Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

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Friday, July 22, 2022

Here's my take-away from last night's January 6 hearing:

 


Trump was told about the riot within 15 minutes of returning to the Oval Office – but he didn’t call law enforcement or military officials. Instead, he tried to persuade senators to delay the certification vote. 

While he watched his mob storm the Capitol, he tweeted out an attack on Mike Pence – putting a target on the back of his Vice President and encouraging the mob. 

He ignored the pleas of multiple advisors – and even his own children – to condemn the violence and tell his mob to back down.

Trump deserves prison time for his traitorous behavior. Those who continue to support Trump and who dismiss what happened on January 6, are a clear and present danger to our country.

20 comments:

Les Carpenter said...

Yup they are. My take is the same.

My prediction, given Garland's wimpishness, is Trump skates. He will not be held to account for his egregiously traitorous behavour and actions. He wii announce his run for the office again and his cult will swoon.

And America will continue to suffer the wrath of the authoritarian and religous conservative movement. A movement that yearns for the past and much less personal and economic liberty for the 99%.

Dave Miller said...

As I'm traveling I did not get a chance to see last night's hearings. But I've read a lot. And I've seen a lot of the past hearings.

As I've thought about the events of Jan 6, the hearings, etc., I'm as curious as one WAPO writer who said this...

"...a person [speaking of Trump] guilty of some things might not be guilty of everything. Trump deserves fairness and accuracy in how his actions are depicted. Eight hearings have come and gone and we have yet to see played the portion of Trump’s Ellipse remarks when he urged the crowd to march “peacefully” to the Capitol. That’s an unfair omission by the committee.

One could argue that the public already knew he had said this, so why show it, but the same could be said for a lot of what we've seen.

I doubt the fever dreams of most progressives will ever pass...

Trump will never be indicted by the US Justice Department. First, because intent to foster violence will be very difficult to prove, and another impeachmentlike swing and miss will be a disaster. And secondly, because Merrick Garland does not want to be known as the AG who opened up the DoJ to charges of acting politically and thus, give political cover to future AG's with whom we might disagree to cite his actions and go after a Dem president.

Trump is guilty of bad acts, not upholding his oath, boorishness, inaction and a host of other offenses against the American ppl, Congress and the Capitol.

But criminally so, to a level we can prove and get a conviction?

Of that, I'm not sure. And I bet Garland is wondering the same thing.

possumlady said...

I have to say the Josh Hawley smack down was the funniest thing I've seen in a while. I laughed out loud, especially at the second slo mo running.

BluebullAmerica said...

Wimpyt Josh Hawley giving his little nerdy fist pump then running like a 12 yo little girl with a bumble bee chasing her to avoid the same insurrectionists he'd just encouraged will be with me for the rest of my days. Ahhhhh. My new 'happy place'. :{O

With Creepy old Bannon being found guilty today, I'm more inclined to thinking that perhaps justice is coming for these traitors. Of course, reading right wing blogs today, they're all barking about "Hunter Biden" as if that were somehow comparable. Pathetic fools, each and every one of them..

Dave Dubya said...



The two most airtight charges are Obstruction and Conspiracy to Defraud.

18 U.S. Code § 1505 - Obstruction of proceedings before departments, agencies, and committees

Whoever, with intent to avoid, evade, prevent, or obstruct compliance, in whole or in part, with any civil investigative demand duly and properly made under the Antitrust Civil Process Act, willfully withholds, misrepresents, removes from any place, conceals, covers up, destroys, mutilates, alters, or by other means falsifies any documentary material, answers to written interrogatories, or oral testimony, which is the subject of such demand; or attempts to do so or solicits another to do so; or
Whoever corruptly, or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication influences, obstructs, or impedes or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede the due and proper administration of the law under which any pending proceeding is being had before any department or agency of the United States, or the due and proper exercise of the power of inquiry under which any inquiry or investigation is being had by either House, or any committee of either House or any joint committee of the Congress—
Shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years or, if the offense involves international or domestic terrorism (as defined in section 2331), imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both.
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923. 18 U.S.C. § 371—CONSPIRACY TO DEFRAUD THE UNITED STATES
The general conspiracy statute, 18 U.S.C. § 371, creates an offense "[i]f two or more persons conspire either to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose. (emphasis added). See Project, Tenth Annual Survey of White Collar Crime, 32 Am. Crim. L. Rev. 137, 379-406 (1995)(generally discussing § 371).
The operative language is the so-called "defraud clause," that prohibits conspiracies to defraud the United States. This clause creates a separate offense from the "offense clause" in Section 371. Both offenses require the traditional elements of Section 371 conspiracy, including an illegal agreement, criminal intent, and proof of an overt act.
Although this language is very broad, cases rely heavily on the definition of "defraud" provided by the Supreme Court in two early cases, Hass v. Henkel, 216 U.S. 462 (1910), and Hammerschmidt v. United States, 265 U.S. 182 (1924). In Hass the Court stated:
The statute is broad enough in its terms to include any conspiracy for the purpose of impairing, obstructing or defeating the lawful function of any department of government . . . (A)ny conspiracy which is calculated to obstruct or impair its efficiency and destroy the value of its operation and reports as fair, impartial and reasonably accurate, would be to defraud the United States by depriving it of its lawful right and duty of promulgating or diffusing the information so officially acquired in the way and at the time required by law or departmental regulation.
Hass, 216 U.S. at 479-480. In Hammerschmidt, Chief Justice Taft, defined "defraud" as follows:
To conspire to defraud the United States means primarily to cheat the Government out of property or money, but it also means to interfere with or obstruct one of its lawful governmental functions by deceit, craft or trickery, or at least by means that are dishonest. It is not necessary that the Government shall be subjected to property or pecuniary loss by the fraud, but only that its legitimate official action and purpose shall be defeated by misrepresentation, chicane or the overreaching of those charged with carrying out the governmental intention.

