I wanted to post this a couple of days ago, but it took me this long to find it. Here is Laurence Tribe on Lawrence O’Donnell’s show Monday night, reacting to Trump’s “overturn the Election!” memo.
Maybe it’s just me, but he seems on the edge of a panic attack.
Recently it seems we get some new details about The Plot to Steal the Election every day. Today’s bit is that Trumpers wanted to seize raw data from the National Security Agency and Defense Department and sift through it for evidence of foreign interference in the election. See also Trumpers Wanted Conspiracy Theorist Help On Proposed NSA Effort To Steal Election at Talking Points Memo.
We don’t know if this idea was ever presented to Trump. However, we do know that Trump was involved in the scheme to seize voting machines.
Six weeks after Election Day, with his hold on power slipping, President Donald J. Trump directed his lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, to make a remarkable call. Mr. Trump wanted him to ask the Department of Homeland Security if it could legally take control of voting machines in key swing states, three people familiar with the matter said.
Mr. Giuliani did so, calling the department’s acting deputy secretary, who said he lacked the authority to audit or impound the machines.
The reporting, by the New York Times, says that on Rudy Giuliani’s advice, Trump rejected the suggestion to ask the Pentagon to seize voting machines. So instead he had Giuliani go to DHS. After being shot down by DHS, Trump asked Attorney General Barr to do it. Barr also shot the idea down. But in the meantime Trump also asked lawmakers in contested states to seize voting machines.
Later in the story —
Mr. Giuliani was vehemently opposed to the idea of the military taking part in the seizure of machines, according to two people familiar with the matter. The conflict between him and his legal team, and Mr. Flynn, Ms. Powell and Mr. Byrne came to a dramatic head on Dec. 18, 2020, during a meeting with Mr. Trump in the Oval Office.
At the meeting, Mr. Flynn and Ms. Powell presented Mr. Trump with a copy of the draft executive order authorizing the military to oversee the seizure of machines. After reading it, Mr. Trump summoned Mr. Giuliani to the Oval Office, according to one person familiar with the matter. When Mr. Giuliani read the draft order, he told Mr. Trump that the military could be used only if there was clear-cut evidence of foreign interference in the election.
Hence, the need for a fishing expedition to find evidence of foreign interference.
There’s a long article by Ed Kilgore at New York magazine that lays out the plot(s) to overturn the election. (If you don’t have a subscription, you can probably read it in an incognito or inprivate window. That’s what I do.) I linked yesterday to Philip Bump’s “the sloppy, patchwork, spaghetti-at-the-wall effort to steal the presidency.” See also Trump’s Words, and Deeds, Reveal Depths of His Drive to Retain Power by Shane Goldmacher at the New York Times. These all go over much the same material. But the point is that there’s a bleeping avalanche of evidence that Trump was actively attempting to overturn the election, and it’s all out in the open. There’s enough stuff out in public to put him away for years, as Laurence Tribe said.
We don’t know if the Justice Department is working on any of this. Maybe it is; maybe it isn’t. Waiting for Merrick Garland to Do Something is an ongoing topic of consternation in the nation’s op eds. Lots of people discuss the virtue of caution. But Trump is out in public telling his followers to violently punish any prosecutors, whether Letitia James, Fani Willis, or Alvin Bragg, who dare to indict him for anything. Fani Willis asked the Justice Department for protection.
That all three of these prosecutors are Black has not escaped Trump’s notice. Jonathan Chait:
Addressing a rally last weekend, former president Donald Trump presented himself as the victim of racist prosecutors. “These prosecutors are vicious, horrible people. They’re racists and they’re very sick. They’re mentally sick,” he bellowed. “If these radical, vicious, racist prosecutors do anything wrong or illegal,” Trump said, “I hope we are going to have in this country the biggest protest we have ever had in Washington, D.C., in New York, in Atlanta, and elsewhere. Because our country and our elections are corrupt.”
Yesterday, his largest adult son, Eric, took up the refrain with a slightly classier spin, filing suit against New York Attorney General Letitia James for what he called her “third world” conduct.
If you still need a decoder ring, the Trumps habitually attack whomever is prosecuting them as corrupt, but the alleged corruption is usually cast as either akin to Russia (i.e., second world) or embodying the corruption of American institutions Trump frequently alleges. Eric’s “third world” epithet is a specific reminder that the prosecutors in New York are Black and therefore lack the standing to charge his upstanding family with crimes.
