“Detached from reality”—not!

June 14, 2022

[Audio version here]

          During the second presentation by the January 6th Committee, Bill Barr testified (via video recording) that Trump became “detached from reality” in the two months following his loss in 2020. Barr is wrong. Trump rejected reality but knew exactly what he was doing every step of the way. That fact became blazingly clear when the Committee presented evidence that Trump used the “Big Lie” to fleece his followers of $250 million in contributions for a nonexistent “Official Election Defense Fund.” See Rolling Stone, Trump Scammed Supporters Out of $250 Million for Nonexistent Fraud Fund.

Donations to the nonexistent fund were directed to the Trump Hotel Collection, a Mark Meadows charity, and a conservative organization employing former Trump staffers. Trump tries to monetize everything he touches—including efforts to undermine the Constitution.

          The Committee presented a meticulous and masterful case demonstrating that Trump knew he lost the 2020 election but continued to promote the Big Lie. By steady accretion of damning testimony from Trump’s closest advisors, the Committee established beyond dispute that Trump was the creator and driving force behind the Big Lie. As Trump lost patience with advisers telling him he lost, he replaced those advisers (“Team Normal”) with lunatic conspiracy mongers who invented evermore unhinged and fanciful scenarios to rationalize his loss.

          The Committee relied on various Trump advisers to eliminate any doubt about Trump’s corrupt intent in spreading the Big Lie. Former Attorney Bill Barr repeatedly told Trump there was no evidence of massive voter fraud, as did acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue. Barr and Donoghue described their discussions with Trump as “whack-a-mole” exercises in which Trump would raise a new unfounded conspiracy every time they refuted Trump’s current favorite conspiracy. Trump invoked his “whack-a-mole” strategy again today, releasing a twelve-page response to the second hearing, repeating conspiracy theories that have been thoroughly discredited.

          If you did not have the opportunity to watch or listen to the hearings, CNN released a helpful summary of the hearing. See CNN, Takeaways from Monday’s January 6 hearing. Or, you can watch a five-minute Hearing Two Recap or the full two-hour Select Committee Hearing on YouTube.

           Every American should take pride and comfort in the professionalism and substance of the hearings to date. Holding public hearings was a risk. Skeptics and cynics were hoping that the hearings would fail. Far from it. Though the hearings may not change the minds of committed Trump loyalists, it will not be for want of persuasive evidence. And here’s the best part: Attorney General Merrick Garland says that he and his “January 6th prosecutors” are watching “all the hearings.” Good!

          It is impossible to watch the hearings without concluding that Trump (a) engaged in a seditious conspiracy, (b) committed a fraud on the United States, (c) lied to the American people, (d) attempted to interfere in Georgia’s election for president, and (e) committed wire fraud by conning his followers into donating to a nonexistent defense fund.

          Finally, I want to amend some of my prior remarks about Bill Barr. I have repeatedly said he is the worst Attorney General in our nation’s history. In his deposition before the Committee, Barr gave damning testimony about Trump’s corrupt intent—testimony that may be crucial to convicting Trump. We should be thankful that Barr testified truthfully. But he testified under oath, so he deserves no medal for doing so. Instead, Barr’s testimony reinforced my negative view of his ignominious place in history for two reasons.

          First, although Barr knew for two months that Trump was engaged in an attempt to overturn the election, Barr said nothing to the American people or Congress to prevent the attempted coup. His tardy revelations under oath could have helped avoid the January 6th  insurrection if he had spoken out in November or December.

          Second, Barr allowed the DOJ to serve as Trump’s private law firm by pursuing the wild conspiracy theories generated by Trump and his supporters. It is not the job of the DOJ to investigate delusional claims by a president seeking to cling to power unlawfully. Barr should have refused to investigate any claim lacking independent, credible sourcing. Instead, Barr investigated every whacko theory that Trump’s bottom-feeding misfits could conjure.

          The third public hearing is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, June 15, at 7:00 AM Pacific /10:00 AM Eastern. Watch the hearing live if you can; it will restore a small measure of faith in a Congress riven by dysfunction and bad-faith partisanship. We owe the Committee members a debt of gratitude for the task they have undertaken and the manner in which they have discharged their duties.

