 |
| credit: D. Whamond Wackydoodle sez: Spontaneous destruction! |
This week was a big looser for the Looser in Chief. The Supremes told him 8-1 to fork over his White House records because they are not covered by executive privilege any longer, and his precious daughter Ivanka got invited to testify before the J6 Committee in an eight page letter that detailed her knowledge of Herr Trumpillini's failure to act while his mob attacked the Capitol. Pundits make a big deal out of proving criminal intent, but the fact is intent can be inferred from context and circumstances. Ivanka has some of that evidence. According to the investigators, she witnessed a phone call between her father and Mike Pence the night before the attack in which he urged him to cooperate in the coup by not counting the Electoral College votes. When rioters heard the news that Pence had refused to cooperate, according to defendants' testimony in court,“Once we found out Pence turned on us and that they had stolen the election, like, officially, the crowd went crazy. I mean, it became a mob. We crossed the gate.” Another defendant testified, “We heard the news on Pence, so we stormed.” Res ipsa loquitor.
Former press secretary Stephanie Griffiths also testified before the Committee. She identified closed-door meetings Trump conducted in his residence--not the Oval--on the night before he urged the Ellipse crowd to march on the Capitol. He apparently did intend to march with the crowd, but was warned off that action by the Secret Service. She did not know who attended those meetings, but identified another staffer--the White House usher, Timothy Harleth--who should know. Unsurprisingly, all the president's movements in the building are recorded by the Secret Service. Yet another lead to follow.
The Committee is methodically closing in on the former guy's inner circle of staff and confidants. Its letter makes clear the Committee has amassed substantial evidence of Herr Trumpillini's state of mind and what occurred in the hours prior, during, and after the insurrection. It is pouring through hundreds of pages of responsive documents released by the National Archives after the former guy's loss at the Supremes. One of the first documents to emerge is a draft executive order requiring the Defense Department to seize voting machines claimed to be fraudulent by the delusional White House occupant. The extent to which he was prepared to go to remain in power is chilling. A conclusion that he had corrupt intent to overthrow the federal government in its most vulnerable moments is becoming plausibly undeniable. Hiding in plain sight is a tactic that has become trite. The question is: do the neoliberal Democrates have the fortitude to go all the way to the top and prevent their own demise? (Gallup polling inidcates a 14pt shift from Democrats to Repugnants in the last quarter)
