On Tuesday, Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, delivered extraordinary testimony to the House Select Committee about Trump's actions on January 6, 2021.
This information is far too damning to say, not much will happen. He broke laws, he acted out in violence. This is a clear portrait of what we already know. But we didn’t know he demanded that the magnetic detecters be removed so that his armed insurrectionists could get in to an area where this is not allowed. Remember when these republican lunatics claimed the violent mob was Antifa? But Trump clearly said they weren’t going to harm HIM. So he knew harm would take place!
We also were not fully aware of his unhinged tantrums of throwing plates and food against the wall. The republicans who witnessed all of this are derelict of duty for not using the 25th amendment, but they did consider it. And that shows just how serious of an unhinged lunatic Trump is.
He is a danger to democracy and a danger to individuals. It is total BS that he will still be teflon Don. The nail in the coffin is in, yet there are more witnesses.
A problem is that we have a heavily armed group of insurrectionists but we have the military if necessary to quell this.
"Hutchinson's testimony that Trump knew the crowd was armed and that he intended to join them at the Capitol is again relevant. This charge is slightly harder to prove because, in addition to demonstrating that Trump incited them to violence, prosecutors would also have to prove that he intended for the violence to obstruct Congress' work. It's a substantial challenge but it's a case that is much easier to prove with Hutchinson's testimony."
I think it's obvious that the intent behind marching to the Capitol was to disrupt the vote count. Otherwise, why go there and bring thousands of people, many of them armed, with you?
What's that called when you know a murder is going to happen or could happen and you do nothing? "Hang Mike Pence" those Insurrectionists shouted over and over, while trump did nothing. Not a damned thing. He could have easily stopped it/them. He didn't.
I'll never understand why the GOP is constantly defending trump. They didn't defend Nixon back when, what does trump have on them? Why do they need trump's approval for everything? My gosh, I don't understand their mindset.
The most unnerving part of this is that most of the people that still support TFG are delusional evangelicals that have been living a lie for their whole lives and it's like they say; you can watch me, mock me, block me, or join me. What you cannot do is stop me because I am insane.
This traitor is going to walk because they can't prove that he didn't know his claims of fraud were meritless. This shouldn't be hard to prove though. If he is told by his staff there was no fraud, the courts toss out his countless challenges because they were meritless, but if Trump believed there was fraud, he can't be charged? How is this hard to prove though? He was literally told to his face there was no fraud and the courts agreed. But because this man is a giant baby and didn't believe what he was being told, they're going to say in court that HE believed there was fraud so he can't be sued over it?!? Wow, that is a whopper of a strategy. And if that is their strategy, how can anyone be comfortable voting for a man who doesn't believe in facts and will do whatever he wants regardless? If he is able to run again and wins the presidency, that is the end of America. It is not free and fair for everyone and if you have money, you can commit felony and felony and nobody will do anything about it. What about all the documents that he stole? That story vanished into thin air...
I'm no expert, but my suspicion is the DOJ won't try to charge him unless they get a "killshot" - meaning something that unequivocally proves intent and is a clear violation of a law.
This is tricky because he's obviously responsible, but that doesn't mean they'll be able to convict him.
Politically speaking, the worst outcome would be to try him and fail to convict. Then he's a martyr, and his base is reinvigorated. As is, his stench is slowly rendering him irrelevant.
Sentences you wrote at the end of the post look off the mark to me.
“There was evidence presented in earlier hearings that Trump was told by advisors that his theories of fraud were meritless. But whether Trump accepted what he was being told is another issue.”
You seem to be saying that in a case where an enraged, deranged person doesn’t accept rational, evidenced facts, then you might not be able to meet the burden of proof. So, deranged actors are not responsible due to their deranged inability to accept reality? Please clarify
“Evidence of Trump's state of mind about the fraud claims could be provided by other witnesses but was beyond the scope of Hutchinson's testimony.” Her hearsay testimony about his(indeed frequent) smashing of plates and throwing ketchup bottles, as well as the assault against a USSS agent isn’t conclusive of his state of mind, but it seems wrong to say that state of mind was outside the scope of her testimony. We need more (and further hearings will no doubt provide more evidence), but please clarify your statement.
She witnessed the ketchup on the wall and helped to clean it up. She also testified that she saw many similar food-flinging tantrums during her tenure at the WH. Why is it important that she had to personally see him throw his lunch at the wall on Jan. 6th? It's hardly the most damning piece of her testimony.
Seeing the ketchup on the wall and seeing him throw it are legally different. It’s by far not the most important testimony, and I never said it was. You’re pulling away from the original context, which was my question to Judd.