In summary, those activities which courts have held defraud the United States under 18 U.S.C. § 371 affect the government in at least one of three ways:
1. They cheat the government out of money or property;
2. They interfere or obstruct legitimate Government activity; or
3. They make wrongful use of a governmental instrumentality.

Dave Dubya said...

Trump's 1/6 crime spree:

1. Seditious conspiracy
2. Incitement of insurrection
3. Obstruction of an official government proceeding
4. Conspiracy to defraud the US
5. Witness tampering

Other crimes uncovered by the 1/6 hearings:
6. Wire Fraud (“Official Election Defense Fund”)
7. Witness tampering

Anonymous said...

"Trump deserves prison time for his traitorous behavior."

I said that on 1/7.
I hope the rest of the country is beginning to understand.

Ema Nymton said...

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Al Capone was not sent to prison for murder. He was sent to prison all the same.

The Lost King Of Babble-On (tRump) has been shown to be an active member of a conspiracy to commit insurrection and over throw the legitimate federal government of USA. The DoJ can bring RICO charges against the Lost King Of Babble-On, has family, and his organizations.

Additionally, the alleged criminal activities involved and violated several state laws. One can expect these avenues of investigations to present real possibilities and bring the violators to justice.

USA is a nation of laws. No person is above the law.

No half measures! Hold Republican'Ts accountable.
Vote Blue in 2022; once more in 2024!

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Ema Nymton said...

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Only President Biden could create 9 million jobs, get unemployment to 3.6%, end a 20 year war in Afghanistan, sign a $1.9T American Rescue Plan, sign a $1.2T infrastructure law, sign the 1st major gun law in 30 years, confirm 69 federal judges and be told he’s failing as president.

No half measures! Hold Republican'Ts accountable.
Vote Blue in 2022; once more in 2024!

*

Shaw Kenawe said...

Ema, Anon., Dave Dubya, Dave M., BluebullAmerica, Possumlady, RN USA,

Thank you for your comments.

Dave M., like you, I'm not sure Trump will serve time in prison, though he should for all the crimes against America he committed, but earlier today I read this and agree completely:

"If you believe, as I do, that Trump’s sociopathy makes him a unique threat to this country’s future, it makes sense to try to lure Republicans away from him rather than damn them for their complicity. There is a difference, however, between a smart narrative and an accurate one. In truth, you can’t cleave Trump and his most shameless antidemocratic enablers off from the rest of the Republican Party, because the party has been remade in his image. Plenty of ex-Trump officials have come off well in the hearings, including the former deputy national security adviser Matthew Pottinger, the former acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen and, in video testimony, the former White House counsel Pat Cipollone. That shouldn’t erase the ignominy of having served Trump in the first place.

[skip]

"...But whatever they say now, the witnesses who worked for Trump enabled his mounting authoritarianism. Each contributed, in his or her own way, not just to Jan. 6, but also to eroding our democracy so that Jan. 6 may be just a prequel. Each helped bring us to a point where, according to a recent survey, more than half of Americans believe a civil war will erupt in the United States in the near future."


You, others here, and I follow a couple of diehard pro-Trump blogs and bloggers, and I often read how they're ignoring the Jan. 6 hearings, how they believe the insurrection was nothing more than a rowdy bunch of Trump supporters, how Trump did so much good for the country, how EVEN TO THIS DAY, some of them still believe the 2020 election was STOLEN! -- That's a tribute to Trump's effective treachery and lies -- that to this day, with mountains of evidence to the contrary, certain of his followers still believe Trump's Big Lie.

