All of a sudden, last night there were news stories about the Justice Department looking more deeply into the January 6 insurrection. From WaPo:
In the past two months, a federal grand jury in Washington has issued subpoena requests to some officials in former president Donald Trump’s orbit who assisted in planning, funding and executing the Jan. 6 rally, said the people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.
The development shows the degree to which the Justice Department investigation — which already involves more defendants than any other criminal prosecution in the nation’s history — has moved further beyond the storming of the Capitol to examine events preceding the attack.
Cristina Cabrera at Talking Points Memo writes,
- The grand jury in the DOJ’s investigation has issued several subpoenas to some people in Trump’s circle who were involved in the rally, the Post and the Times report. One of the subpoenas reportedly focuses on people who were “classified as VIP attendees” at the rally.
- MAGAland’s fake Trump elector plot is also part of the investigation now, according to the Times.
- The Justice Department is also now scrutinizing those in the executive and legislative branches who were involved in any pre-insurrection rallies or tried to “obstruct, influence, impede or delay” Congress’ Jan. 6 certification of the election results.
Here’s a story about the DOJ investigating the fake Trump electors, which is dated January 25. This is something we knew.
Maybe the reason Merrick Garland had to take some time to actually start doing this job, is that just a few years ago, he was nominated – and introduced! – as the next Supreme Court Justice, and instead, found himself the loneliest man in DC – a place where you're told that if you want a friend, to get a dog.
He was left lonelier than that.
So now, I expect him to be quite productive.
Or else…
To me Trump’s fake electors plot is a slam dunk conviction stampede.
They forged documents and the DOJ has the forged documents.
IMO, the DOJ has an aversion to prosecuting rich people. It was after Bernie Madoff was convicted that some one observed that the only crime a rich man will ever be charged for is stealing from another rich person. The first time around, Epstein practically walked from a slam-dunk case of multiple statutory rape charges.
Cases where rich people do zero jail time, even for rape and manslaughter abound – some judges find it impossible to lock up the rich person even after a conviction by a jury. The GOP freaked at the suggestion of criminal charges for the fraudulent elector documents signed by affluent and important Republicans.
It's not what you did, it's how rich you are and how connected you are. It's easy to slide into a chorus of, "Those Damned Republicans" until you see examples of Democrats who are granted exemption from prosecution. The GOP has threatened retaliation against Democrats if connected people get charged. (Do you think Democrats who may have committed 'technical' infrations of election law haven't taken note?)
Nixon wasn't charged, he was pardoned by President Ford. This established a non-binding precedent the A/G would violate by charging Trump. A bunch of people (including McCarthy) participated in the insurrection and are liable to be charged if Trump is (and may walk if Trump isn't.) You have to appreciate the quandry they were in. They were invited to participate in the insurrection under duress – if they did not participate wholehertedly in the J6 scheme, (and Trump won) they would be expelled from politics forever and persecuted by Trump wherever they went. Trump lost in the insurrection and they are trying to avoid jail with every trick in the book.
If Trump is charged,, there wil be riots. Period. I do not think there will be a "civil war." There are millions of people who "believe" in Trump and no facts will ever sway them. A small percentage will go over the edge and participate in violence in support of Trump at the behest of some highly skilled propagandists. IMO, the feds have the organized groups infiltrated to the extent an organized revolution can't happen. But we will find out in time.
I'm not sure Garland has the cohones to see the prosecution of Trump, McCarthy, Giulani, Cruz, etc. If you have video of somebody attacking DC cops, they are fair game – expendable. I think Garland wants to stop there but Trump isn't cooperating. Aligning himself with Putin changes the game – collusion between Putin and Trump means the WH (in a second Trump term) becomes a fully-owned extension of the Kremlin. Putin, like Trump, likes to get revenge. (Putin likes to use exotic poisons so there's no doubt of the source.) I shudder at the thought of a second Trump term after Ukraine when Putin is more desparate than Trump ever was.
I'm not sure Garland sees the geopolitics here – it's not about Trump.All of democracy is at stake, I think Biden does see it but the Nixon precedent is strong. The House needs to put on a good show when they take the hearings public. Biden should let Garland know that if he's not going to prosecute, Biden wants a report explaining WHY!!! If Garland's argument can't convice the WH counsel that there isn't physical evidence or witnesses, Biden needs to ask for Garland's resignation.
The Justice Dept. was almost two years into the Watergate investigation when Nixon resigned. My memory fogs but I think the DOJ was nowhere the end of the investigation with it's twist and turns from a burglary to obstruction of justice to coverups to a fear Nixon would pull an ACHTUNG! and declare a constitutional crises and national security threat to assume full powers.
