After months of waiting in seething frustration, it does feel quite like we’ve all jumped out of an airplane at the same time. The doorbell at Trump’s house has been rung by federal agents, and there is no un-ringing it. What had appeared to be a slow, desultory affair for so many years is now a string of firecrackers. Each crackle or snap signals new information or evidence that will push Trump and his band, merry insurrectionists, further into their own corner.
It seems like it was 100 years ago that Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House Assistant, testified before the January 6, Select Committee that she saw Mark Meadows, former White House Chief Of Staff, burning his notes after a meeting. Scott Perry, a House member, just had a recent affair. his phone snatchedFederal agents brandishing warrants, and Perry is obviously outraged. That phone, according to Perry, contains “info about my legislative and political activities, and personal/private discussions with my wife, family, constituents and friends. None of this is the government’s business.”
Hate to break it to you, Scotty, but insurrection and attempted coups actually are right in the government’s wheelhouse. Perry is no stranger at all this. In May, he was called before the select committee to testify about his role in trying. install Jeffrey Clark as acting attorney general in furtherance of Trump’s plan to thwart the 2020 election results, but has so far refused to comply. Perry was also responsible in spreading conspiracy theories at the highest levels Trump’s administration, including the corrupt voting machines canard and the absurd rumor that an Italian government stole a U.S. electoral election.
What about Meadows, though? In the tumultuous aftermath of the federal trip to Mar-a-Lago about twelve boxes were removed from the home, the newest game in Washington, D.C. is wondering if there is a “flipper” within Trump’s camp directing all this federal traffic. Unlike their colleagues at the state and local levels, federal prosecutors tend not to move on their targets unless they already know what they’re looking for and already know where to find it. This is often true requires inside help, and Meadows’s name appears to be at the top of the list. Newsweek reportsFrom last weekend:
Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner predicted Friday that Donald Trump’s former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows will “rat” the former president “out” to Justice Department investigators as part of the probe into January 6, 2021. CNN reported on Thursday that Trump had been told by advisers to “cut contact” with Meadows, who is seen by some legal analysts as a potential key witness against the former president…. The legal expert also recommended reporting by Rolling Stone that said Trump’s legal team is attempting to place blame for any alleged criminal behavior on “fall guys.”
“Who is one of the marquee fall guys?” Kirschner asked. “Mark Meadows. Are you sure Mark Meadows is going to just sit back and take the fall for Donald Trump?” Maybe you should just jump under the bus. No,” the attorney added. “He’s going to cut his losses. He’s going to cooperate. He’s going to flip. He’s going to turn state’s evidence. He’s going to rat Trump out. He’s going to snitch.”
Michael Cohen, an ex-Trump attorney, flipped for better deals. Meadows? Every scandal has a John Dean. And these guys are expected to be promoted to a corporate corner office and not to face treason charges. Most of them didn’t sign up for this shit. Donald Trump, a man who has never been loyal to anyone but himself, might be on the verge of discovering how lonely an estate it is to be truly faithless… or will he?
Trump has made Mar-a-Lago’s events his own and turned them into a reality. a whole new loyalty testThis is the one that the GOP’s herding lickspittles are throwing at recklessly. Talk of Trump running for president in 2024 has gone from “maybe/probably” to “any second now,” which puts his would-be challengers in a rather delectable bind. If they don’t bend the knee now, they will be doomed with Trump’s outraged base. If they do bend the knee, they hamstring their own chances in ’24. Unwittingly, the FBI may have cleared the presidential field in favor of the man whose house it had just searched.
Concern that Trump’s supporters could turn violent (again) motivated White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre to call for calmThe details of the federal action are still to be revealed. These words are coming because the Trumpian corners in social media are screaming for civil warfare. The contradictions don’t seem to faze these people — wasn’t Benghazi essentially about Hillary Clinton’s mishandling of classified documents? “But her emails…?” Is this thing on? Bueller? — although it remains unknown how many of Trump’s people are still willing to put themselves on the line for him.
“Trump has a hold on a party that has been offered plenty of exit ramps from its relationship with him, but he is not Voldemort,” writes Juliette Kayyem for The Atlantic. “He has been isolated and humiliated. Many of those who used violence to support him in January 6 are now in jail. His audiences have dwindled. Even on the night of the FBI search, in the area of Florida that he now calls home, an impromptu roadside demonstration in support of him attracted ‘roughly two dozen’ supporters, the Miami Herald reported. ‘Roughly two dozen’ isn’t a revolution. It isn’t even a rally.”
I think many people, including some former Trump supporters, will take this all in stride. “No one stormed into Trump’s home unannounced with guns blazing, awakening him from a sound sleep and scaring him into paralysis,” notesRobin Givhan The Boston Globe. “No shots were fired without regard for human life. His private quarters weren’t riddled with bullet holes. No one was taken out on agurney. His outrage was heard. That’s what happens when a person is at the mercy of the law. That’s what happened to Breonna Taylor.”
This is a time for extreme vigilance. White nationalists are still out there in the streets, despite the right-wing keyboard warriors. Even in disarray — half of these paramilitary groups have turned on the other half in the face of Capitol Hill riot indictments — the far right remains a dangerous menace, one deliberately cultivated by Trump himself. He leads a party that is willing to commit violent acts and takes great pride being called dangerous. This energy attracts fascists like porch lights attract moths. There are still nearly 400 million firearms in civilian hands.
As we’ve seen in our schools, malls, and markets, it only takes one person to incite a bloodbath.
