of the election.
11:58 AM - Audio of Richard Donoghue (former "Acting" Deputy Attorney General) explaining how he told Trump the allegations were baseless. Trump kept inquiring about specific examples of alleged fraud, and whether they had been investigated. No matter how many allegations Donoghue had debunked, Trump kept moving his attention to other allegations.
12:01 PM - Lofgren asks to include in the record reports from the Department of Homeland Security Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency, Michigan Senate Oversight Committee, a statement by 59 US election security scientists, and 5 other reports, all of which confirmed there was no widespread fraud into the record.
12:16 PM - Committee returns from recess and introduces witnesses BJay Pak, Al Schmidt, and Benjamin Ginsberg.
12:18 PM - Lofgren introduces BJay Pak. He was appointed by Trump to serve as the US Attorney of the Northern District of Georgia. Attorney General Barr told Pak he had seen no widespread evidence of election fraud, but asked Pak to investigate the "suitcase full of ballots" allegation made by Rudy Rudy Giuliani.
12:20 PM - Pak testifies the "suitcase" allegedly full of fake ballots was just an official ballot box, and explains the result of his investigation.
12:22 PM - Audio testimony of "Acting" Deputy Attorney General Donoghue saying he told Trump several times that the "suitcase full of ballots" allegation was false.
11:24 PM - Testimony of Attorney General Barr addressing the false election fraud claims in Philadelphia.
11:27 PM - Al Schmidt (Republican member of the City of Philadelphia's commission which oversaw the election) is introduced. He investigated claims of voter fraud in Pennsylvania, and testifies there was no evidence to support them.
11:28 PM - Video of Rudy Giuliani claiming dead people sent mail-in ballots. Testimony of Eric Herschmann saying Giuliani likely knew these claims were false.
12:30 PM - Schmidt describes the threats he and his family received due to Trump tweeting out against him.
12:32 PM - Benjamin Ginsberg is introduced. He has served as a prominent member of Republican campaign legal matters, including the Bush v. Gore lawsuit. He explains the typical process of election analysis and observation.
12:36 PM - Ginsberg explains how the Trump lawsuits over the election were lacking in evidence to begin with.
12:37-39 PM - Lofgren summarizes the 62 court cases the Trump team launched over the election.
12:41 PM - Lofgren outlines the steps Trump took to push the Big Lie even after his campaign lost in the courts. The motivation for this included the desire for Trump to continue receiving fundraising money from his duped supporters.
12:42 PM - Video summarizing Trump's use of the Big Lie to fundraise. The Trump team even made up a fake organization called the "Official Election Defense Fund". Trump quickly raised $250,000,000 in fundraising. Most of the money raised went to the "Save America PAC", which funneled the money into various organizations, including Event Strategies Inc., which ran Trump's January 6th rally. The Trump team continued to send fundraising emails up to 30 minutes before the Capitol was breached.
12:46 PM - Cheney makes closing statements.
12:47 PM - Testimony of White House lawyer Eric Herschmann about his conversation with John Eastman on January 7th. (A preview of a video which will be shown at an upcoming hearing.)
12:49 PM - Video of Insurrectionists, where they indicate they came to the Capitol because they believed the Big Lie.
12:50 PM - Committee adjourned.
*** ***
As always, we must warn that the danger is not over until every last organizer of the coup attempt and every single coup participant in Congress is put in prison.
In the year and a half since the Insurrection, the Republican Party and far-right terrorists have constantly warned us that they are in the process of organizing another coup--one which will be far more bloody than the last.
All non-treasonous Americans need to (legally) arm ourselves so we can prepare to defend our communities in the scenario that the Republican Party follows through on the bloodshed it has continuously been promising. Until every last one of them is put in prison, we are not safe.
On June 9, 2022, the January 6th Select Committee began the first of its Congressional hearings presenting the findings from their investigation.
In the days and months ahead, there will likely be an abundance of journalism putting together all the pieces from what they've revealed, what has already been known, and the questions that still remain.
Without attempting to give an exhaustive analysis ourselves, let's summarize what the Committee revealed.
