Technical problems (internet and phone service dead for a couple of days, thanks T-Mobile) prevented posting this the other day, but here you are.
The second federal indictment against Donald Trump contained many familiar elements: the continuing lies (which are not charged, so goodbye first amendment defenses) that were weaponized to fuel a conspiracy to deprive millions of voters of their right to vote and have that vote counted, as a hoard descended to violently take the Capitol, some intent on hanging Mike Pence, others calling for Pelosi, the now familiar horror of that day only happened because of lies the US does not contest Trump had every right to peddle. The lies are not the issue, the far-reaching conspiracy to use those lies to illegally cling to power is. There’s some good new stuff in the indictment. Here are a few:
With respect to the persistent false claim regarding State Farm Arena, on December 8, the Senior
Campaign Advisor wrote in an email, “When our research and campaign legal team can’t back up
any of the claims made by our Elite Strike Force Legal Team, you can see why we’re 0-32 on our cases. I’ll obviously hustle to help on all fronts, but it’s tough to own any of this when it’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.”
And, the old chestnut, the perfect call to Georgia’s Brad Rafesnsberger:
The Defendant said that he needed to “find” 11,780 votes, and insinuated that the Georgia Secretary of State and his Counsel could be subject to criminal prosecution if they failed to find election fraud as he demanded, stating, “And you are going to find that they are-which is totally illegal- it’s, it’s, it’s more illegal for you than it is for them because you know what they did and you’re not reporting it. That’s a criminal, you know, that’s a criminal offense. And you know, you can’t let that happen. That’s a big risk to you and to [the Georgia Secretary of State’s Counsel], your lawyer.”
Ouch
Co-conspirator 4 is apparently Jeffery Clarke, American Eichmann. 2 is Eastman, 1 is Rudy,
The Deputy White House Counsel reiterated
to Co-Conspirator 4 that there had not been outcome-determinative fraud in the election and that
if the Defendant remained in office nonetheless, there would be “riots in every major city in the
United States.” Conspirator 4 responded, “Well, [Deputy White House Counsel], that’s why
there’s an Insurrection Act.”
I was gratified to see one of my favorite lines from Trumpie’s pep talk at the Ellipse right before he sent his angry mob off to peacefully protest the steal of the election.
The Defendant also said that regular rules no longer applied, stating, “And fraud breaks up everything, doesn’t it? When you catch somebody in a. fraud, you’re allowed to go by very different rules.”
Finally, after exhorting that ”we fight. We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” the Defendant directed the people in front of him to head to the Capitol, suggested he was going with them, and told them to give Members of Congress “the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.”
Then there’s this curious bit where the quote could only have come from one of the most spineless homophobes in government, the man with the fly on his head during the Vice Presidential debate with Kamala Harris:
On January 1, the Defendant called the Vice President and berated him because he had learned that the Vice President had opposed a lawsuit seeking a judicial decision that, at the certification, the Vice President had the authority to reject or return votes to the states under the Constitution. The Vice President responded that he thought there was no constitutional basis for such authority and that it was improper. In response, the Defendant told the Vice President, “You’re too honest.” Within hours of the conversation, the Defendant reminded his supporters to meet in Washington before the certification proceeding, tweeting, “The BIG Protest Rally in Washington, D.C., will take place at 11.00 A.M. on January 6th. Locational. details to follow. StopTheSteal!”
gratuitousblahg 