HCR, August 11
The August 11 installment of Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American puts yesterday’s news in one place.
Worse than I imagined, I think
“Classified documents relating to nuclear weapons.”
Unsealed
Extra credit to the AG for not referring to the former president by name.
Mar-a-Lago “under siege”!
Well, if you had a safe and also had things you wanted to hide, where else would you keep them?
At last
“The Justice Department is investigating President Donald Trump’s actions as part of its criminal probe of efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, according to four people familiar with the matter.”
“‘Alternative’ votes”
The scheming in these e-mails is transparently dishonest.
Trump edits
The Trump edits to this statement are almost entirely self-explanatory. Almost.
Self-rule and survival
Timothy Snyder: “A second coup is being planned in America. Like the first one it will fail if it is attempted — but it will fail in a different way, by breaking the country apart. America will not survive without self-rule, and I fear it is unlikely to survive a second attempt to take it away.”
Manufacturing fear
From a 1958 movie: “Millions of people being lied to, taken for suckers. You know, it's a funny thing: they have pure food and drug laws to keep people from buying poison to put in their stomachs. And you're peddling poison to put in their minds.”
What matters
Adam Kinzinger (R, IL-16): “Oaths matter. Character matters. Truth matters.” Harmonizes nicely with what Representative Adam Schiff (D, CA-28) said in 2020.
Juxtaposition
Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) raising a clenched fist for the crowd (not yet mob) at the U.S. Capitol. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) running down a Capitol hallway, then down a flight of stairs, fleeing to safety.
A red-herring strategy
James Surowiecki: “Trump Wanted to Join the Mob at the Capitol, and All Right-Wing Media Wants to Talk About Is a Steering Wheel.”
“Real, real bad”
Taking notes on today’s January 6 hearing.
Netizen Trump
“You guys may not be following the Internet the way I do”: Donald Trump, pushing his Department of Justice to investigate a conspiracy theory about Italian satellites changing votes for him to votes for Joe Biden.
Members, plural
The ones who requested pardons after January 6.
“Don’t blame the intern”
Monica Lewinsky to Ron Johnson: “dude. don’t blame the intern.” Well played!
“But he targeted me”
“There is nowhere I feel safe, nowhere. Do you know how it feels to have the president of the United States target you? The president of the United States is supposed to represent every American, not to target one. But he targeted me, Lady Ruby, a small-business owner, a mother, a proud American citizen, who’d stand up to help Fulton County run an election in the middle of the pandemic.”
Theories and evidence
“We’ve got lots of theories, we just don’t have the evidence”: an apparently Rudy Giuliani to Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers (R).
“A clear and present danger”
Retired federal judge J. Michael Luttig, at today’s hearing of the January 6 committee: “Retired federal judge J. Michael Luttig, at today’s hearing of the January 6 committee.”
The pardon list
“I’ve decided that I should be on the pardon list, if that is still in the works”: John Eastman, in an e-mail to Rudy Giuliani.
Clarence to Ginni to John?
Yet another revelation that everything was/is even worse than it had appeared.
Grifting
Somehow an e-mail address that I haven’t used in years made its way to the Trump world. So I’ve been getting grifting messages, even during this morning’s January 6 hearing.
“Official”
The Trump-created so-called “Official Election Defense Fund” — which did not in fact exist — channeled donor contributions to the Save America PAC, which in turn channeled funds to a charitable organization run by Mark Meadows, to the company that managed the January 6 rally, and to — wait for it — Trump hotels.
Detachment
William Barr, on what he was thinking during a meeting with his then-employer about alleged election fraud: “He’s become detached from reality if he really believes this stuff.” And yet he, and all the others, kept quiet when they could have spoken out.
“Apparently” and “definitely”
Liz Cheney: “An apparently inebriated Rudy Giuliani.” Jason Miller, Trump campaign senior advisor: “The mayor was definitely intoxicated.”
Making it plain
Donald Trump was at the center of this conspiracy”: Representative Bennie Thompson (D, MS-2). “There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain”: Representative Liz Cheney (R, WY).
Two presidents
In The New York Times, Mikhail Zygar describes Vladimir Putin’s world. As I read, I kept thinking of another president.
Charge!
Q Okay. Just so I understand, Dr. Eastman, you're invoking your Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination to question whether this opinion and commentary piece with the byline John C. Eastman, you’re invoking the Fifth Amendment right to not answer that question? A On advice of counsel, I’m invoking the Fifth.
Not telling, telling
Bob Woodward and Maggie Haberman, holding on to secrets for their books.
On January 6
The crisis of American democracy is a crisis of fact.