I strongly doubt that the ruling class will meaningfully prosecute one of their own.
The elites hate Trump, but holding him responsible for his actions opens the door for people to hold the rest of them accountable.
And they are all guilty of something.
Curious to see how this turns out - Trump is stupid and lazy, but he is also vain and stubborn and probably won't do what the elites want - to pull a Nixon, fade into the background, let the hoopla blow over, and then 20 years later Chelsea can give the eulogy for Trump like Bill did when Nixon died.
1) In America, the only real crime is to steal from someone richer than you. And Trump made the donor class a lot of money.
2) in America, the law exists to protect the powerful without binding them, and to bind the powerless but not protect them.
And both of these thing will remain true as long as we allow them to be.
I wonder how much longer America's hegemony will last. China and India are just as happy to deal with amoral Russia as they are to deal with the amoral USA.
Pretty down on America right now. Maybe I need more coffee.
Things will change as soon as people want them to. But it seems that part of the human condition is preferring to starve than seeing your neighbor have something you don't - unless the neighbor is a billionaire, in which case they will volunteer to pay his taxes.
It's tricky to indict a likely political opponent, but surely he has committed every financial crime in the book and seems like a slam dunk for financial fraud or tax evasion case.
Unfortunate that this is going on while the reversal of Roe v. Wade is still fresh. This business deserves every bit of attention.
This information is far too damning to say, not much will happen. He broke laws, he acted out in violence. This is a clear portrait of what we already know. But we didn’t know he demanded that the magnetic detecters be removed so that his armed insurrectionists could get in to an area where this is not allowed. Remember when these republican lunatics claimed the violent mob was Antifa? But Trump clearly said they weren’t going to harm HIM. So he knew harm would take place!
We also were not fully aware of his unhinged tantrums of throwing plates and food against the wall. The republicans who witnessed all of this are derelict of duty for not using the 25th amendment, but they did consider it. And that shows just how serious of an unhinged lunatic Trump is.
He is a danger to democracy and a danger to individuals. It is total BS that he will still be teflon Don. The nail in the coffin is in, yet there are more witnesses.
A problem is that we have a heavily armed group of insurrectionists but we have the military if necessary to quell this.
So GAME OVER for republiCons.
Not holding my breath. Trump truly is the Teflon Don.
Neither am I, but if it keeps him out of the WH in 2024, that's better than nothing.
Excellent analysis, Judd. The burden of proof falls on the prosecution.
"Hutchinson's testimony that Trump knew the crowd was armed and that he intended to join them at the Capitol is again relevant. This charge is slightly harder to prove because, in addition to demonstrating that Trump incited them to violence, prosecutors would also have to prove that he intended for the violence to obstruct Congress' work. It's a substantial challenge but it's a case that is much easier to prove with Hutchinson's testimony."
I think it's obvious that the intent behind marching to the Capitol was to disrupt the vote count. Otherwise, why go there and bring thousands of people, many of them armed, with you?
What about felony murder? Several people died during or as a direct result of the crime.
What's that called when you know a murder is going to happen or could happen and you do nothing? "Hang Mike Pence" those Insurrectionists shouted over and over, while trump did nothing. Not a damned thing. He could have easily stopped it/them. He didn't.
I'll never understand why the GOP is constantly defending trump. They didn't defend Nixon back when, what does trump have on them? Why do they need trump's approval for everything? My gosh, I don't understand their mindset.
The most unnerving part of this is that most of the people that still support TFG are delusional evangelicals that have been living a lie for their whole lives and it's like they say; you can watch me, mock me, block me, or join me. What you cannot do is stop me because I am insane.
This traitor is going to walk because they can't prove that he didn't know his claims of fraud were meritless. This shouldn't be hard to prove though. If he is told by his staff there was no fraud, the courts toss out his countless challenges because they were meritless, but if Trump believed there was fraud, he can't be charged? How is this hard to prove though? He was literally told to his face there was no fraud and the courts agreed. But because this man is a giant baby and didn't believe what he was being told, they're going to say in court that HE believed there was fraud so he can't be sued over it?!? Wow, that is a whopper of a strategy. And if that is their strategy, how can anyone be comfortable voting for a man who doesn't believe in facts and will do whatever he wants regardless? If he is able to run again and wins the presidency, that is the end of America. It is not free and fair for everyone and if you have money, you can commit felony and felony and nobody will do anything about it. What about all the documents that he stole? That story vanished into thin air...
Trump did not COMMAND his people to "peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard."
