4/We've talked High Crimes and better ways to hold Presidents - and a very specific former President - accountable for election crimes and crimes against our democracy itself with the great @glennkirschner2.
If Trump's team doesn't call those close to Trump who could help exonerate him - Pence, Meadows, McCarthy, Tuberville, Don Jr, Stephen Miller, Stone, Flynn - it means that they can't actually exonerate him.
Short thread recapping some key takeaways from today.
Trump's lawyers lied on the Senate floor about whether the President knew Pence was in danger. It's just implausible he wasn't informed as soon as Pence was moved. This was a shocking moment (1/x).
Not only did the Secret Service undoubtedly inform the White House in real time that the VP was in trouble, and the Capitol was falling, but Senator Tuberville confirmed that he told the President the VP had been moved.
After GOP let Trump go last Jan we saw a year of epic malevolence - COVID disaster, economy crashes, assault on election/USPS/Census, domestic crackdown, attack on Congress.
What happens if GOP lets him go again?
My bet - Trump assumes clear leadership of violent insurgency.
Rather than contrition, apologies from those who worked with Trump to push the Big Lie and a domestic insurgency, if anything we are seeing the seditionists dig in, and grow in case some cases more radical, extreme.
On Tue 2/2 hosted a really compelling discussion about Trump, authoritarianism, the current moment with @ruthbenghiat. Watch if you can - always learn so much from her.
Consider also buying her book "Strongmen" - it is timely, important.
Here’s what the good people of Georgia are waking up to this morning - local extremist groups, some aligned w MTG, talking on the record about a sustained insurgency against the US.
Read what MTG wrote YESTERDAY, below. She repeats the new MAGA blood libel - that Democrats are an existential threat to the nation, which is why she/other patriots are justified in using violence to stop them. (2/x).
Trump wove all these narratives together, he brought everyone together around the idea Dems/radical left existential threat, he/patriots were going to Save America by keeping them/removing them from power.