By David ThorntonLast week, I wrote about the Powerpoint presentation in Mark Meadows’s documents that were handed over to the January 6 commission. Slides in the presentation laid out a plan for Vice President Pence to refuse to accept electors from contested states and recommended declaring a national emergency to throw out electronic votes from across the country. This presentation represented damning evidence of a serious attempt to steal the election with what can accurately be called a coup attempt against the president-elect. Since the revelations last week, however, new details of the plot have not stopped coming.
Last week, I wrote about the Powerpoint presentation in Mark Meadows’s documents that were handed over to the January 6 commission. Slides in the presentation laid out a plan for Vice President Pence to refuse to accept electors from contested states and recommended declaring a national emergency to throw out electronic votes from across the country. This presentation represented damning evidence of a serious attempt to steal the election with what can accurately be called a coup attempt against the president-elect. Since the revelations last week, however, new details of the plot have not stopped coming.
CNN reporting on the messages says that Meadows was in direct contact with organizers of the “Stop the Steal” rally. One of these people texted Meadows for help on January 6, saying “'[t]hings have gotten crazy and I desperately need some direction.’”
The messages, most of which have not been made public, may answer a lot of questions about what Donald Trump was doing during the Capitol riot. For instance, CNN reported that the commission cited an email in which Meadows said before the rally that “the National Guard would be present to ‘protect pro Trump [sic] people’ and that many more would be available on standby.” A major question that needs to be answered by the investigation is why these National Guard troops were not dispatched immediately to put down the riot, but Meadows’s statement that they were there for the protection of pro-Trump demonstrators may be a big part of the answer.
Among the other messages were texts from Fox News hosts such as Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham. The pair acknowledged that it was Trump supporters who were ravaging the Capitol, not Antifa as some would later claim, and that Trump’s inaction was damaging his legacy. The concern expressed by the Fox hosts on January 6 is a sharp contrast to how they have rationalized and downplayed the riot in the months since.
After Meadows turned over the documents in question, he stopped cooperating with investigators. As a result, the House voted to hold him in contempt yesterday. Only two Republicans, Reps. Liz Cheney (Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), voted to hold Meadows accountable.
With revelations like we have seen so far, it is no wonder that Republicans didn’t want a January 6 investigation. The details are deeply embarrassing to the party and to supporters of The Former Guy.
Still, holding coup plotters and insurrectionists accountable should not be a partisan issue. What is at stake is the Constitution and our electoral system itself. Whether it is their intention or not, those who would give Trump and his minions a pass on January 6 run the risk that such an attack on the foundations of our Republic will happen again.
And it may not be Republicans to blame next time. Just as Gavin Newsom can learn from the Texas abortion bill and use the same strategy to attack the Second Amendment, a corrupt Democrat could follow the Eastman-Ellis model for throwing out inconvenient Electoral votes.
The fundamental problem is that everyone knows that the trail leads to Trump. Meadows did not go rogue and come up with a plan to steal the election by himself. Donald Trump’s fingerprints are all over the attempt to stop the Electoral vote count, and Trump still holds the Republican Party within his hypnotic grasp, much as Zach Galifinakis used his mind control powers on Steve Carell in “Dinner for Schmucks.”
As a result, the Republicans will continue to be hammered by a prolonged series of revelations about January 6. It is true that Republicans are on track to win control of the House in next year’s midterms, but that still leaves more than a year for investigators to dig up dirt and there are a lot of skeletons hidden in Republican closets and backyards.
I release you.
The First TV contributor network is a place for vibrant thought and ideas. Opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of The First or The First TV. We want to foster dialogue, create conversation, and debate ideas. See something you like or don’t like? Reach out to the author or to us at ideas@thefirsttv.com.
Follow David Thornton on Twitter (@captainkudzu) and Facebook