June 9, 2022
Today promises to be a huge day in the story of the January 6, 2021, insurrection. The Committee investigating it will go live, tonight, with its findings and evidence.
Every major network, except for Fox (which is just pathetic on their part) will run it live. So will C-SPAN. The committee is set to go on the air at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, 6:00 Mountain Standard.
How many Wyomingites, however, will tune in to see it, and to see a story that many simply do not wish to?
June 10, 2022
The first hearing was held, featuring the chairman and the co-chairman, Liz Cheney, delivering powerful opening statements.
It's clear that the committee, over a series of hearings, intends to demonstrate that:
- A conspiracy to steal the election was developed by Trump and his inner circle prior to the November 2020 election.
- Numerous members of his immediate staff and cabinet were not in on it and informed him repeatedly that he'd lost the election and that there was no evidence to the contrary.
- The Proud Boys and Oath Keepers independently developed a plan to seize control of the government for Trump, believing the fable that he'd lost the election.
- At some level, Trump was cognizant of the likelihood that the Oath Keepers and Proud boys would act and egged them on, believing that this would operate to keep him in power.
In short, the Committee intends to demonstrate what happened on January 6 was part of an attempted coup, and they'll ask for a criminal referral for Trump for sedition when they conclude.
This will go on weekly, once a week, for weeks, which in my view is a mistake. They'd be better off doing this in a series of hearings over a week.
Cheney's speech was very effectively delivered.
Some highlights were: 1) the dramatic testimony of a Metropolitan Police Force officer who was knocked unconscious and returned to duty that evening; 2) Bill Barr's taped testimony that he had informed Trump that there was no evidence Trump had lost the election; 3) Ivanka Trump's testimony that Barr's views did operate to impact her own, as she respects Barr; 4) a documentarian's testimony about how the Proud Boys started on their March prior to Trump's call to the crowed; 5) a statement that when Trump was informed that the crowed was threatening to "hang Mike Pence" that his reply was "maybe he deserves it"; 6) after the insurrection there were discussions inside the inner circle about invoking the 25th Amendment. Outside the White House, this occurred as well, with Sean Hannity and Kayleigh McEnany texting about invoking the 25th Amendment.
Some of the very early GOP reaction was to focus on inflation.
June 13, 2022
Testimony from June 13.
Frankly, the information today is so shocking that it raises genuine questions as to former President Trump's sanity. Keep in mind, a person doesn't have to be a raving lunatic in order to be insane.
It's extremely clear that numerous people around Trump told him that he lost the election, and he would have had no reasonable basis to keep on arguing that he didn't. He very much would have no reasonable basis to do so now. Given that, he's either 1) delusional, or 2) intentionally lying and doesn't care about the implications, both of which raise questions on his sanity.
That doesn't mean that all of those who have adopted his lies are crazy, by any means. Indeed, as most people wouldn't assume a sitting President to be insane, believing the lies is at least somewhat excusable, up to a point, on that basis. But to willfully reject the plain evidence isn't excusable, and that would include not only regular people, but also candidates who truly know better.
June 16, 2022
Today's January 6 hearing shall be at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time, or 11:00 Western.
The last one certainly proved to be interesting, with Bill Stephien making it clear that he didn't think the election was stolen. He's now Harriet Hageman's campaign advisor, with Hageman still maintaining she "does know" who won the election. Stephien feels he knows, and the winner was Joe Biden.
It isn't clear, at this time, who today's witnesses will be, although it seems to be the case that one will be a retired Republican appointed Federal Judge.
June 17, 2022
From news accounts, it's clear that Mike Pence was put under tremendous pressure to refuse to certify the vote by President Trump and that law professor John Eastman's theory that this could be done was adopted by Trump. Others in the inside loop warned Trump that this was "crazy". Trump had been advised what Eastman was advocating was illegal.
Retired Federal Judge J. Michael Eastman, who was a Pence advisor, and who once employed Eastman as a clear (as had Clarence Thomas) stated that; "Trump and his supporters are a clear and present danger to American democracy”. This emphasizes a view that Trump is continuing to conspire against Constitutional democracy in the United States.
On this, a conservative columnist wrote a column the other day posing the question of whether the committee is urging the Justice Department to bring charges for sedition against Trump. He goes no to suppose no jury in the land would convict him, and that such a thing would be divisive.
It would be divisive, but frankly a jury in many places, with the evidence being revealed, would convict the former President. He doesn't seem to have much of a defense, and the in fact the GOP isn't presenting one. Instead, confronted with all of this evidence, its reply is "but look at inflation".
This is the anniversary of the Watergate breaking, which lead to President Nixon's downfall, as he knew impeachment was coming. President Ford pardoned him, and I've long thought that one of the two great failure to try instances in the nation's history. Pardoning Nixon for a crime that was considerably less severe than the one that it appears Trump committed set up the concept that trying a President or former President just isn't done. That in fact makes them above the law, and that's a huge part of the problem we're facing right now.
June 24, 2022
I haven't seen this week's hearings, but it's clear that they've detailed the pressure put on state officials, and more dramatically, the Trump Administration's efforts to pressure the Justice Department to go along with his stolen election fable.
Additionally, the names of Republican Congressmen who asked for preemptive pardons were named. Mo Brooks asked for a pardon for all of the Congressmen who voted not to certify the election. Brooks, it might be noted, just went down in defeat in his state's Republican primary for the Senate.
Whether this is changing anyone's minds is another question, but what the Committee has done is a good job of showing that a criminal indictment would be warranted and put things in the place that those who aren't seeing the Trump Administration's efforts to seize power and remain in office simply don't wish to, no matter what else they may otherwise believe about the election.
June 28, 2022.
Absolutely shocking.
And frankly horrifying.
Will anything be done?
Will those who have refused to accept that there was an insurrection change their minds now?
Will those campaigning solely on their loyalty to Trump modify their positions at all, or adopt, by refusing to do so, ongoing insurrection?
July 22, 2022
On January 6 the Pentagon attempted to call President Trump. He didn't want to take the call so his lawyer took it.
Yikes.
July 27, 2022
News has officially broken that the Department of Justice is investigating Donald Trump regarding the January 6 insurrection.
And with that, we will close out this installment. The January 6 Committee is in a hiatus of public hearings, and the DOJ is looking at charges. We don't really know how far along they are on that, but at this point my prediction is that charges for seditious conspiracy will in fact be levied.
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