After the introductory remarks, Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney stated that, "Over multiple months, Donald Trump oversaw and coordinated a sophisticated seven-part plan to overturn the presidential election and prevent the transfer of presidential power" (8:20 PM). She gave an overview of the topics of the coming hearings.
Day 1's hearing gave a brief overview of the role of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers in breaching the Capitol. It included live testimony from a Capitol Police officer who was attacked on January 6th and a documentary maker who had been allowed access to Proud Boys leadership.
Day 2 (June 13) - Trump and his advisors knew he lost the election, but engaged in a massive misinformation campaign about election fraud.
Day 3 (June 16) - Trump planned to use the Justice Department in the coup attempt, including by making Jeffrey Clark "Acting" Attorney General.
Day 4 - Trump's pressure for Pence to refuse to count electoral votes, and John Eastman's involvement in this plot.
Day 5 - The plots for state officials to change the election results. Including Trump's call to Georgia and the "alternate electors" scheme.
Day 6 and 7 - Trump's incitement and direction of the Insurrection, and his refusal to tell his supporters to stop the violence. This will include a moment-by-moment timeline of events showing Trump was aware of the carnage.
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8:04 PM - The hearing began with Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson explaining that the oath of office requires that members of the government swear to defend America against both foreign and domestic enemies.
8:06 PM - Thompson states domestic enemies stormed the Capitol at the direction of President Trump.
8:08 PM - The Committee played an interview with former Attorney General Bill Barr, where Barr gives his testimony of how he told Trump the election was not stolen.
8:11 PM - Thompson declares that Trump "spurred a mob of domestic enemies of the Constitution to march down to the Capitol". Thompson declares that "January 6th was the culmination of an attempted coup" and an attempt to "overthrow the government". Although Thompson did not mention treason, his wording quite strongly implies that the domestic enemies committed it.
8:13 PM - Thompson warns us that the danger is not over, because politicians sitting in the same room continue to seek power at all costs.
8:15 PM - Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney began outlining the events of January 6th, starting with one of Trump's infamous tweets in support of the Insurrectionists. At 8:17 PM she quotes a White House staffer who testified that Trump thought Insurrectionists had "the right idea" when they wanted to hang Vice President Pence, because he "deserves it". She goes on to give an overview of the sources that the Committee will present.
8:19 PM - Cheney specifies that the events of January 6th were the results of a seditious conspiracy. Members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers have already been charged with seditious conspiracy.
8:21 PM - Cheney describes the topic of the 2nd hearing. Interviews are played from several Trump campaign members and administration officials (including Attorney General Barr), showing that Trump and his team were aware that he had definitively lost the election. Moreover, Trump's team knew that the allegations about voting machines being rigged were completely unsupported.
8:26 PM - Ivanka Trump testifies that she accepted Barr's statements about the outcome of the election.
8:27 PM - Trump's lawsuits over the election were continuously rejected. Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani had his law license suspended and a court ruled he "communicated demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers and the public at large in his capacity as lawyer for former President Donald J. Trump".
8:34 PM - Cheney mentions how a federal judge concluded pressuring Pence likely violated two federal statutes. Moreover, the judge says he fears there will be more coup attempts.
8:35 PM - Cheney discusses the topic of the 5th hearing. The plot for state governments to change the election results, including Trump's call to Georgia and the "alternate electors" scheme.
8:36 PM - Cheney discusses the topic of the 6th and 7th hearings. Trump's incitement and direction of the Insurrection.
8:36 PM - Cheney mentions the Committee's investigation is still ongoing and the evidence revealed publicly does not include all of the information that will be in their final report.
8:37 PM - Cheney mentions the December 18, 2020, meeting where General Michael Flynn, Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani and others met. At this meeting, plans discussed included a military coup plan. An hour after the meeting ended, Trump sent his initial tweet telling his supporters to stage a "wild" riot on January 6th. Cheney says this tweet is what led to a chain of events which ended with far-right militias storming the Capitol.
8:39 PM - Cheney mentions that the White House had received information leading up to January 6th that groups had been planning for violence.