And that was at a time when there wasn't anywhere as much malarky and shenanigans, (YES, MALARKY AND SHENANIGANS) as we see today from the Guys Opprobrium Post.
I, for one, expect the current investigation to move even more peristaltically and slug like than the previous.
As for the rich getting away with crimes, as Doug pointed out in in the previous post, it is a disease that our country seems to accept as the way of the world. We must raise our voices and remain visible to the wealthy's frontline (politicos) and remind them again and again that we can effect removal from their positions.
That will be the tough part. I have moved to a state where the perpetrator of the largest Medicare fraud in American history was punished with a two term governorship and a Senate seat where where his colleagues complain only about the skins he leaves behind when he molts.
Yes, hard. Very hard.
It is getting harder and harder for the Republican party to claim the moral high road, but the rich think you can have that road and blow it up too. Putin is rich. Really rich. He gets his own gilded reality where the truth is polished to oblivion before he sees it. If he can't have the Ukraine, he will destroy it and the hard-working people who built it. In doing so he must lose the moral high road and rely on his tools to alter perceptions (like Tucker Carlson?). He is leaving a trail of crimes too, but being elite, he is fairly sure he will avoid consequences. He may even think this venture will seal his rule as a noble one in Russian history. To him his efforts to save the Ukraine from Western decadence, to us, look like war crimes and senseless acts of death and destruction. He may have a secret reality bending machine which will change our perceptions. He had one in our White House for a while, though he could not quite pull off the big lie and stay in power.
Polls still measure belief in the big lie among Republican party members to be a significant majority in spite of mounting evidence to the contrary and growing proof on criminal behavior toward a coup on multiple fronts. The true believers are still holding fast. In the meantime, plans are being made as to who will be sacrificed and who will be on the save or pardon list. Not everyone was in on the planning and organization of the coup attempt it seems, and for them the gap in the phone records to the White House on 1/6 is good fortune. As Jharp writes, whoa to those who created the alternative elector documents, as their evidence trail is well etched. They are going to have a lot of explaining to do.
Off Topic – Also wonkish. IMO, significant.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/04/02/trump-conservatives-emergency-meeting-gop-russia-00022419
Where are "America First" Trumpists going with the Russian invasion of Ukraine? That's the subject, based on a meeting in DC. They are staking out their position with a Trump run in 2024 the final prize which a Trumpian alignment with the Kremlin will affect.
Great link. Conservative has morphed into a word that is impossible to define. It is easier to think of notions they abhor than ones they support. How can one call themselves a Conservative if the group cannot agree on what it is that they are wanting to conserve? Imagine a conservatory of music that cannot agree on any music that is worth being played. All they can do is have meetings about what types of music they hate. That hardly justifies the institution's existence at all.
It seems the Republican party, with its embracement of an undefined conservatism, is in that spot. They would promote some idea or ideas if they could find any worthy of the conservative ideal, whatever that might be.
Republicans call themselves conservatives because that sounds a lot better than 'White Supremacist' and 'Christofascist'.
The political angle just got more interesting if news of organized Russian atrocities is true. I have seen pictures and video from north of Keiv, neighborhoods the Russians pulled out of. The forensics need to be validated by a third party. (I'm for Ukraine, but I do not believe everything they put out on face value.)
My anger is there – don't misread my post. If the war crimes are not propaganda (proven in court), I'll sign up as an executioner for anyone who participated from the foot soldier to Putin himself. And I won't lose any sleep. But let me set that aside.
Trump hasn't wavered in his support of Putin in six years. Perhaps before I die, we'll know if it was hero-worship or blackmail. Set that aside, too. I don't think Trump will condemn the invasion or put the blame for war crimes at Putin's feet. The vast majority of Americans are angry about the invasion – here in Florida, the same electronic billboard that has anti-Biden ads is running anti-Putin ads.
Trump has to start campaigning in less than a year – Ukraine won't be settled by then. This will be a center-stage issue. From any other candidate, I'd expect a pivot from the previous support of best-buddy Putin to condemnation of war crimes and demand for withdrawl. Not from Trump – that's my prediction. Trump may try to go silent on the issue, "It's very sad but there's blame and fault to go around on all sides." And that won't fly with voters.
Keep an eye on Fox News and Governor DeSantis – I think they will try to pull the rug out from under Trump. (Hannity and Tucker won't go along with it.)
I know I am a blowhard, but one thing I did say at the beginning of the war is that all Ukrainians feel like the petunias falling to earth in the Hitchhikers Guide: Oh no, not again.
This is the world that the GQP wants for the US of A.