Thread by @SethAbramson

Just a quick note: we should prepare for the revelation that *many* GOP members of Congress anticipated the Capitol would be breached and the joint session of Congress interrupted on January 6—and that it was largely Democrats and Pence caught off guard and under threat that day.

Some will say we already know this, but in fact we don't—that evidence hasn't emerged. But the indie journalism I am seeing on coup memos sent to GOP members of Congress pre-January 6 suggests the party aided and abetted the coup by not revealing what it thought likely to happen.

The question will be whether failing to inform the Pentagon, USCP, and MPD of an anticipated attack on the Capitol makes GOP members of Congress—possibly numbering in the dozens—co-conspirators in an armed insurrection.

Ethically? Of course. But the question will be a legal one.

What worries me is that for all that the House January 6 Committee is working hard and we're getting regular updates on their progress, we've *zero* evidence—from subpoenas, demand letters, raids, interrogations or anything else—that the FBI or DOJ are pursuing the coup plotters.

The January 6 investigation can't be just a political process, it must be a legal one, and not one that only involves the attackers and their leaders but also any who conceived of the plan others executed. I'd argue that this class includes those who got coup memos pre-January 6.

Detecting duties to warn in criminal law—or instances in which "omissions" are criminal—is a tricky thing. But it becomes less difficult if one has knowledge that another will commit a crime; fails to warn anyone; then takes actions (including delaying tactics) to aid that crime.

I would argue—as a lawyer—that any GOP member of Congress who was lobbied via a pre-January 6 coup memo from Phil Waldron, John Eastman, Ali Alexander, Mark Finchem or anyone else was at a minimum obligated to take no action that furthered any criminal dimension to any such memo.

I'd add that "color of authority" isn't necessarily a defense here—meaning that if you know a crime is imminent, if you've been asked to participate in it, if you didn't warn anyone about it, and then take actions you know will aid it under "color of authority," there's an issue.

So I don't know that the GOP is scared of January 6 because it worries it had members who helped plan the attack—though Gosar, Boebert and a few others may yet have done so—but rather because, *writ large*, the party knew what was coming and did nothing to protect our government.

(PS) This thread aims to help establish how we should think about the news—and it's coming—that many GOP members of Congress were in possession of secret coup memos (there were five or more) prior to January 6 and not only warned no one but took actions consistent with the memos.