;)
June 14, 2022
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
The New York Times is live-updating Tuesday's primary election results here. CNN's live updates are here.
Liz Cheney provides a fun clip of former White House lawyer Eric Herschmann's interview before the January 6 committee. This is an extension of the clip aired during Monday's hearing:
Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: Team Trump descends into vicious, post-hearing infighting.
Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "The House on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved legislation that would extend police protection to the immediate families of Supreme Court justices, clearing the bill for President Biden at a time of rising concern about threats to justices as a potentially momentous abortion ruling looms. The vote was 396 to 27, with all of the opposition coming from Democrats, who tried unsuccessfully to extend the protections to the families of court employees. The action sent the measure to Mr. Biden for his signature."
Zachary Cohen & Whitney Wild of CNN: "US Capitol Police have concluded after reviewing security footage that 'there is no evidence' GOP Rep. Barry Loudermilk led a reconnaissance tour with Trump supporters trying to learn more about the Capitol complex the day before the deadly January 6 insurrection. The House select committee investigating January 6, 2021, raised the issue publicly in a letter last month asking Loudermilk to explain the purpose of his January 5 meeting with a group of constituents.... 'There is no evidence that Representative Loudermilk entered the U.S. Capitol with this group on January 5, 2021,' Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger wrote in a letter on Monday to Rep. Rodney Davis, the top Republican on the House Administration Committee. 'We train our officers on being alert for people conducting surveillance or reconnaissance, and we do not consider any of the activities we observed as suspicious.'" The Capitol Police review was done at the urging of Davis.
Washington State. Cashing in on Bigotry. Livia Albeck-Ripka of the New York Times: "The City of Kent, Wash., will pay more than $1.5 million to an assistant police chief to resign after he was disciplined for displaying a Nazi insignia on his office door. The officer, Assistant Chief Derek Kammerzell, taped the symbol of oak leaves and diamonds, signifying the rank of Obergruppenführer, a high-ranking SS officer, to his office door in September 2020, according to the city of Kent, which is south of Seattle.... The settlement follows months of negotiations and an investigation of Chief Kammerzell, conducted by a private law firm, that was ordered by the city.... The Jewish Federation said the payout was the 'best possible outcome' because it ensured Chief Kammerzell would not return to his role in law enforcement."
Four states -- South Carolina, Nevada, Maine & North Dakota -- are holding primary elections today. There is a special election in Texas. ~~~
~~~ Eric Bradner & Gregory Krieg of CNN: "Two South Carolina Republicans will attempt to hold on to their seats in primaries Tuesday after breaking with ... Donald Trump over his lies about the 2020 election and his role in the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol. Nevada, meanwhile, showcases Trump's effort to take over the election machinery in a series of battleground states, as his endorsed candidates attempt to win a slate of statewide primaries. In Texas, voters in the Rio Grande Valley will fill a seat in Congress in a special election. In Maine, they will tee up two midterm races that are expected to be hard-fought battles. And in North Dakota, Republican Sen. John Hoeven is poised to be nominated for another term."
Annie Grayer of CNN: "The House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol has postponed its hearing scheduled for Wednesday. The next hearing is scheduled for Thursday afternoon. Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, a member of the committee, told reporters that the reason for the rescheduling was due to 'technical issues' and 'not a big deal.' 'It's just technical issues,' she said. 'You know the staff, putting together all the videos.... It was overwhelming. So we're trying to give them a little room.' Lofgren said Wednesday's hearing topic, which was focused on the Department of Justice, will get moved to another day, and Thursday will still focus on ... Donald Trump's efforts to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to refuse to certify the election results."