I’m rooting for Fani Willis especially. Her taking down Trump on criminal charges would be just about the sweetest thing that ever happened in American history. Everything I hear about her says she is thorough and professional and won’t make a move until she’s got every “i” dotted.
In other news — in a hopeful sign, Trump-endorsed primary challengers to Republican politicans Trump doesn’t like are lagging way behind in fundraising.
Key Trump-backed Republican challengers were heavily outraised by their Republican primary opponents late last year, newly filed financial reports show. …
… The trend was most evident in Wyoming.
The incumbent, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), more than quadrupled the fourth-quarter fundraising haul of her top primary opponent, fellow Republican Harriet Hageman.
Cheney’s $2 million haul, her best-ever fundraising quarter, came as she spearheaded efforts to investigate Trump’s role in the January 6 Capitol attack — triggering the ex-president’s fury.
Hageman reported raising $443,000.
However, Trump’s candidates would be weaker general election candidates, I suspect, so Democrats might be better off if some of them won.
Fulton County Prosecutor Fani Willis
Oh yeah, King Rat is sweating bullets.
tRUMP's feeling more than a bit cornered, and hence, he's becoming CRAZIER!!!
And he's also getting more and more dangerous. King Rat may be an old rat, but with age, he's gotten meaner and more vengeful than before. And he wasn't any day at the beach before!
I don't think tRUMP will go quietly into that dark prison cell.
I worry that he's going to call for what he said this past weekend: Big protests.
Now, he may say "non-violent" protests.
But his tone and his eyes will tell what's really on his mind: "BURN EVERYTHING DOWN! BURN AMERICA DOWN TO THE GROUND!!!"
And if that happens, and a significant number of his MAGAts turn violent, where will that lead?!?
To Race riots, where the Whites start the riots?
Yes, that CAN happen here!
And we'll have a very uncivil civil war on our hands then, won't we?
Hopefully, I'll be proven wrong because his MAGA minions won't heed his call, and will just leave him like he's yesterday's news.
Because that's what he should be: Yesterday's news. But only after he starts rotting in jail. With his crooked family rotting by his side.
He's not just "daring" the US justice system, I'd add that he's mocking it mercilessly.
Enduring this slow motion dotting of i's and crossing of t's justice system process is exceedingly painful. If indeed there even is a comprehensive process working towards throwing these criminals and traitors into prison. I'm constantly assured by the Pollyannas that "Oh yes from the top down (Congress) and bottom up (DOJ) the coup leaders will be brought to justice – don't you worry."
Thanks for persevering maha.
BTW & OT: Did you folks hear that on some stupid network show called "The Masked Singer," they had Rudy Ghouliani pop out of some jumbo-sized cartoonish costume?
I shite Thee not! Rudy Ghouliani!!!
It was the same show that had Sarah Palin on earlier in the season. She would be another reason why I would never watch that idiotic show
Now, after Rudy popped-out, two of the judges walked out. The question I have, 'is what were the other judges thinking when the didn't join their cohorts?!?'
"The Masked Singer" my fat Russian/Ukrainian-American ass!
More like, "The Masked Seditionist!!!"
"… some stupid network show called "The Masked Singer,"…".
The network in question is, surprise, surprise…Fox.
I’m rooting for Fani Willis especially. Her taking down Trump on criminal charges would be just about the sweetest thing that ever happened in American history. Everything I hear about her says she is thorough and professional and won’t make a move until she’s got every “i” dotted.
Hear, hear! I’m also rooting for Michigan’s AG, Dana Nessel, and her pursuit of that state’s phony electors.
I have a lot of faith that the Jan 6 committee is coordinating with Garland’s DOJ, especially with such a blatant “I-dare-you” that’s the subject of this post.
I’m a lot more interested in how this devastating takedown-to-come of Trump will play out in the public space, and how it will be orchestrated for maximum effect. Surely the Mitch McConnells and the pros at that level know it’s over; but what will it take to get through to the rabid base? Many of them will never be convinced (the same ones who thought Nixon was innocent).
but what will it take to get through to the rabid base?
