Jamie Raskin, a member of the January 6th Select Committee, is giving us a preview of what the hearings will reveal, by making it clear the January 6th Committee has put together all the evidence they need in order to definitively call the events of January 6th a coup attempt. (We already knew it was a coup attempt, but more evidence is nice I guess.)
I may be understating things a bit, as Raskin was the head of the House impeachment managers during Trump's 2nd impeachment. The House's presentation in the Senate was so convincing that a number of Republicans privately acknowledged they had undeniably made the case that Trump incited the Insurrection. (Of course, those same Republicans committed treason by voting to acquit Trump and thereby cover up his coup attempt...)
"We now have evidence to support the story of the worst presidential political offense against the Union in American history," Raskin tweeted Friday. "The [January 6th Committee] hearings in June will expose every facet of the assault against our democracy and Constitution on 1/6."
"No president has ever come close to doing what happened here in terms of trying to organize an inside coup to overthrow an election and bypass the constitutional order," Raskin said at an event on Thursday, according to NBC. "And then also use a violent insurrection made up of domestic violent extremist groups, white nationalist and racist, fascist groups in order to support the coup."
https://twitter.com/jamie_raskin/status/1520056793942175744
(As a side note, Republicans and their supporters are not fascists. An actual fascist would have removed them from office by now, or just thrown them all into the gulags for posing a threat to national unity. Another fun fact, the House chamber has two giant fasces by the podium and was one of the few areas inside the Capitol that was actually defended during the Insurrection. Yet another fun fact: the symbol of the House is a giant fasces, and Nanci Pelosi wore a pin of it during Trump's first impeachment!)
"January 6 ‘was a coup organized by the president’, says Jamie Raskin
“We’re going to tell the whole story of everything that happened. There was a violent insurrection and an attempted coup and we were saved by Mike Pence’s refusal to go along with that plan,” said Raskin."
"Today, in a Post Politics Now interview, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said that the House select committee probing the Jan. 6 insurrection will issue a report that will be “profuse in setting forth crimes that have not yet been alleged” and that the panel, on which he sits, is planning public hearings in May and June. The aim, Raskin said, is “to prevent coups and insurrections going forward.”"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/04/13/biden-new-phase-ukraine-war/
"The hearings will tell a story that will really blow the roof off the House,"
[...]
Members of the committee plan to hold those hearings in June and aim to have a report out about their investigation by the end of the summer or early fall, said Raskin, who sits on the panel."
"Raskin said the committee will present "evidence" that proves there was coordination among then-President Donald Trump and his inner circle and his supporters who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6 in an attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
The plan was to use then-Vice President Mike Pence to try to get President Joe Biden's electoral vote tally below the 270 majority needed for victory, Raskin said, which under the 12th Amendment would shift the contest to a vote in the House. If that occurred, he said, Republicans would have the majority to seize the presidency because the votes would be cast by the state delegations, and the GOP controls more state delegations than the Democrats do."
It is very important to note the fact that Raskin is including the Republican politicians who were involved in the Coup Vote and other plans as participants in the coup attempt. It was not just the rioters who broke windows and trespassed during the Insurrection, but a majority of the Republican Party itself who attempted the coup.
"Jan. 6 is not ancient history. It’s living history and a continuing struggle for both constitutional democracy and the truth that will shape America for decades.
The GOP, under Trump’s thumb, has positioned itself outside the constitutional order."
"The MAGA Party doesn’t accept the validity of elections when they lose. And they are legitimizing deranged violence as an element of what they call ‘political discourse.’"
"The @January6thCmte hearings in June will expose the truth about the deadly assault on our democracy on 1/6 and the continuing threat of political coups and electoral sabotage in America."
https://twitter.com/jamie_raskin/status/1527352580191289349
“Well, people still have not yet fully understood the distinction between the violent insurrection and the attempted coup. Even with the insurrection, even within the insurrectionary violence, a lot of people think that this was just a rowdy demonstration that got out of hand,” Raskin told Daily Kos.
[...]
“So there’s a lot of confusion about what took place. And I think people will come to understand that this was a premeditated and coordinated violent attack on Congress and the vice president in order to thwart the counting of electoral votes,” Raskin said.
But the insurrection is only comprehensible when you understand that it was unleashed as a way to assist this political coup, this inside political coup. Donald Trump and his entourage had been looking for ways to overthrow the 2020 presidential election results for months,” Raskin said.
What the public hearings will do is tell the story of “every step in that process,” he explained.
“And it is a harrowing and gripping and utterly sobering story rooted in the events of the day and the weeks before it,” he added.
Promisingly, Raskin's rhetoric is quite similar to what I've been writing on this blog for over a year (and what millions of sane Americans have been saying).
