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Greg Sargent Profile picture
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12 Feb, 6 tweets, 7 min read
Damning new facts show Trump may have known Pence's life was in danger when Trump attacked Pence during the insurrection. Democrats simply must call witnesses. If Trump knowingly pointed this loaded gun at Pence, we need to know the full story. New piece:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
I talked to a former Secret Service agent, who explained to me what Trump might have known about the danger Pence was in when Trump whipped up the mob against him.

This former agent says witnesses could help reconstruct what Trump knew and when:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
I don't see how Dems can refrain from a full accounting, with witnesses, given what we've learned.

This isn't for Rs, who are hopeless. It's for the American people and for history.

I tried to rebut objections:

(others like @Timodc have been good here)

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
@Timodc The chronology is increasingly damning. Live TV showed Pence being rushed to safety 11 minutes before Trump sent out that tweet casting Pence as a traitor to MAGA Nation.

And as @PostRoz and @jdawsey1 report in a great piece, Trump was watching TV:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
@Timodc @PostRoz @jdawsey1 And here's @brianbeutler, making a broader case: Calling witnesses is critical to the full reckoning we need to protect the country from an authoritarian resurgence.

He suggests good lines of inquiry:

mailchi.mp/crooked.com/bi…
@Timodc @PostRoz @jdawsey1 @brianbeutler Adding to this thread an important insight from @JesseCharlesLee about the lines of inquiry the Trump-McCarthy conversation opens up, which witnesses could help flesh out:

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Greg Sargent Profile picture
11 Feb
Mark it down: Most elected Republicans will end up comprehensively absolving Trump of any and all responsibility for inspiring the attack. His role will be erased entirely. @LindseyGrahamSC's abject toadying on Fox shows where this is all going. My latest:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
@LindseyGrahamSC News accounts keep claiming Dems have "failed to persuade" GOP senators to break with Trump. This framing is all wrong. It implies most Republicans have principled objections to the case against Trump. Everyone covering this trial knows that's nonsense:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
@LindseyGrahamSC People have rightly ragged on Graham's "what did Pelosi know and when did she know it" idiocy.

But it's also worth noting that the underlying argument -- some preplanned Jan 6, and this exonerates Trump -- is also nonsense. These known facts demolish it:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Read 4 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
9 Feb
Let's drop this bad framing which says GOP senators must choose whether to be "loyal" to Trump or not. Their choice is actually between being loyal to Trump and being faithful to their oath to defend the Constitution. Sorry: It can't be both. New piece:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Trump's lawyers will argue the Senate "lacks jurisdiction" to convict him, because he's no longer in office.

This is BS. But it also reveals how badly GOP senators want to avoid taking a stand on what Trump actually did, revealing their own dereliction:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Trump's lawyers say he didn't "direct anyone" to wage the assault, and that he couldn't have incited the assault because some "preplanned" it.

It's hogwash. He deliberately sought to disrupt our constitutional processes with violence and intimidation:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Read 4 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
8 Feb
Not good. Dems are worried that implicating the GOP in Trump's effort to overturn US democracy will make conviction harder. But acquittal is *preordained.* Spelling out GOP complicity is crucial in getting both the story and the politics right. My latest:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
One of the most consequential questions of the moment is whether Democrats will accept **and act upon** the full implications of the GOP's ongoing radicalization.

A full accounting into the insurrection is absolutely critical to that larger project:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Large swaths of the GOP are deeply implicated in Trump's effort to overthrow US democracy. It lasted for months, with active complicity of many Republicans.

It would be folly to insulate the GOP from this, in the belief that conviction remains possible:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Read 6 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
5 Feb
Good to see: By moving on reconciliation, Dems show they're learning. They're wise to McConnell's scam, in which he used filibuster to *withhold* cooperation. Going big on spending now could boost faith in govt and undercut Trumpist populism. My latest:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Here's how Mitch's scam works:

He claims the filibuster facilitates bipartisanship. But the truth is the opposite: He uses it to *withhold* bipartisan cooperation, for cynical purposes.

Reconciliation makes bipartisanship *more* likely, as I argue here:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
If Dems go big on spending now to address deep injustices revealed by the pandemic, it could revitalize faith in government and clear political space for sanity on immigration and climate.

That's my answer to Trumpist populism:

(citing @nytdavidbrooks)

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Read 4 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
4 Feb
Marjorie Taylor Greene's ideology isn't just QAnon. It's also MAGA. Greene endorses violent warfare against the opposition, just as Trump did. Republicans won't meaningfully hold her accountable for this, just as they're acquitting Trump for it. My latest:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
We still don't have an answer to this question.

At the meeting where Republicans gave Marjorie Taylor Greene a standing ovation for supposedly renouncing some of her views, did any of them confront her over her endorsement of executing Democrats?

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Context matters. The GOP's exoneration of MTG comes as Republicans are memory-holing their own role in helping incite a violent attack on lawmakers.

It's no wonder they're refusing to hold Greene accountable for her own endorsement of political violence:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Read 6 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
3 Feb
There is a clear link between the GOP dilemmas over Marjorie Taylor Greene and Trump's impeachment. In both, Republicans largely still have not unambiguously declared that political violence is wholly intolerable and has no place in their ranks. My latest:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Republicans who criticize MTG keep focusing on her conspiracy theories. They use phrases like "nutty" and "loony lies."

I call BS. Greene has also *endorsed the execution of Democrats.*

Rs should say more about that, too. But that's dicey for them:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Republicans are "relieved" Trump's lawyers are focusing on constitutional arguments, per Politico.

That's because Trump's actual deeds are indefensible.

A new look at the attack shows it was unambiguously understood by many as an assault on lawmakers:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Read 5 tweets

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