Predicting when Trump's end will come has been pretty much the national game since he announced his candidacy for president in 2015.
From the so-called "locker room chat" about how to grab women's genitals, to the Russia and Uzbekistan investigations, to the January 6, 2021 congressional riots that attempted to overturn Biden's victory, every expected "Trump" This time there is no drama.” The judgments were all overturned one by one tragically.
Although life is like a play, when people live in a play, there are often misunderstandings by the authorities.
Sometimes, the finale has arrived, the drama is not over yet, and the people in the play may not know that they are in the finale.
On June 28, the U.S. House of Representatives' January 6 Congressional Riot Inquiry Committee suddenly held a "special hearing", adding an extra section that was not expected in this set of 7 episodes and 5 episodes have already been staged. inside the plot.
Although it happened suddenly, it is not difficult for us to notice that this special hearing was "released" just before the July 4th Independence Day holiday, and the plot was vivid enough to bring a new round of national discussions.
Several previous hearings have discussed Trump’s pre-announcement of victory without waiting for the vote count on the day of voting, how then-Vice President Mike Pence resisted Trump’s pressure and insisted on confirming the voting results in accordance with the law, and how Trump applied The suppression of election officials in various places, and even the almost total resignation of top officials of the Justice Department to oppose Trump's installation of new ministers and other incidents have come one after another.
However, the hearing on the 28th was full of detailed descriptions of Trump's specific words and actions, and was regarded as the most influential one since the hearing.
Evidence of organized premeditation?
The protagonist of the hearing was Cassidy Hutchinson, assistant to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who was very close to the core of the White House power before and after the Congressional riots on January 6. She told the details of what she had heard and witnessed. come.
First, she pointed out that Trump, knowing that the Jan. 6 rallies had guns, continued to encourage them to besiege Capitol Hill.
At the rally in front of the White House that day, Trump wanted to allow supporters to come closer to prevent supporters from getting too far away from him.
When told they were armed, Hutchinson noted that she heard Trump say "I don't care if they have weapons, they're not here to hurt me ... they're going to be marching here on Capitol Hill."
Who are these weapons not used to hurt Trump?
Cassidy Hutchinson, an assistant to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who testified at a congressional hearing on June 28.
(AP)
Secondly, Hutchinson also pointed out that she had known about the protesters' march to Congress as early as January 2. When she asked White House Chief of Staff Meadows about this, the latter said that "a lot of things are happening... 1 On the 6th, things could go very, very badly,” showing that Trump’s side seemed to have premeditated riots in Congress.
By January 6, as Trump supporters marched to Capitol Hill, Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy even called to accuse Hutchinson of not warning him in advance.
After the rally before the riot, Trump boarded the presidential car. The Secret Service knew that Capitol Hill was in danger, but Trump insisted on going to Capitol Hill in person, but was rejected by the Secret Service.
According to Hutchinson's name, citing people present, Trump immediately became furious, flew to grab the disc, and shouted, "I'm his X's (press: expletive) president, take me to Capitol Hill," but in the end he didn't. Wish.
This seems to show Trump's intention to personally command the riots.
Later, as a group of aides watched the development of the congressional riots on White House television, White House counsel Pat Cipollone stormed Meadows' office and demanded that he "do something or someone will die," hoping Meadows was able to find Trump with him, but Meadows said Trump "doesn't want to do anything."
Cipollon said the mob who stormed into Congress called for Pence to be hanged, while Meadows said, "You hear him (by: Trump), he thinks Pence deserves it, he doesn't think they're doing anything wrong. thing".
At the same time, Trump did tweet a tweet accusing Pence of "having no courage."
Screenshot of Trump's Jan. 6, 2021, tweet accusing Pence.
(AP)
In addition to being directly related to the White House episode during the Jan. 6 riots, Hutchinson also claimed that on Dec. 1, 2020, when Trump discovered that his Attorney General William Barr told the media that rumors of election fraud were unfounded, Trump got into a rage and threw his lunch on the wall, leaving a broken plate and tomato juice for someone to clean up.
Hutchinson also pointed out that this act of throwing dishes and flipping the tablecloth has occurred at least several times.
Such various "plots" that cannot be recorded in this article have not only become sufficient material for negative reports on Trump, but also further provide new and re-verifiable evidence for the potential prosecution of Trump by the Department of Justice .
The Dilemma of Prosecuting Trump
According to the evidence from previous hearings, Trump is most likely to face prosecution for two charges: one is maliciously obstructing the official process (the electoral vote count on January 6), and the other is conspiracy to defraud the United States (that is, attempting to push the election results. ).
The biggest difficulty in proving Trump's guilt lies in proving his intentions - when he keeps claiming that election fraud exists and agitating supporters to overturn the election results, does he really believe that large-scale election fraud exists, or is he just borrowing the election Fraudulent propaganda to overturn election results he knew were legitimate?
The content of various hearings also revolved around Trump's intentions.
These include how Trump defied public opinion and declared his victory on the night of the vote; how he then ignored legal advice, insisted that Pence had the right to overturn the vote, and how he put pressure on election officials at all levels; Trump has insisted on preaching election fraud even as aides have pointed out that there is no evidence of election fraud.
However, it remains to be seen whether the overwhelming evidence will prove Trump's criminal intent "without reasonable doubt" in court.