Like us, he agrees that (1) the Republican Party is operating "outside the constitutional order", (2) the 2020 election coup attempt was bigger than the Insurrection and rioting, (3) the 2020 coup attempt was a political coup organized by Republicans at least months prior to January 6th itself, (4) the Republican Party recently declaring that coup attempts are "legitimate political discourse" for their party is something to take extremely seriously, and (5) Republicans are going to attempt more coups if they are not held accountable. Raskin also agrees that Trump confessed to the coup attempt a few months ago.
(As an additional sidenote, in the Daily Kos interview, Raskin says the 2020 election coup attempt was a self-coup. But I disagree with this. The 2020 election coup attempt was an attempt at a full-on regime change--just like a "standard" coup. Although Biden had not yet taken office, it was definitive that he was the victor, and, legally speaking, it was assured that he would become the next president. The Republican Party's goal was to topple his "regime" before it even began.
A self-coup is when a legally-empowered administration decides to go beyond the powers constitutionally granted to it, dissolve the constitution without following procedures, etc. Trump would have been committing a self-coup had he done something like declare martial law and cancel the election or suspend the Constitution to enact 'emergency powers' prior to the election happening.
After the 2020 election, the Trump "regime" was over. We just have a very long transitional period before the next president takes office. Trump was legally-empowered during the 4 years of his term, but the next 4-year presidential term was not legally his. Anything he would have done to disempower the incoming legal "regime" (i.e. Biden) is just a "regular" coup/regime change.
A better example of a self-coup--that we need to talk more about--is the Republican Party in Congress breaking their oaths to be impartial jurors during Trump's impeachment trials, Republicans in Congress announcing they will not seat any judges nominated by Democratic presidents, etc. In those situations, the politicians were legally elected, but the party decided to systematically ignore the Constitution. The Constitutional Crises that have stemmed from their self-coup won't be addressed by the January 6th Committee, since the Republican self-coup is an entirely different phenomenon).
***
It sounds like the January 6th Select Committee has done its job uncovering the evidence and piecing it together, and the upcoming hearings will thoroughly document all of the crimes that took place leading up to the coup attempt.
But the real question is: will there be any consequences? Or will it be like the hearings over the Mueller Report and both of Trump's impeachments? An overwhelming mountain of evidence (which would have led to a regular person being tortured in Gitmo for the rest of their life) that was simply ignored, because the Republican Party is apparently allowed to operate completely outside of the law and Constitution itself.
We've already known that Trump was trying to rig the election and that he tried to overturn the result once the rigging attempts failed. He publicly admitted his aims before the election was even over, ffs!
The January 6th Select Committee's hearings will be pointless if there are no consequences for those who were involved in the coup attempt. This includes not just Trump, but his inner circle, everyone who wrote a Coup Memo, and--most importantly--every last Republican politician who participated in the coup attempt by voting to overthrow the election, or who otherwise gave aid and comfort to the insurrectionists.
At absolute minimum, this means all 147 Republican politicians who voted to support the coup attempt are immediately removed from office on the basis of the 14th Amendment. They have remained in Congress illegally for over a year now.
Due to the unfortunate realities of the legal system, it seems unlikely that the most obscure of these politicians will face any criminal charges--even though they would be justifiably charged and convicted of treason if this country had any integrity.
Another condition of the absolute minimum--everyone who wrote or transmitted a Coup Memo, the leaders of the Coup Vote in Congress (e.g. Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, and Mo Brooks), politicians who worked directly with Insurrection organizers (e.g. Mo Brooks, Paul Gosar, Andy Biggs, Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene, etc.), and other politicians who played key roles in the coup attempt (e.g. Lindsey Graham) MUST face criminal charges for their participation in the coup attempt.
Only pressing charges against Trump will be meaningless. Trump already confessed to trying to "overturn" the results of the election. What's the point of the Select Committee's investigation when Individual-1 has already confessed under his own volition?
If the Department of Justice does not move forward pressing charges against the individuals mentioned above, then it is a signal that they (along with Biden, who could fire Garland and replace him with someone who will uphold their duty) are willing participants in the coverup of the coup attempt.
It will mean we are still not safe from the future coup attempts that Republicans have openly announced they are planning. It means the Republican Party will remain a terrorist organization which openly supports insurrection and coup attempts as part of its official strategy. It will mean America faces the daily risk of civil war and collapse. It means we will still be slaughtered during the next Republican insurrection.
That is why the Justice Department MUST pursue criminal charges against all Republican politicians who helped organize and carry out the coup attempt. That is the only way our country can change its course and the only way disaster can be averted. Focusing charges solely on Trump and his cronies (who no longer hold significant power) will be a mere distraction and allow us to fall into complacency.
