Will the January 6 Investigation End With a Whimper?
If there is one unifying aspect to modern right wing politicos, it is their contempt for the rule of law. Apparently the act of worshiping plutocrats overrides any sense the party faithful might have been taught about right and wrong.
Throughout the Trump administration’s four years, the guardrails of American politics were ignored. During the month of October, 2020, at least 16 Trump administration officials violated the Hatch Act a total of more than 60 times. Constitutional provisions like the Foreign Emoluments Clause lost all practical effect, allowing the president and his family to profit from foreign governments without first obtaining the consent of Congress. I could go on for days, but I hope you get the point.
We’re getting a big dose of contempt this week with headlines and commentary about the refusal of several subpoenaed witnesses to cooperate with the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th insurrection. It shouldn’t surprise people; the former guys’ lawyers evaded nearly all Congressional requests, and got away with it.
Today is the day ex-Trump officials Kash Patel and Steve Bannon were instructed to appear for depositions, and they will not show. The Dear Leader claims all his present and former minions are protected by executive privilege, and he has had to dig deep to find attorneys willing to advance his novel theories in the courts.
According to CNN, “at least four well-known lawyers were repeatedly approached by Trump's team for help in recent weeks -- and said no, a source familiar with the discussions” told the news outlet. A former senior Justice Department lawyer under George W. Bush told CNN that law firms were distancing themselves from Trump with "a 1,000-foot pole."
Contempt in the Trump orbit isn’t limited to the government. One of the reasons cited in reporting about his legal woes is the former President’s policy of paying people only when he thinks they’ve done a good job on his behalf.
I’ve seen a lot of bellyaching on social media coming from individuals who think Congress can simply call the US Marshals hotline and have somebody arrested. It doesn’t work that way, never has, and shouldn’t, if for no other reason than Republicans like Rep. Darrel Issa would abuse the system should the GOP regain a majority. After all, members of the House Freedom Caucus have already announced their intention to seek impeachment for President Joe Biden.
A legit concern is whether or not Attorney General Merrick Garland is willing to honor (and expedite) Congressional requests to prosecute unwilling witnesses. The Trump camp is betting that he doesn’t have the drive to do such things; a fundamental part of their strategy involves running out the clock on any court cases that do arise until after the 2022 midterm elections.
Then there is a concern about the depth of the Biden administration’s willingness to participate in legal actions that could come back to haunt future presidents.
Here’s Josh Marshall at TPM:
Preventing the President from stymieing a lawful investigation will require action by three separate parties. Congress must use fines and eventually imprisonment to compel action. The Department of Justice must refrain from imposing needless barriers under the institutional misapprehension that these are customary defenses of presidential privilege. It must also use its enforcement capacity to assist Congress. Finally, a corrupted federal judiciary must resist the temptation to maim the law to enable the former president’s law-breaking.
The decision on whether to charge a former President with a crime is a weighty one. The decision to conduct a proper investigation of one is not. There are no excuses this time. Trump is just another lawbreaker and target of an investigation. Vindicate the law.
***
Sometimes that contempt extends toward the Trumpanista base.
Here’s Eugene Robinson at the Washington Post:
T.S. Eliot wrote that the world ends "not with a bang but a whimper,” but I fear our great nation is careening toward a third manner of demise: descent into lip-blubbering, self-destructive idiocy.
How did we become, in such alarming measure, so dumb? Why is the news dominated by ridiculous controversies that should not be controversial at all? When did so many of our fellow citizens become full-blown nihilists who deny even the concept of objective reality? And how must this look to the rest of the world?
Fox News is taking a bit of a break this week from fear mongering about white people being overrun by savages.
https://twitter.com/ndrew_lawrence/status/1448432785232891909?s=20
https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1448469611356123140?s=20
Say what?
https://twitter.com/thomaskaine5/status/1448673525993254913?s=20
Hey folks! Be sure to like/follow Words & Deeds on Facebook. If you’d like to have each post emailed to you check out the simple subscription form on the right side of the front page.
Email me at WritetoDougPorter@Gmail.com
Lead Image via The Rappler