~~~~~~~~~~
Zoë Richards of NBC News: "The chair of the House committee investigating the Capitol riot said Monday night that the panel will not make any criminal referrals, even though its leaders have previously hinted at the possibility of doing so. 'Our job is to look at the facts and circumstances around January 6 -- what caused it -- and make recommendations after that,' Chair Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., told reporters as he left the House chamber after the second day of public hearings by the panel.... 'We don't have authority.' While Democrats have hoped the congressional hearings would lead to criminal prosecutions, making a criminal referral -- instead of simply inspiring the Justice Department to act -- comes with the risk of making the committee's entire investigation appear political." ~~~
~~~ Update. Ryan Nobles, et al., of CNN: Rep. Bennie Thompson's "statement drew quick reactions from members of the committee, revealing the panel is split over how to handle a potential referral of the former President and his associates for prosecution.... Rep. Liz Cheney, who serves as vice chair of the committee, released a statement contradicting the chairman's comments. 'The January 6th Select Committee has not issued a conclusion regarding potential criminal referrals. We will announce a decision on that at an appropriate time,' the Wyoming Republican tweeted. The comment marked a rare public break between the two leaders of the committee.... Committee member Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, appeared surprised later Monday when asked about the chairman's comments."
Luke Broadwater and Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump's attorney general testified that he believed the president had grown delusional as he insisted on pushing false claims of widespread election fraud that he was told repeatedly were groundless, according to a videotaped interview played on Monday by the special committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack. 'He's become detached from reality if he really believes this stuff,' William P. Barr, the former attorney general, told the panel, adding, 'There was never an indication of interest in what the actual facts were.' In a hearing focused on the origins and spread of Mr. Trump's lie of a stolen election, the panel played excerpts from Mr. Barr's testimony, as well as that of a chorus of campaign aides and administration officials who recounted, one after the other, how his claims of election irregularities were bogus.... Then the panel laid out how Mr. Trump's initial lie gave way to more falsehoods of election fraud, which grew more outlandish as time wore on.... At one point during his deposition, Mr. Barr could not control his laughter at the absurdity of the claims, which included defense contractors in Italy using satellites to flip votes and a scheme orchestrated by the former Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, who died in 2013.... ~~~
~~~ The committee asserted that Mr. Trump used the lie of a stolen election to raise hundreds of millions of dollars, duping his donors and ultimately fooling his supporters into showing up at the Capitol to press his bogus claims of a massive election 'steal.' The committee presented evidence that there was not, in fact, an 'Election Defense Fund' for the Trump campaign, despite the campaign soliciting millions in donations for one. 'The big lie was also a big rip-off,' said Representative Zoe Lofgren, Democrat of California, who was leading the presentation on Monday."
Marie: Lofgren knows impeachments. Alex Rogers of CNN (Jan. 22, 2021): "The California Democrat ... is the only member of the House and Senate involved in the three impeachment investigations of the modern era, serving as a staffer to Rep. Don Edwards, a member of the House Judiciary committee, in 1974, before being elected to the same seat two decades later." She was a member of the House during Bill Clinton's impeachment in 1999, and she was an impeachment manager for Trump's second impeachment in 2021.
The Washington Post's top report on the hearing, by Mike DeBonis & Jacqueline Alemany, is here: "Attorney General Merrick Garland, who oversees prosecutors who are evaluating potential federal charges against Trump and other officials, said Monday that the Justice Department is monitoring the hearings closely. 'I'm sure I will be watching all of it, and I can assure you the January 6 prosecutors are watching all of the hearings, as well,' he said. Asked Monday whether [President] Biden supported charging Trump with a crime based on what has come out of the hearings, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said the decision would be up to Garland. 'The president has been very clear,' she said. 'The Department of Justice is independent.'" An NPR story the DoJ's teevee-watching practices is here.
Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "The Jan. 6 committee used its second hearing to lay out evidence that Donald Trump must have known better: that he was repeatedly informed that his claims of widespread voter fraud were bogus and that he had lost the 2020 election -- and he pressed forward in trying to overturn the result regardless. The question is crucial when it comes to determining whether Trump's effort meets the legal definition of acting 'corruptly.'... Former attorney general William P. Barr featured prominently.... On Monday, [the committee] played video of Barr saying that he had debunked specific allegations to Trump.... Former deputy attorney general Richard Donoghue also [on video] ran through a litany of allegations in significant detail, saying he informed Trump that there was nothing to them.... Donoghue added that 'there were so many of these allegations that when you gave him a very direct answer on one of them, he wouldn't fight us on it, but he would move to another allegation.' That sounds a lot more like a guy who is looking for a pretext to overturn an election than one who is legitimately worried about election integrity." Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien testified (via video interview) that Trump threw "Team Normal" under the bus & replaced them with Rudy & the Irregulars. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Michael Shear & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: In the early morning hours on the day after the 2020 election, a "definitely intoxicated" Rudy Giuliani, according to Trump aide Jason Miller, "was spouting conspiracy theories. 'They're stealing it from us,' Mr. Giuliani told the president.... 'Where do all the votes come from? We need to go say that we won.'... Several times that night, Mr. Trump's own family members and closest advisers urged him to reject Mr. Giuliani's advice.... But in the end, Mr. Giuliani was the only one that night who told the president what he wanted to hear. Mr. Giuliani's rantings about stolen ballots fed into the president's own conspiracy theories about a rigged election, nursed in public and private since long before the votes were counted. They helped spark a monthslong assault on democracy and -- in the committee's view -- led inexorably to the mob that breached the Capitol hoping to stop the certification of Joseph R. Biden Jr. as president." ~~~
~~~ To summarize: Trump had been advised more than once that the early vote totals would look better for him than the final vote totals because the late-counted votes would likely lean heavily Democratic. All his paid advisors and some family members advised him not to declare victory while votes were still being counted. Trump then turns to the drunk at the end of the bar (hair dye dripping into the bowl of Cheetos) who says, "Go ahead and say you won." Trump goes to the podium, declares himself the winner and says he wants all the vote-counting to stop. ~~~
~~~ Dana Milbank of the Washington Post also found Rudy's performance bizarre: "... thanks to the select committee, we now know that people inside the Trump administration and campaign also thought him preposterous -- with one key exception: Trump. The committee relived some of Giuliani's most ludicrous claims, sometimes accompanied by footage of his wild-eyed TV appearances. Votes 'in garbage cans' and in 'shopping baskets' being wheeled in for counting under orders from Frankfurt, Germany. Eight thousand dead people voting in Pennsylvania. A suitcase full of ballots pulled from under a table in Georgia. Votes manipulated via Italy, the Philippines and a deceased communist dictator in Venezuela.... Trump disbanded [Bill Stepien's] Team Normal the second week after the election. Instead, he arranged for 'Mayor Giuliani to be moved in as the person in charge of the legal side of the campaign, and, for all intents and purposes, the campaign.'"
Philip Bump of the Washington Post: Donald Trump has been claiming voter fraud for years. In every circumstance where he didn't do well in 2016, it was because of rampant voter fraud. "By early 2020, Trump refocused his claims [on mail-in ballots].... Two days before the election, Axios reported that Trump had a plan: If the election was close enough, he would simply declare victory before the voting was done [and the mail-in votes, which always favored Democrats, were counted].... What all of this reinforces, of course, is that Trump's claims of fraud were independent of the actual votes." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
** Tim Miller of the Bulwark: "Team Normal. How about that for some self-flattery. Bill Stepien spent 5 years watching Donald Trump's cruelty, pathological duplicity, irrationality, narcissistic personality disorder, buffoonery, and criminality. After that half-decade of evidence, this 'professional' decided to accept a role as the campaign manager for Trump's flagging re-election campaign.... He chose to sit in the big-boy chair as the man-child responsible for getting Trump four more years in power.... Bill said that in the days after the election he 'stepped away' from the crazy because he is 'honest,' and thus couldn't be a part of it.... So what did 'stepping away' entail, exactly, for Stepien? Did he resign in protest? Did he go to the press with all the evidence that his boss was deluded? Did he call cabinet officials to tell them to consider the 25th Amendment? Did he go to Congress, like Chris Krebs? Did he testify against his boss at the impeachment hearings? No. No. No. Nope. Uh-uh." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Stepien "stepped away" from Trump the way he "stepped away" from his girlfriend Bridgit ("Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.") Kelly. Chris Christie tried to save his own butt by firing Stepien from two top New Jersey GOP jobs on account of Stepien's "lack of judgment." (WashPo link) Stepien's judgment has not improved. Ladies & gents, before you make a romantic commitment to a GOP poohbah, bear in mind that your main job as his or her helpmate will be to convincingly utter, "You did nothing wrong, darling."