***
What would a beyond-bare-minimum scenario look like? Realistically, all 147 Republican politicians who voted to overthrow the government can face criminal charges for engaging in the "Green Bay Sweep" conspiracy to overturn the legal results of the election. The "Green Bay Sweep" was a seditious conspiracy devised by Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro, the goal of which was to reject enough legal electoral votes to tip the election in Trump's favor. (We have more accurately been calling this the Coup Vote.)
While John Eastman and others focused on developing a seditious conspiracy for Vice President Pence to carry out, the "Green Bay Sweep" was the corresponding act of sedition that Republicans in Congress would have to carry out in order for the coup attempt to work. The coup organizers themselves have admitted over 300 Republican politicians had gotten together to go over the plan for January 6th--providing evidence they were part of the conspiracy and didn't just spontaneously decide to vote against certifying the election. Unlike Pence (who refused to play along), those 147 Republican members of Congress carried out this seditious conspiracy and thereby committed an actual act of sedition. (The seditious conspiracy (i.e. a plan) and the actual carrying out of the act of sedition are separate crimes).
It is extremely unfortunate to think that this is not the bare minimum scenario. But the Democratic Party is so incompetent, and has set the bar so low, that we would be deluding ourselves if we think that justice is guaranteed. Democrats have already demonstrated over the past 6+ years that, even in the face of overwhelming evidence and public outrage, they may still choose to do nothing.
What would a best case scenario look like? According to the Constitution, the punishment for treason is death.
And don't tell me they didn't "really" commit treason. During George Washington's time in office, people were convicted of treason during the Whiskey Rebellion. If a bunch of drunkards rioting over whiskey taxes was enough successfully get a treason conviction, then A POLITICAL PARTY TRYING TO OVERTHROW THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES is surely enough. If a bunch of drunkards rioting over whiskey taxes can be deemed domestic enemies of the United States, then the politicians who ORGANIZED AND CARRIED OUT AN ATTEMPT TO OVERTHROW THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES surely are.
In the coming months, we will likely hear a lot of Republican apologists repeating the nonsensical talking points that January 6th wasn't treason for reasons x, y, and z. Instead of succumbing to their gaslighting, we should assert the fact that January 6th apologists themselves are guilty of giving aid and comfort to enemies of America--i.e. treason.
***
***
...And what would a worst case scenario look like?
Republican politicians have promised bloodshed against those who do not embrace the Big Lie, Trump has told his supporters that they need to launch a second civil war if he faces any legal consequences, Republican Party leadership itself has officially declared the Insurrection and coup attempt to be a "legitimate political discourse", the Republican Party has giving a standing ovation to one of their politicians who advocated for assassinations, right-wingers are explicitly asking each other "when do we get to use the guns", coup organizers like John Eastman have declared the coup plots are still solid, professional traitors like Ted Cruz have promised to launch another self-coup to sabotage the government, and the list goes on and on...
We thought a coup attempt was unthinkable, yet it happened. Year after year we thought Republican crimes couldn't get any worse, yet Republicans continuously grew bolder and bolder after getting away with crimes without any punishment. If they are allowed to get away with a COUP ATTEMPT, then we shouldn't be surprised when they up the ante again. After all, they have already promised to do so (see previous paragraph)...
We will not be safe until every last one of these criminals are removed from society and our government proves that it is willing to uphold the law.
We must prepare ourselves for the worst case scenario NOW, or else it will be too late if it actually unfolds. The worst case scenario is just as likely as any of the other scenarios outlined. (Well, it is more likely than the best case scenario, sadly.) Now that we know what the Republican Party is capable of, and now that we have heard their promises of upcoming bloodshed on a scale not seen since the Civil War, we would be insane not to prepare to defend ourselves from what they are planning to unleash.
Until justice is dealt, we are not safe. The government enforcing the laws and removing every one of these dangerous criminals from society is the only thing that can remove America from the disastrous path we are on. But even in the best case scenario where all of the coup organizers and participants face the full extent of the law, there will likely be a continuous increase in far-right violence in the coming years.
Every non-treasonous American needs to (legally) get armed, train, and organize within our local communities so we can defend ourselves against the very real possibility of continued Republican violence. If we don't prepare NOW, it will be too late when they come knocking on our doors to slaughter us.
...If the worst case scenario unfolds (which means the majority of the Democratic Party and key figures of the Biden administration have decided to cover up the coup attempt and legalize Republican crimes), then we will know why Democrats have been trying to discourage left-wingers from getting armed over the past few years.
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