|
A NOTE FROM FRED
In a speech to the House of Commons in 1948, Winston Churchill said that “those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.”
This warning looms large as we head into the public hearings to be held by the House Jan. 6 Committee in late May or early June. In those hearings, the Committee will present its work to document the facts and circumstances surrounding former President Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Committee members have already said they have evidence that indicates Trump engaged in criminal conduct.
The public hearings are an important opportunity for the Committee to lay out the evidence they have gathered that shows President Trump attempted a coup to steal the presidency for himself – the first such coup attempt in our 233-year history.
Fortunately for our democracy, Trump failed.
The Jan. 6 Committee has the responsibility to develop a permanent record for history and provide recommendations to ensure that any future coup attempt, beginning with the 2024 presidential election, cannot succeed.
A powerful public record already exists to show that Trump knew he was attempting an unlawful coup to overturn the election.
Trump and his co-conspirators never presented a shred of evidence to support their false statements that voter fraud occurred in the 2020 presidential election and had impact on the results.
Trump’s request to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger made clear that Trump had no interest in an honest counting of the votes. “I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” Trump said, in essence urging Raffensperger to provide him with a rigged vote count,.
Furthermore, by implicitly threatening Raffensperger that he was risking criminal prosecution if he did not comply with Trump’s request, Trump was attempting to extort the rigged vote count.
Trump also instigated and encouraged the insurrectionist attack on the Capitol, the first such attack on the Capitol since the War of 1812. On December 19, Trump tweeted, “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild.”
On January 6, Trump addressed the crowd he had summoned to Washington and commanded them to march to the Capitol. Trump told the crowd to “fight much harder” against “bad people” and “show strength.”
Most significantly, as the crowd stormed the Capitol, attacked police, and called for Vice President Pence to be hanged, Trump did absolutely nothing for more than three hours to stop the insurrection.
Trump’s knowing and willful silence in the face of the violent attacks made his goal clear: he wanted the insurrection to succeed and the certification of Joe Biden as President prevented.
Federal District Court Judge David Carter in a recent opinion said, “[T]he Court finds it more likely than not that President Trump corruptly attempted to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2021.”
The Jan. 6 Committee has the responsibility to present to the American people all evidence it has gathered that former President Trump engaged in criminal activity by instigating, fomenting, and leading the illegal coup he attempted.
The nation is lucky that Trump failed. We cannot count on luck the next time.
There must be consequences for attempting to steal a presidential election, if we are to learn the lesson of history and prevent another coup attempt in the future.
|
|
|
|
"MUST READ" OF THE WEEK
The Jan. 6 Committee And Merrick Garland Must Protect Our Endangered Democracy
“Our democracy is sleepwalking toward catastrophe.”
|
|
|
JAN. 6 INVESTIGATION
Fearing A Trump Repeat, Jan. 6 Panel Considers Changes To Insurrection Act
“The 1807 law allows a President to deploy American troops inside the country to put down a rebellion. Lawmakers fear it could be abused by a future president trying to stoke one,” via The New York Times.
“We Need Ammo. We Need Fraud Examples. We Need It This Weekend.”
What the Meadows texts reveal about how two Trump congressional allies lobbied the White House to overturn the election, via CNN.
Lawmakers Worry 2020 Will Provide A Blueprint For Stealing A Future Election
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) on the upcoming Jan. 6 public hearings: “Our focus is showing the country how close we came to losing our democracy, and why we’re not out of the woods,” via NBC News.
VOTER SUPPRESSION & ELECTIONS UNDER FIRE
Trump Allies Continue Legal Drive To Erase His Loss, Stoking Election Doubts, via The New York Times.
Voting Rights: Will The Democrats Fight To Save Democracy?
Wertheimer: “Trump’s followers are out there attacking and harassing election officials; they’re trying to get into those positions themselves. That’s a battle that has to be fought in the states and in local communities,” via The New Republic.
The Media Still Haven’t Learned How To Cover The GOP Threat To Democracy, opinion via The Washington Post.
Voter Suppression Laws Are As Ableist As They Are Racist
“[P]lenty of people with disabilities predicted that the new laws would hurt them, too. Unfortunately, they have been proven right,” opinion via MSNBC.
Without Federal Voting Protections, Many Look To States As The “Laboratories Of Democracy,” via Prism.
“Election Integrity Summits” Aim To Fire Up Trump Activists Over Big Lie
Wendy Weiser, the Brennan Center: “The country’s history with these kinds of so-called ‘election integrity’ operations makes clear that they create a serious risk of racial targeting, voter intimidation, and vote suppression,” via The Guardian.
|
|
|
🚨 WARNING OF THE WEEK 🚨
The Real Reason Republicans Are Loading Their 2022 Campaign Ads With Guns
“Conservatives using guns in campaign ads is nothing new, of course, but the way in which they’re being used in the wake of Trump’s term in office — and particularly in the wake the violent attack on the Capitol that ended it — portends a dark future for the party, and if it regains control of Washington, DC, for the nation.”
|
|
|
TRUMPWATCH
Mar-A-Lago Machine: Trump As A Modern-Day Party Boss
“Inspiring fear, hoarding cash, doling out favors, and seeking to crush rivals, Mr. Trump is behaving not merely as a power broker but as something closer to the head of a 19th-century political machine,” via The New York Times.
More Than 70 Percent Of Trump’s Endorsees Believe The 2020 Election Was Fraudulent, via FiveThirtyEight.
|
|
|
DARK MONEY DEEP DIVE
The Slime Machine Targeting Dozens Of Biden Nominees
“It is curious that the largest contribution by far to its parent group, CPI, is a million-dollar ‘charitable contribution’ from Save America—Trump’s political action committee.”
|
|
|
MIDTERMS, MONEY, & MORE
What Can Happen When An Election Official Believes The Big Lie, via FiveThirtyEight.
Presidential Debates: The Trumpified RNC Strikes Another Blow Against Democracy, opinion via The Washington Post
Who Will Run The 2024 Election? They’re On Your Ballot In 2022.
“The focus on secretaries of State has been magnified by Donald Trump’s conspiracy theories about the 2020 election he lost,” via Politico.
Who’s Funding Trump’s Super PAC And Other Takeaways From The Latest Campaign Finance Filings, via The Washington Post.
McConnell-Tied Super PAC Makes Early $141M Play For The Senate, via Politico.
“Trump Favorites Lag” – Trump Targets Out-Raise Challengers, via Roll Call.
Out-Of-State Money Floods Midterm Races, via Axios.
|
|
|
|
|