Brett Samuels of the Hill: "Former President Trump on Monday issued a 12-page rebuttal to testimony and evidence presented by a House committee investigating the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, accusing Democrats of seeking to distract from a series of domestic issues facing the country.... In the 12-page document, Trump repeats a handful of disproven claims to assert the 2020 election was stolen from him and rigged in favor of Democrats, including some that were brought up during testimony by former Trump campaign and administration officials. One section of Trump's statement focuses on ballot trafficking claims, for which he cites the Dinesh D'Souza documentary '2000 Mules.' In testimony shown earlier Monday, former Attorney General William Barr laughed at the mention of the film, saying he was 'unimpressed with it' and dismissed the idea that it proved widespread fraud. Another section asserts that President Biden could not have won the states of Pennsylvania, Arizona or Georgia because he got more Black votes and Hispanic votes than former President Obama. ~~~
~~~ "Trump in one section claimed states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan took additional time after Election Day to count ballots because it was part of an elaborate scheme to ship in fraudulent votes so Biden could erase Trump's narrow leads in those states. But former Fox News editor Chris Stirewalt testified in person on Monday to dismiss that very theory, known as the 'red mirage.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: Super that Trump managed to insert a dollop of racism into his rebuttal.
Jackson Richman of Mediaite: "Former Fox News host and Trump campaign adviser Kimberly Guilfoyle was paid $60,000 for a two-minute-and-thirty-second speech on the Ellipse on Jan. 6, shortly before the attack at the U.S. Capitol, according to a member of the House committee investigating that day. The committee alleged at a hearing on Monday that ... Donald Trump raised more than $250 million from his supporters for an 'official election defense fund' -- a fund that did not exist. CNN anchor Jake Tapper said in an interview with Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) on Monday ... that '... you and the committee members thought that some of Trump's supporters are victims of this, even some of those who got swept up on Jan. 6.'... 'I think the average donation from those email -- false email requests was something like $17. These were people that weren't rich people. They were conned by the president whose was a Big Lie was also a Big Rip-Off,' [Lofgren said]. The money went to fund some fairly pricey expenditures, Lofgren said, including" the $60K that went to Guilfoyle.
Michael Kranish of the Washington Post: "Three days before Congress was slated to certify the 2020 presidential election, a little-known Justice Department official named Jeffrey Clark rushed to meet ... Donald Trump in the Oval Office to discuss a last-ditch attempt to reverse the results. Clark ... had outlined a plan in a letter he wanted to send to the leaders of key states Joe Biden won. It said that the Justice Department had 'identified significant concerns' about the vote and that the states should consider sending 'a separate slate of electors supporting Donald J. Trump.'... In fact, Clark's bosses had warned there was not evidence to overturn the election and had rejected his letter days earlier.... Clark's letter and his Oval Office meeting set off one of the tensest chapters during Trump's effort to overturn the election.... His plan could have decapitated the Justice Department leadership and could have overturned the election.... A reconstruction of the events by The Washington Post ... shows how close the country came to crisis three days before the insurrection."
Amy Gardner & Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post: "About a third of the way through the 2022 primaries, voters have nominated scores of Republican candidates for state and federal office who say the 2020 election was rigged, according to a new analysis by The Washington Post. District by district, state by state, voters in places that cast ballots through the end of May have chosen at least 108 candidates for statewide office or Congress who have repeated Trump's lies. The number jumps to at least 149 winning candidates -- out of more than 170 races -- when it includes those who have campaigned on a platform of tightening voting rules or more stringently enforcing those already on the books, despite the lack of evidence of widespread fraud."
Mohammed Hadi & Jeanna Smialek of the New York Times: "On Monday, the S&P fell 3.9 percent, closing the day nearly 22 percent below its Jan. 3 peak and firmly in a bear market -- a rare and grim marker of investors' growing concerns for the economy. A crucial report on Friday showed inflation in the United States was accelerating and creeping into every corner of the economy. Earlier last week, the World Bank issued a dire warning that global growth may be choked, especially as the war in Ukraine drags on. Together, the data undercut optimism that the Federal Reserve, as it raises interest rates, would be able to keep price gains under control without damaging the American economy and sending ripples throughout the globe."