I believe that for the most part it's going to be something on the order of the cheering on of the Iraqi invasion. Once things turned to shit it seemed that nobody would admit that they were for the invasion in the first place. I think it will be the same with Trump, once his descent into criminal liability starts to accelerate his base will begin to disavow him.
Trump shot his wad on J6, and as a result there are about 850 ardent Trump supporters facing criminal charges. The Oath Keepers have been decimated, and the message has gone forth to all the militia types to keep their heads down and understand that they're playing with fire. My opinion is that Trump is done. He's going to milk the system to the very end, but in the end, he's going down.
Another thing that I have experienced and I'm sure I am not alone is what has been described as the Andrew Dyce Clay syndrome. Meaning that after repeated hearing of the same material it just gets old and the impact on the listener just doesn't register anymore. They become just empty words and stale phrases. like, fire and fury like the world has never seen. Yeah, I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house down.
All he's got now are idle threats! He's a bag of shit!
The governor's race in GA takes on a special significance. The Trumpster running against Kemp would likely give Trump a pardon. Kemp, I think would not. The polls I read suggest a dead heat in every direction. Perdue (the Trumpster) is even with Kemp and in a matchup either way against Abrams, it's within the margin of error.
Speaking of error, Trump is making the prosecution(s) about race. I don't think this will inspire the racists to be more racist. It will hit black voters in GA. Nobody is predicting a timetable but my guess is that the special grand jury will begin in the next couple of months – review evidence for a couple of months and an indictment might come down a couple of months after that. July 4? The trial will be delayed as long as possible – I'd bet well after the election. But if Trump is charged, the governor's race will be entirely about that.
Vindman filed a federal suit against Trump and Mayor Bug-eyes. That brings Ukraine and the first impeachment up again. Vindman is a stand-up guy who was screwed over for his testimony. I suspect he has a credible case. I'd like to see a review of the lawyers for the different cases and their reputations. I can't see any up-side to representing Trump – I wonder if they are the bottom of the barrel.
The general unwritten standard is that an x-presidednt can't be charged with a crime. Nixon is the classic precedent. Even Nixon seemed to recognize his crime and accept his exile. Trump is only disappointed that the first attempt at an overt coup in the USA failed. And he's willing to try again. The Justice Department is at risk if Trump returns – will self-preservation kick in?
Regarding the pace of the system of justice, I have a theory. I have no solid evidence, so I’m not presenting this as a fact.
I suspect that the justice process could move more quickly if there were not in place some “sand in the gears.” I believe that our system of justice and the intelligence community are doing their best to move forward as quickly as possible. But I suspect that all of the well intentioned public servants in those organizations are well aware of, and have to deal with the likelihood that there are moles of unknown number and identity within their own organizations. Moles not from a single foreign power, but from within our own country but loyal to the international autocratic anti rule-of-law movement.
The seeds have been in our country since before the Civil War, but in recent times, a famous Republican president in the 1980’s essentially declared that government was the enemy of the people. When did Grover Norquist begin the campaign to get every R candidate for office to sign a pledge of loyalty to the sedition movement? Long ago. For 40 years seditionists have been slowly infiltrating our government, justice system and local law enforcement.
RICO is good. But the challenge is not easy.
The only window we really have toward seeing the future is human behavior. When Liz Cheney and other Republicans who have stood up to Trump, are out fundraising their opposition, this is better data than a poll. It shows both support and a level of commitment which polling lacks. Another good data omen comes by way of a rejection by the world of Meta (The company formerly known as Facebook). It posted a dismal quarter with decreases in subscribers and earnings. This can be interpreted a number of ways, but it could mark a change in Zeitgeist…the spirit of the times…away from the antisocial. Paul Krugman alluded to this in a recent op-ed:
Mark Zuckerberg and Donald Trump have both rode the giant wave of the antisocial. How antisocial is one who attacks prosecutors for the color of their skin rather than question their own conduct? Krugman cites Hobbs:
The sordidness of 1/6, and the quest by Trump to steal the election was done by those who reject a government which would take such a responsibility. A change in the social winds might come before we are destined toward "nasty, brutish and short". No sane person would choose that.
Opinion | Guns, Germs, Bitcoin and the Antisocial Right – The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Just to understand how desperate and crazy it got… We almost had the Cracken released.
Trump was poised to appoint Sidney Powell as special counsel to help overturn election: report (msn.com)