8:39 PM - A clip of Steve Bannon on January 5, 2021, saying "all hell is going to break loose tomorrow", indicating he knew what would occur.
8:39 PM - Cheney mentions that the Committee will present evidence of what the White House knew leading up to January 6th and reasons why the police were not better prepared.
8:40 PM - Cheney further discusses the topic of the final hearing. This will include a moment-by-moment account of January 6th, showing Trump was aware of the violence and that many told Trump he needed to condemn the rioters.
8:41 PM - Trump did not give orders to deploy the National Guard or deploy law enforcement. It was indeed Pence who gave those orders.
8:42 PM - Audio of General Milley testifying that Pence called multiple times ordering the National Guard to be deployed. Milley testified that Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows called him and said they needed to stop the narrative that Pence was the one in charge and calling in the National Guard.
8:44 PM - Trump's cabinet discussed the 25th Amendment, and Trump's inner circle instead tried to talk Trump down to stabilize the administration.
8:51-9:01 PM - Video montage of the events of January 6th.
9:12 PM - Committee resumes after a 10 minute break. Thompson introduces Officer Caroline Edwards, one of the Capitol Police officers injured on January 6th, and Nick Quested, a documentary maker who captured much footage of January 6th.
9:16 PM - Officer Edwards introduces herself.
9:19 PM - Nick Quested introduces himself.
9:21 PM - Video of how Trump's statements emboldened far-right groups leading up to January 6th. In the words of Proud Boys members, Trump's "Proud Boys, stand back and stand by" statement led to an increase in membership. Oath Keepers similarly amplified their plans and believed Trump was "calling them to duty".The Oath Keepers created a "quick reaction force" in order to quickly arm themselves if Trump invoked the Insurrection Act and turned the Insurrection into a full-on military coup. The video includes an overview of the times each part of the Capitol was breached.
9:27 PM - As part of Quested's documentary, he was able to gain access to the Proud Boys' leadership. Quested gives testimony about his time filming the Proud Boys.
9:37 PM - Video of Officer Edwards being knocked unconscious as the first barricades were breached during the Insurrection. She begins her testimony.
9:52 PM - Video of Insurrection participants stating their motivations. They mention that they were "called" there by Trump and acted on his orders.
9:54 PM - Committee adjourned.
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In the coming months, we can only hope that the Justice Department uses this information to pursue criminal charges against the politicians and Trump administration members who organized the coup attempt at the highest levels. We can only hope that Congress will uphold the 14th Amendment and all Republican politicians who participated in the coup attempt will not be seated in the 118th Congress in January 2023.
The hearings will be meaningless if no consequences result from the investigation. If ALL organizers of the coup attempt are not indicted with criminal charges, and if ALL 147+ members of Congress who participated in the coup attempt are not barred from holding office, then this will mean the Democratic Party is complicit in the cover up of the coup attempt. This will mean Republicans WILL attempt more coups in the future, since they know they will face no consequences.
Whatever the Democratic Party decides to do, the Republicans have already tripled down on their strategy... Until the day comes when the government bothers to uphold the laws and enforce the Constitution, we are not safe, because the coup organizers have openly promised future bloodshed and future coup attempts. This includes multiple Republicans currently in Congress. The leadership of the Republican Party itself has declared the coup attempt and bloody Insurrection was a "legitimate political discourse", and it has attempted to oust members of the party who speak out against the Big Lie and the illegitimacy of the coup attempt. Trump has urged his supporters to launch a literal civil war if he faces and legal consequences for the coup attempt (and promised to pardon them once he retakes office).
All non-treasonous Americans need to (legally) get armed so we can prepare for the worst case scenario that Republican politicians and far-right militias have been warning us will unfold. Every day we wait is another day they have to organize themselves. If we don't prepare ourselves now, it will be too late when they come knocking on our door to slaughter us.
The hearings make clear just how corrupt, grave, and insane the events of the recent past were. But how much worse will it get in the near future? It can still get much worse, which is why we need to prepare to defend ourselves and our communities in case it does.