Myah Ward of Politico: "President Joe Biden will travel to the Middle East next month, making stops in Israel, the West Bank and then Saudi Arabia, where he'll seek to rebuild relations after vowing to make the kingdom a 'pariah.' The president's travels will have him in the region July 13-16, and he'll meet with more than a dozen of his counterparts, a senior administration official said."
Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "The Air Force has cleared the crew of an American military C-17 cargo plane that took off from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul last August with people hanging onto the wings, during the frenzied days of the Afghanistan evacuation. Twin reviews of the harrowing incident, in which human body parts were later discovered in the wheel well of the plane, concluded that the aircrew was 'in compliance with applicable rules of engagement,' Ann Stefanek, an Air Force spokeswoman, said in a statement on Monday."
Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "What's missing from [Democratic] party leaders, an absence that is endlessly frustrating to younger liberals, is any sense of urgency and crisis -- any sense that our system is on the brink. Despite mounting threats to the right to vote, the right to an abortion and the ability of the federal government to act proactively in the public interest, senior Democrats continue to act as if American politics is back to business as usual.... The current generation of Democratic leaders, including the president and many of his closest allies ... came into national politics in an age of bipartisan consensus and centrist policymaking, at a time when the parties and their coalitions were less ideological and more geographically varied.... Millions of Democratic voters can see and feel that American politics has changed in profound ways since at least the 1990s, and they want their leaders to act, and react, accordingly. Standing in the way of this demand, unfortunately, is the stubborn -- and ultimately ruinous -- optimism of some of the most powerful people in the Democratic Party." ~~~
~~~ Marie: While I agree with Bouie, I should like to remind him that age is a state of mind. Just look at Bernie Sanders & Elizabeth Warren. They get it.
Frances Sellers of the Washington Post: "Covid is making flu and other common viruses act in unfamiliar ways."
Amanda Coletta of the Washington Post: "Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus for a second time, days after meeting with President Biden and several other world leaders at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles."
Beyond the Beltway
Georgia Senate Race. Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker falsely claimed at least three times to have served in law enforcement. The Donald Trump-endorsed Republican candidate made the false claims in three speeches delivered before he entered politics, according to a new analysis by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 'I worked in law enforcement, so I had a gun,' Walker said in 2013 at a suicide prevention event for the U.S. Army. 'I put this gun in my holster and I said, "I'm gonna kill this dude.'" Walker was describing a 2001 incident when he took a gun to pursue a man who was late delivering a car, which he later said led him to seek mental health treatment.... 'I work with the Cobb County Police Department,' Walker said five years ago, 'and I've been in criminal justice all my life.' Two years later, in 2019, Walker told soldiers at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington that he had been a federal agent." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Ohio. Because It's "Impractical" for Teachers to Know How to Handle the Guns They Carry onto Campus. Campbell Robertson of the New York Times: "Teachers and other school employees in Ohio will be able to carry firearms into school with a tiny fraction of the training that has been required since last year, after Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill into law on Monday. While employees have for years been allowed to carry guns on school grounds with the consent of the local school board, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that state law required them to first undergo the same basic peace officer training as law enforcement officials or security officers who carry firearms on campus -- entailing more than 700 hours of instruction. That ruling, Mr. DeWine said on Monday, had made it largely impractical for Ohio school districts to allow staffers to carry firearms. Under the new law, a maximum of 24 hours of training will be enough for teachers to carry guns at school, though the local board will still need to give its approval." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Way Beyond
Ukraine, et al.
The New York Times' live updates of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here.
