Through my child safety work, I have studied a lot of people who have been accused of being sexual predators. This make me wonder if Donald Trump will end up being more like a convicted and jailed Harvey Weinstein, or a Jimmy Savile, the weird British TV presenter who abused over 500 victims, and was unmasked only after his death. In other words, Savile got away with it, using his fame, contrived eccentricity, and charities as a cover.
Trump’s crimes against democracy happened in plain sight and a new extraordinary report places the conspiracy to steal the 2020 election directly in Trump’s hands. I have been saying that Trump acted against democracy “at all levels” and we need to protect our system “at all levels.” It is time for democracy’s immune system to kick in to contain the ongoing threat that Trump presents, once and for all.
Esteemed law professor Lawrence Tribe says that Trump’s outright confession over the weekend may be an action that triggers AG Merrick Garland to seek a grand jury indictment of the disgraced former President. My “hope” reservoir is on low reserve, but logically, it makes sense for the Department of Justice to respond to Trump’s “double dog dare” to indict him. If Trump had been content to slink away to Mar-a-Lago after his election loss, eating cheeseburgers and watching Fox News, I still would not have agreed with a failure to indict him, but I would have understood it a little better. But with Trump currently making active threats to prosecutors, stoking more violence and possibly a January 6 sequel in cities across the country, we truly must respond to his ongoing threats to public safety.
The new report in the NY Times is extraordinary:
Trump Had Role in Weighing Proposals to Seize Voting Machine
New accounts show that the former president was more directly involved than previously known in plans developed by outside advisers to use national security agencies to seek evidence of fraud.
I’m not sure if this is the right time to inject humor, but reading this story made me think of a twisted version of the story book “Are You My Mother?”, with Trump going from agency to agency asking, “Will you seize the voting machines?” It is deadly serious business. In an effort to reverse Trump’s electoral defeat supported by Sidney Powell, Mike Flynn, and in some cases Giuliani, Trump proposed “Will you seize the voting machines?” to:
AG Barr and the Department of Justice
The Department of Homeland Security (proposal codified into draft executive order)
National Security Agencies (proposal studied)
Defense Department (executive order drafted), Pentagon, military
State lawmakers in swing states like Michigan and Pennsylvania—will you use local law enforcement to seize the voting machines?
***
It is a miracle of democracy that the answer in all of these cases was “No.” Even Giuliani objected to the military seizing the voting machines, but I give him zero credit for stepping back from the brink once, while trying to overturn the election result through baseless accusations and numerous court cases.
The 2020 election was successful. We voted Trump out but failed to bar him from running again, as a successful second Impeachment & conviction by the Senate could have done. I have one message in this blog, which is that right now we have a short window of opportunity to stop Trump and others like him. At least 57 people who had a role in the January 6 events are now running for elected office. What happens next time if one of them is a state lawmaker, Secretary of State, or county election board official? I am looking for the Department of Justice to take action against Trump in the month of February.
Well said, Amy. We need to be sure that Trump and the others are not voted into office.
Adam Schiff correctly predicted that not only was Trump guilty of a crime, but that he would crime again and again until he is held responsible. No judge should believe he won't do it again--he will always do it again. The question we have to ask is whether our democracy can long stand the pressure that he puts on it, not merely as a single individual, but as one who organizes and focuses the grievances of 75 million disaffected citizens. In a proper democracy, those people have the choice and the chance to make common cause with the rest of the population to address at least their greatest concerns. What is deplorable is that they just don't care to compromise. They want it all, they want it now, and they will happily burn it all down in order to prevent the majority of Americans from quietly enjoying the freedoms enshrined in our great Constitution.
Sad!