Some of the folks on those blogs don't like it when we talk about what they're publishing there. They call it "blog gossip." I see it as an insight into how the Trump-polluted Republican Party (Trumpublican Party) thinks and understands what Trump and Jan. 6 did to America.

I've known most of their commenters for years, some had even commented here in the past, but I don't recognize them as rational people anymore. Their inability to come to terms with Trump's crimes -- their stubborn refusal to see and admit that Trump lost the 2020 election and his incitement of an insurrection -- even inciting death to his own VP, is part of their complete disconnect from reality. I pity them and am angry with them for their continued stubborn, willful support of a criminal Trump.

Lastly, this is what I think they all contribute to:

"One of the few Trumpists who seems to have really reckoned with what she participated in is Stephanie Grisham, who is Trump’s former press secretary, though she never held a news conference. “I don’t think I can rebrand; I think this will follow me forever,” she told New York magazine’s Olivia Nuzzi last year. “I believe that I was part of something unusually evil.

They all were, everyone who kept that catastrophic administration functioning at a minimal level while Trump built the cult of personality that made Jan. 6 possible. It’s important to remember their culpability.”

Shaw Kenawe said...

"Donald Trump’s incitement of the mob and refusal to stop the violence will be remembered as the worst dereliction of duty by a president of the United States in modern history." --Adam Schiff

Paula said...

There are many reasons why a Trump supporter wouldn't want to watch the J-6 hearings.

Their participation in politics might be limited to voting every four years, and they have no interest beyond that.

They might prefer to have their political views defined by FOX-News personalities. They might have dutifully accepted the notion that there's simply no there there, and don't want their time wasted by Trump-hating Dems pursuing yet another witch-hunt.

But there is one reason that, IMHO, outweighs all others: they fear the truth. They fear hearing things that might cause them to question whether the man they worship might not actually be the idol they've built him up to be. They fear the seeds of doubt being sown in their closed minds after years of steadfastly avoiding even the possibility of that happening. They fear the very idea that eyes might be opened, that undeniable facts might be exposed, that indefensible acts might be revealed.

Trump-humpers can't handle the truth. They've spent over five years avoiding it - and they're not going to risk the consequences of hearing it now.

Les Carpenter said...

If Trump goes unpunished I will accept we are no longer a nation of laws and will, out of necessity, prepare for the future ans respond accordingly to protect mt natural rights as a sovereign humanbeing living the worlds newest shithole.

Anonymous said...

Trumpians won't listen to you, or anyone. Trump is their messiah, and you can't kill off a messiah. Let's hope enough Americans have been enlightened so he cannot win another term as president. I don't have much faith in the American voter since they voted him president in 2016. If we are to believe the pundits and the polls, here comes Republican majority. Sick!

Mike said...

@Emma - Redo your last line a little and you have a great meme.

Vote blue in 22
Once more in 24

Anonymous said...

If Trump runs and wins again it WILL be time for me to pack heat. The fully automatic firearm with the largest capacity magazine available. Cause authoritarianism and curtaimenr of our civi liberties IS worth fighting against. MIGHTILY .

Anonymous said...

The Red Cancer is Killing America.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Hey Guys!

Good News!

"New York (CNN)One of Donald Trump's favorite newspapers — controlled by his media ally Rupert Murdoch — says Trump is "unworthy to be this country's chief executive again."

Those words, in this weekend's New York Post, may be the tabloid's strongest critique of Trump yet.

It was published online on Friday evening, around the same time another Murdoch publication, the Wall Street Journal, also published an editorial harshly critiquing the former president."

Ema Nymton said...

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In my lifetime I’ve seen it move from black people, to gay and lesbian people, to Muslims and Latinos. Right now it’s transgender people. The Republican’Ts just hate and hate and hate and hate; they complain about being cancelled when people say their hate is no longer acceptable!

Republican's continue to support “Lost King of Babble-On” (trump). Some day he will be gone. You will not be judged by your choice of political party; but you will be judged for your total lack of honor, decency, humanity, morality, and ethics. The taint of your dishonor will remain.

No half measures. Hold Republican'Ts accountable.

Vote Blue in 2022. Once more in 2024!
*

Les Carpenter said...

Stll skeptical, but, if the media you quoted continue to finally (after pulling their heads from their posterior) critique Trump honestly and openly then maybe the few honest conservatives/republicans that are left will pull their support from Trump, openly begin to criticize his actions, and politically give them the will to support appropriate accountability for America's traitor ex president.

The core 30% that support the criminal, well, IMO they'll never admit that his intentions and motivations were and remain evil.

Still, good news.