The New York Times' live updates of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Iraq. Jane Arraf of the New York Times: "Efforts to form a new government in Iraq [have descended] to chaos. Seven months of efforts to form a new government in Iraq were in turmoil on Monday, a day after the powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr directed members of Parliament who are loyal to him to resign from the seats they won in an October election. Mr. Sadr, who has become one of the biggest political forces in Iraq since emerging in 2003, has no formal role but commands the allegiance of the single largest bloc in the 329-seat Parliament. The 73 lawmakers of his movement submitted their resignations on Sunday after the collapse of months of negotiations by Mr. Sadr to form a coalition government with Sunni and Kurdish partners." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
U.K. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Britain moved ahead on Monday with plans to scuttle the post-Brexit trade rules in Northern Ireland, risking a clash with the European Union, a rift with neighboring Ireland, and tensions with the United States. But the long-anticipated legislation may be most revealing for what it says about the altered political landscape since Prime Minister Boris Johnson survived a no-confidence vote in his Conservative Party last week. Mr. Johnson faces a tricky path navigating the bill through a Parliament emboldened by the revolt against him. Some of the Tory rebels are expected to oppose the legislation on the grounds that it violates international law. It would unilaterally eliminate border checks on goods flowing from mainland Britain to Northern Ireland." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
U.K. Alex Marshall of the New York Times: "The actor Kevin Spacey was charged with four counts of sexual assault on Monday in London, the city's police force said in a news release. Mr. Spacey, 62, who was also charged with one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without their consent, is scheduled to appear in court in London on Thursday where he will confirm his identity and that he understands the charges. A date for a full trial has not yet been announced." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Zimbabwe. Declan Walsh of the New York Times: "A court in Zimbabwe on Tuesday convicted a freelance reporter for The New York Times on charges of breaching the country's immigration laws, in another blow for the free press in the increasingly authoritarian southern African country. The journalist, Jeffrey Moyo, has been accused of obtaining fake press credentials for two Times journalists who entered Zimbabwe last year on a reporting trip. Mr. Moyo's lawyers said the charges were baseless, and even one lawyer for the government had said the case was 'on shaky ground.' The court fined Mr. Moyo 200,000 Zimbabwean dollars, about $615, and imposed a two-year suspended sentence that could be imposed if he is convicted of a similar offense in the next five years. His lawyers said they would appeal the verdict."
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Reader Comments (12)
Seems to me that encouraging his supporters to donate money to a
fund to investigate non-existing voter fraud, then using that money
for personal purposes, lining his pockets, etc., would be a crime.
(Talking about Trump).
If it isn't, won't more nitwits be taken in by crooked politicians?
Of course, it probably already happens a lot. We just don't hear about it.
Interesting question, Forrest.
But am wondering where the difference lies between sending $$$ to the Pretender to fight mythical voter fraud---which he then uses for his own purposes--and supporting a church which makes mythical claims of Heaven, Salvation and such--and then spends all those dollars here on Earth, mostly lining its leaders' pockets.
THE TWO-PRONGED TEST ––that could put Trump in prison:
Isaac Chotiner asks "if the former President is charged, what exactly would the charge be and how tough would the case be to prosecute?"
To answer these questions Chotiner spoke to Barbara McQuade, whom we are all familiar with, I reckon, in a long conversation in which she clarifies these issues –– probes the pitfalls and the possibilities. Excellent piece!
https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/the-two-pronged-test-that-could-put-trump-in-prison
Team Abnormal
I got a kick out of listening yesterday to former Trump do-bee and campaign poobah Bill Stepien refer to his group within the Trump Treason Debacle as Team Normal. Say what?
Here’s a guy who worked for war criminals Bush and Cheney, then, after watching Fatty dismantle the federal government in order to line his own pockets and maintain his autocratic, ignoramus hold on power for four years, said to himself “Yeah, this is the guy I want to work for!”
Normal? It was clear from the escalator ride in the Fatty Mausoleum that Trump was further from normal than any self-aggrandizing, corruption spreading, racist prick politician in American history.
And oh yeah, Stepien nicely burnished his image (ie, tried to wash off the shit stains) by claiming that he was “honest and professional” but what he saw was anything but.
So what did he do about it? He sez he “stepped away”. WTF does that mean? Did he resign in protest?
This bullshit about “normal” or “sane” Republicans is a vicious canard. “Sure I worked with Don Corleone, but after the 78th murder, I stepped away”.
If you worked for Trump, and you stayed past the first meeting with the flash cards with pictures and three words explaining Government 101 to an ignorant fool of a narcissistic asshole, then you have no business referring to yourself as “normal”. You were an enabler of a greedy, treasonous destroyer of democracy.
So fuck off. At least Rudy was hammered. What’s your excuse, Bill?
Akhilleus,
On Stepien: A resounding "yes" to all that. He just washed the grease off his hands and scrubbed his face for his performance before the Committee..