The latest hearing on the 28th changed this.
This time, Trump's potential charge may be inciting violence.
Liz Cheney, one of two Republicans on the House Congressional Riot Investigation Committee.
Because of her "disloyalty" to Trump, she will likely not be able to represent the Republican Party.
(AP)
Under U.S. law, sedition cases require "immediate illegal action" to be targeted to be convicted, and Trump's actions before and during the impending congressional riots appear to satisfy that immediacy condition.
First, he knew that his supporters were armed, but he still called on them to go to Capitol Hill; second, if his behavior of "grabbing the plate" in the President's car was true, it would prove that he intends to go to Congress to personally agitate his supporters to the United States. Pressure from Pence and other members of Congress who are counting votes; third, Trump, who has returned to the White House, appears to have endorsed Meadows as his armed supporters threaten to "hang Pence" Regarding the behavior, he did not call on the thugs to stop, and even indirectly encouraged them by speaking on Twitter.
After this hearing, the investigative committee is likely to have many more relevant witnesses and testimony, which will further strengthen the evidence base sufficient to prosecute Trump.
At this point, the question comes back to Attorney General Merrick Garland: Should Trump be prosecuted?
Judging from all the evidence that has been made public so far, Trump may indeed be guilty.
As early as March this year, in a related lawsuit, a federal judge commented in his judgment that Trump "is more likely to have violated (conspiracy to defraud the United States) federal law."
Garland, who emphasizes fair enforcement (he even continued to defend Trump's civil lawsuits after taking office despite Democratic opposition), is hard to ignore.
However, is it in the interest of the United States to bring criminal justice to justice?
Prosecuting Trump, in public perception, would be equivalent to a judicial crackdown on Biden's potential political opponent in 2024, as well as the former incumbent.
Not only will this further undermine the American people's confidence in the fairness of future elections, it will more likely undermine the tradition of (relatively) peaceful transitions of power.
Moreover, prosecuting Trump will bring this figure gradually forgotten by the mainstream media back to the political front, as the so-called "any propaganda is good propaganda", which is more likely to become the foothold of Trump's comeback in 2024 stone.
Not as crazy as Trump's "Trump"
However, depending on the current political trend of the Republican Party in the United States, Garland's dilemma may have a different solution.
This solution comes from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, where Trump lives.
When DeSantis ran for governor in 2018, his campaign ad showed Trump slogans such as "Build the Wall" and "Make America Great Again" for his babbling children, which won Trump's favor. Elected in the image of a loyal Trump loyalist.
A number of recent polls have also shown that Republicans have begun to outperform Trump in their support for Florida Governor DeSantis.
(AP)
However, since the new crown epidemic, DeSantis has gradually stepped out of his own way.
His light-hearted anti-epidemic policy has popular support, and Florida's epidemic is not significantly worse than the more tightly regulated states, but DeSantis does not have the scandal of Trump's "bleach injection" remarks that made him a Representatives of people who support "freedom".
On the issue of the subsequent culture war, whether it is the so-called "Don't Say Gay" legislation that cannot teach sexual orientation and sexual identity in schools, or the so-called "Critical Race Theory" (CRT) is prohibited. ) legislation, etc., he also successfully grabbed the attention of the national media through related news, making him a well-known anti-liberal fighter in the country.
Several recent polls have also shown that Republicans' support for DeSantis is beginning to outpace Trump.
A poll at a conservative gathering earlier this month showed more than 71 percent support for DeSantis to run for president in 2024, up from 67 percent for Trump.
A poll of likely Republican primary voters in New Hampshire, the nation's No. 1 primary state, also showed that 39 percent thought DeSantis was their first choice for president in 2024, with Trump The ratio for the general public was 37%.
Looking back at the same survey in October 2021, DeSantis had only 18 percent approval, while Trump had 43 percent.
A person who regularly hosts political discussions for Republican voters also recently told the Washington Post that for the first time in the two discussions since the House Riot hearings began, no participants expressed hope that Trump would be elected in 2024. Running for president again.
A poll released on June 19 also showed that 58 percent of the U.S. believed Trump should be indicted, a six-point increase from the same poll in April.
After the June 28 special hearing aired, Republicans by and large were not quick to defend Trump, save for an instant rebuttal on his social media Truth Social.
Some Fox News channels have already replaced the narrative accusing Trump of never providing evidence of electoral fraud.
To some extent, this reflects the changing direction of the wind.
Regarding DeSantis' threat, Trump had earlier said he believed he would defeat the former.
The American political news website POLITICO also reported that DeSantis, who is continuing to seek re-election as governor, will not seek Trump to support him for president in 2024-in other words, he will not be Trump "Heirs", and will dare to continue to challenge Trump when he is elected.
DeSantis' political line is "about Trump, but not as crazy."
Its rise is not a good thing for the Republican Party and the United States.
But, at least he's not Trump.
DeSantis is watching on the sidelines of the congressional riot hearings that continue to fringe Trump's political influence, hoping that Trump's end will finally come this time.
Congressional Riot Hearing | Former Consultant: Trump Wants to Lead Armed Mobs to Congress Poll clerks accept death threats at U.S. Congressional riot hearings, Trump is revealed and conceded, pressures Pence to overturn the election result