He said: "I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard,"
That was a JOKE. It is like Mark Antony saying: “I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him."--LIKE HELL HE DID.
Over the last 6 years, I've found that justice is very fluid and changes its shape
quite often. TRUTH, on the other hand, cannot be redefined. You can try to
change it but it doesn't budge. A lie is
a lie. My hope is that the truth will
prevail with the J6 Committee and
eventually with DoJ. That Donald Trump
will be held accountable for all the lies
he told and continues to tell, as well
as all those, no matter who they are,
who went and continue to go along with
him, in trying to destroy our democracy.
Thank you, Judd for a really good
look at some ways truth can prevail.
I'm no expert, but my suspicion is the DOJ won't try to charge him unless they get a "killshot" - meaning something that unequivocally proves intent and is a clear violation of a law.
This is tricky because he's obviously responsible, but that doesn't mean they'll be able to convict him.
Politically speaking, the worst outcome would be to try him and fail to convict. Then he's a martyr, and his base is reinvigorated. As is, his stench is slowly rendering him irrelevant.
Could this be enough to finally fry this fish? Or is there even more to come? Somehow I expect we
haven't seen the worst yet! Hopefully TFG's acts will be seen to have been so egregious as to require
punitive action be taken against he and his entire cabal. May justice finally be served to this serial
miscreant!
Sentences you wrote at the end of the post look off the mark to me.
“There was evidence presented in earlier hearings that Trump was told by advisors that his theories of fraud were meritless. But whether Trump accepted what he was being told is another issue.”
You seem to be saying that in a case where an enraged, deranged person doesn’t accept rational, evidenced facts, then you might not be able to meet the burden of proof. So, deranged actors are not responsible due to their deranged inability to accept reality? Please clarify
“Evidence of Trump's state of mind about the fraud claims could be provided by other witnesses but was beyond the scope of Hutchinson's testimony.” Her hearsay testimony about his(indeed frequent) smashing of plates and throwing ketchup bottles, as well as the assault against a USSS agent isn’t conclusive of his state of mind, but it seems wrong to say that state of mind was outside the scope of her testimony. We need more (and further hearings will no doubt provide more evidence), but please clarify your statement.
The smashed plate/ketchup testimony is not hearsay.
Perhaps I’m mistaken, though I don’t recall her saying she witnessed the tantrum. Nonetheless you’re reinforcing my question to Judd.
She witnessed the ketchup on the wall and helped to clean it up. She also testified that she saw many similar food-flinging tantrums during her tenure at the WH. Why is it important that she had to personally see him throw his lunch at the wall on Jan. 6th? It's hardly the most damning piece of her testimony.
Seeing the ketchup on the wall and seeing him throw it are legally different. It’s by far not the most important testimony, and I never said it was. You’re pulling away from the original context, which was my question to Judd.
I strongly doubt that the ruling class will meaningfully prosecute one of their own.
The elites hate Trump, but holding him responsible for his actions opens the door for people to hold the rest of them accountable.
And they are all guilty of something.
Curious to see how this turns out - Trump is stupid and lazy, but he is also vain and stubborn and probably won't do what the elites want - to pull a Nixon, fade into the background, let the hoopla blow over, and then 20 years later Chelsea can give the eulogy for Trump like Bill did when Nixon died.
Perhaps he'll do an Epstein.
I'm have little doubt he knows he's going to get away with it. Mutually assured destruction.
This is the natural result of those who didn't want to prosecute Nixon "because it would have torn the nation apart".
Because the best way to preserve the nation is to abandon law and order if your are rich enough.
1) In America, the only real crime is to steal from someone richer than you. And Trump made the donor class a lot of money.
2) in America, the law exists to protect the powerful without binding them, and to bind the powerless but not protect them.
And both of these thing will remain true as long as we allow them to be.
I wonder how much longer America's hegemony will last. China and India are just as happy to deal with amoral Russia as they are to deal with the amoral USA.
Pretty down on America right now. Maybe I need more coffee.
I can't fault your logic and truly hope that you are wrong. The same goes for your
statement below. That is an ugly truth you've stated and I hope that we are coming
to a turning point in our shared history that will allow positive change to be made in
service to the people, not the powerful.
Things will change as soon as people want them to. But it seems that part of the human condition is preferring to starve than seeing your neighbor have something you don't - unless the neighbor is a billionaire, in which case they will volunteer to pay his taxes.
It's tricky to indict a likely political opponent, but surely he has committed every financial crime in the book and seems like a slam dunk for financial fraud or tax evasion case.