And on Rudy and the Pretender: Don't know if anyone has concluded that cons are particularly susceptible to being conned--I'm thinking maybe they are-- but drunk or sober Rudy and the Pretender are two of a kind. Both live in worlds wherein their rhetoric is indistinguishable from their notions of reality, and as long as a large number of people accept that rhetoric, things work out very well for them.
In Republican circles the stolen election rhetoric is still winning out over reality....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/14/more-than-100-gop-primary-winners-back-trumps-false-fraud-claims/
Adam Copnik once wrote a piece about tyrants and how they are depicted in the Bible and the Quran. I recall what he said about what tyrants always say to their victims––-that they're just not seeing the big picture, and that it takes many a broken egg to make an omelette big enough for the tyrant to eat. It's bullying, albeit from, for some, an admirable and as Trump said himself––-the "chosen one."
Copnik said this kind of practice is rife in so many sacred stories which enjoin obedience for the sake of an ultimate reward. It's what the mob boss tells his lieutenants, be loyal and you'll get your cut just as God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac.
Tony Soprano might have asked Big Pussy to show his loyality by shooting one of his kids––and then seeing him actually about to do it, cry out––"C'mon, I was only kidding." These are the familiar human fables or submission to authority for the sake of order. In Fatty's world the order was chaos.
Big sigh…so…the committee isn’t sure about what they’re gonna do?
One guy says, well, that’s not our job (criminal referrals), others say “Um, what?”
So far it’s looked like they had an organized, put together presentation of Trumpian treason and lies. But now it’s back to Democratic business as usual: one guys says A, three others say B, and a few others say “First I’ve heard of it”.
C’mon, kids! Jesus. Get it together. Do not make this a repeat of the Mueller disaster. Saying “Oh, we’re just gonna lay out the facts and let the American people (and Garland’s moribund DOJ) decide. You have to demand action!
Oh, and speaking of lies, yesterday in the gym, where all the TV’s are tuned to Fox (except for one on some cooking channnel), I heard the usual liars whining about how this is all bullshit, and besides, Nancy Pelosi put together a kangaroo court committee by not including any “real Republicans”. Left unsaid was the fact that none of those “real Republicans” wanted anything to do with the committee.
The lies never stop. And poor Donald Trump. Waaaahhh!
Addendum to my earlier criticism of “honest and professional” Bill Stepien. Not only did Stepien agree to join Trump’s Debacle after watching him run roughshod over the Constitution, federal regulations, and the rule of law for five years, he said, by hitching himself to this shit show, hey, how ‘bout four more years of this bullshit?
Because, as campaign manager, that was his primary job.
Team Normal, my Irish one.
@Akhilleus: Yeah, everything you said about Stepien & Co. is correct. BUT isn't all that "normal" behavior for Republicans? So the "Team Normal" handle Stepien was so proud to adopt (from reporters' characterizations, he testified) seems to fit.
@P.D. Pepe: That's "Gopnik," not "Copnik," and he writes for the New Yorker. For anyone looking for Gopnik's essay, I Googled "gopnik new yorker biblical tyrants" & got a few promising results. I don't have a New Yorker subscription any more, so I didn't want to click on any of them. But you might. The conoscenti pooh-pooh Gopnik's writings as too twee, but I'm not that smart, so I like it.
Sorry–––G instead of C–––gee, the eyes the eyes! I have always liked Adam's writings–-may be too twee but it suits me to a T.
AK: Some of your questions may be answered by the Chotiner/McQuade piece I put on.
Yesterday on a panel discussion on MSNBC one of the journalists lamented that most Americans are too busy with their lives to pay close attention to the Jan.6 hearings–––WHAT? I screamed! But Katy Tur (I'm probably spelling her name incorrectly) countered that by saying the information she has is just the opposite. Katy, by the way, got to know Trump early on as she traveled with his Flying Circus from the beginning. I think she is one of our best––no twee there, but tough reporting.
Marie,
Yes. I thought about what’s considered normal now for Republicans. Lying, treason, and self serving CYA bullshit. Still and all, it irks me black and blue to see these guys describe themselves as normal, with the understanding that a large swath of the public still thinks normal means what typically does, when not referring to traitors.
Rubin suggests some additional paths on the road we've been following here..
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/06/14/how-prosecutors-sidestep-question-trump-intent-jan-6/