Trump Remains A Clear And Present Threat to Be Debated: The attempt to rig the 2020 election by Donald Trump didn’t cease on January 6, 2021, or even when he left office. He has since gone to even greater lengths to discredit his defeat.
The focus of the select committee’s upcoming, and maybe final, televised plea to Americans on Thursday will be that ongoing endeavor. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a panelist, stated last week at a virtual People for the American Way event, “Tune in for our debate of Trump’s obvious and present danger presented to democracy and freedom in America by a movement he’s galvanized.”
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) recently told reporters that the panel would concentrate on data showing that Trump has been “consistently and progressively” using language “that we knew produced violence on Jan. 6.” Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court recently criticized elected Republicans for continuing to support “one man, who knows full well that he lost, instead of the Constitution he was trying to undermine,” according to Cheney, who referenced her remarks.
All facets of the select committee’s more than 12-month investigation will be referenced in its final argument to Americans. Evidence is anticipated to show that Trump was under pressure from his backers to declare victory on Election Day 2020 even before the results were in and that Trump had been informed of the escalating violence at the Capitol before tweeting a divisive assault on then-Vice President Mike Pence.
The hearing will also serve as a sort of segue to the criminal case that federal prosecutors are putting together, which is supported by the recent issuance of dozens of grand jury subpoenas and court-authorized searches of some of Trump’s top allies. The prosecution will argue that even amid the devastation of Jan. 6, Trump continued to plan ways to remain in power.
The committee has long emphasized that it has a different role from prosecutors in educating the public and formulating legislative proposals to thwart further attempts to undermine the peaceful transfer of power, but it has also used its influence to call on the Justice Department to investigate potential crimes involving members of Trump’s inner circle.
The panel successfully argued in court that Trump “likely” engaged in a criminal conspiracy to hinder the presidential transition in March. The federal judge who made this claim called the panel’s legal argument “a coup in search of a legal theory.” In the following months, the committee’s public hearings and legal arguments centered around that decision.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), a member of the select panel, said recently that “we think we proved the case in a compelling fashion by the end of that hearing series.” And now, to be really honest, the DOJ is in charge of the criminal side because we are not the criminal committee. We’ll watch to see what they do with the torch now that they have it.
Since leaving office, Trump has used his platform to campaign for his reinstatement as president and has urged state lawmakers and members of Congress to support his implausible plans to free those who were imprisoned for storming the Capitol on Jan. 6.
He has also implied that if he competes for and is elected to another term, he would pardon the mob that rioted to maintain him in power, and he has pressured individuals like Wisconsin House Speaker Robin Vos to back legislation that would invalidate the state’s election results.
Vos informed Trump that it was impossible, and the select committee has subpoenaed him to provide testimony over their recent conversations. The hearing was originally slated for September 28, but the select committee postponed it as Hurricane Ian approached Florida; the delay may end up being advantageous for the panel.
Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, provided testimony before the committee over the course of the two-week gap. Jeremy Bertino, a Proud Boys leader from North Carolina who also participated in the select panel questioning, pled guilty to seditious conspiracy last week.
The select panel’s evidence from its hearings over the summer, including interviews with Trump Cabinet members regarding internal discussions about the possibility of invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from office, is likely to be presented during the hearing on Thursday.
The documentary will also feature footage of veteran Trump supporter Roger Stone, who was followed by a camera crew in the weeks up to January 6. One day before Election Day, Stone is heard telling a friend, in the footage provided by a Danish film crew and acquired by CNN, “Fuck the vote, let’s get right to the carnage,” while chuckling.
The Secret Service has turned up a sizable cache of records and correspondence, according to Select panel Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.). After finding that thousands of texts transmitted between senior officials, particularly those sent on and around January 6, 2021, were deleted in what the agency claimed was a software upgrade, investigators have viewed the agency with mistrust.
Tony Ornato, who held a peculiar position as a political appointee in Trump’s White House, and Robert Engel, the chief of Trump’s detail, both previously gave testimony to the panel. At the end of August, Ornato left the Secret Service.
Select committee members, however, have asserted that both men claimed they couldn’t remember important events leading up to January 6 and asked for follow-up interviews with them. The committee is anticipated to raise questions about some of Stone’s connections to pro-Trump extremist organizations like the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys.
Even while there hasn’t been much evidence of Stone’s direct involvement in those attempts, investigators have focused on the extensive links between Trump and others who helped enable practically every facet of the former president’s campaign to rig the election.
However, a number of individuals in Stone’s sphere were among the most important participants in the events of January 6: Ali Alexander, the leader of the post-election “Stop the Steal” activism. Alex Jones, the host of the pro-Trump InfoWars channel; Enrique Tarrio, the national chairman of the Proud Boys; and Stewart Rhodes, the founder of Oath Keepers.
Conservative Judge Michael Luttig:
"Donald Trump and his allies and supporters are a clear and present danger to American democracy." pic.twitter.com/xSs6JMxvIR
— CAP Action (@CAPAction) June 16, 2022
On January 5 and 6, 2021, Stone also hired several Oath Keepers to serve as his security personnel. Among them was Kelly Meggs, who is accused of conspiring with Rhodes to sabotage the Capitol and is charged with seditious conspiracy. Joshua James, another Oath Keeper who guarded Stone, has already entered a guilty plea to seditious conspiracy.
The hearing will take place concurrently with the Justice Department’s biggest criminal prosecution related to the attack on January 6, up to this point. Five Oath Keepers leaders, including Rhodes, are currently on trial for seditious conspiracy right across the street from the Capitol.
Final Reflections