White Nationalists attempt to start a riot at Pride event in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

          Last Saturday, 31 members of the White nationalist group Patriot Front were arrested as they traveled to a Pride parade in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The men wore military clothing and possessed shields, shin guards, and a smoke grenade. One member carried a “plan of operation” describing tactics for initiating a riot, retreating, and regrouping. See CNN, Coeur D’Alene: 31 people arrested for conspiracy to riot near Pride parade.

          The fact that the Patriot Front intended to start a riot is disturbing. The fact that the Patriot Front intended to start a riot at a Pride event is the natural consequence of the GOP war on LGBTQ people—a war that Ron DeSantis is leading. DeSantis is the second-leading contender for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination and will, presumably, make anti-LGBTQ attacks part of his platform.

          Many political commentators (and some readers) deride the Democratic Party’s defense of LGBTQ rights as “woke.” If it is, we need more of it, not less. The GOP’s feral instinct has concluded that attacking LGBTQ people is the last bastion of acceptable bigotry, and we must not let it become so.

          All efforts to stigmatize LGBTQ people or suppress their rights must be resisted and condemned. Do your part! Speak up against such laws whenever and wherever they are proposed. The civil liberties and personal safety you save may be your own—because you may be next on the GOP target list!

 Truth Social app dragging Trump into QAnon quagmire.

          In what may be good news disguised as bad news, QAnon accounts are proliferating on Trump’s Truth Social app. QAnon advocates were banned from Twitter following the January 6th Insurrection and see Truth Social as their haven. See Talking Points Memo, Trump Is Using His Off-Brand Twitter Site To Hype QAnon Content.

          So, why is it good news that Truth Social is becoming a haven for QAnon adherents? Because the QAnon contingent is too unhinged and disreputable for many of Trump’s hard-right loyalists. As noted in the TPM article above, QAnon adherents believe that a user on the Truth Social app is the real “Q” and is “the Messiah.” With QAnon users beginning to dominate the app, it will quickly become a cesspool for cranks rather than a platform for showcasing Trump in 2024. Good.

          But here is the kicker: Truth Social was created to free users from the alleged “censorship” of Twitter. But there is one topic that is “verboten” on Truth Social. What might that be?

          Answer: The January 6th Committee hearings! See Vanity Fair, Trump’s Truth Social Bans Users Who Post About Jan. 6 Hearings. Unbelievable!! But what else should we expect from Truth Social’s CEO, Devin Nunes?

Concluding Thoughts.

          After the second January 6th Committee hearing, I am beginning to believe that it is inevitable that the DOJ will indict Trump. My increasing optimism has nothing to do with a change in my opinion of Merrick Garland. Instead, it has everything to do with the overwhelming case being made by the Committee. I spent 40 years as a litigator and trial lawyer. I have the utmost respect and admiration for the investigation and presentation by the Committee. It is telling a multi-layered, complicated story in an understandable, accessible manner. That is no mean feat. The Committee has achieved that result through discipline and hard work. Kudos to the Committee.

          Many readers continue to express concern about prosecuting Trump. Some warn that if Garland indicts Trump, “Garland better not fail because if Trump is acquitted, he will be stronger than ever.” First, if Trump is NOT indicted, he will be stronger than ever. But there is ZERO chance—none, nada—that Trump will be acquitted. The best he can hope for is a hung jury, with two or three jurors voting to acquit and nine or ten voting to convict. That will wound Trump.

          But more to the point, a criminal proceeding will consume Trump. He will face real exposure to a decade in jail, so he will have to take the proceeding seriously. A trial will last months and will replay the evidence now being presented by the Committee. And Trump will be required to sit in a federal courtroom as a criminal defendant watching the prosecution against him drag on. While Trump is distracted and caged in a courtroom, the jackals in the GOP will savage him on the campaign trail.

          It is at this point in my dialog with readers that I usually hear the warning, “But then DeSantis will be the nominee, and he is as bad as Trump but smarter.” Maybe, but we cannot shrink from prosecuting Trump because another monster is waiting in the wings. Let’s deal with the threat in front of us and then focus on our next foe.

          Criminal prosecution of Trump will be a win-win for Democrats, no matter the outcome. But the most important reason for prosecuting Trump has nothing to do with partisan politics. It has to do with defending the Constitution. If we fail to do that, Trump and DeSantis are the least of our worries.

          Talk to you tomorrow!