An image of a noose outside the U.S. Capitol is displayed on a screen during Monday’s hearing of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol.
An image of a noose outside the U.S. Capitol is displayed on a screen during Monday’s hearing of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol. Credit: Al Drago/Pool via REUTERS

The special congressional committee investigating the Trump-inspired Jan. 6, 2021, riots (and attempt to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s election) wrapped up Monday with few big surprises but having compiled a lot of damning evidence against the former president. The committee’s final and expected act was to refer criminal charges against Donald Trump to be prosecuted by others.

They left behind a solid, if-no-longer-very-surprising list of Trump’s possible crimes. But — with Republicans scheduled to take over control of the House in January — those charges will not get the kind of follow-up that was formerly anticipated, at least not in Congress.

On a contrary note, among the dozens of judges who ruled against Trump in relation to his 1/6 skullduggery and his efforts to cover it up were 11 who Trump appointed (one-sixth of the total federal judges he appointed).

Trump, it should be noted, has not stopped asserting his Big Lie and the various smaller lies that underlie it, and polls suggesting that a large portion of Republicans believe him, or at least say they do.

Committee member Adam Schiff, D-California, summarized aspects of the committee’s investigative findings. This included the tale of Trump’s now-famous phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger asking him to “just find 11,780 more” Trump votes, which, Trump noted, was one more than he needed to steal the state that Joe Biden had carried. (Of course, Trump never, until today, has acknowledged that Biden carried Georgia). 

U.S. Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-California, led the committee through the episode in which Trump pressed former Vice President Mike Pence to go along with crackpot schemes to help overturn Biden’s victory during the ceremonial counting of the electoral votes. 

Trump, as you recall, later denounced Pence, inspiring his violent followers to chant “Hang Mike Pence” as they assaulted the Capitol and put Pence in physical danger for his unwillingness to along with Trump’s scheme.

Pence actually showed substantial courage in the episode, as well as commitment to U.S. democracy. But, in a clip played during Monday’s testimony, former Trump assistant Nicholas Luna recalled hearing Trump describing Pence as a “wimp” for refusing to help Trump steal a second term. (Trump also expressed regret for having chosen Pence as a running mate in the first place.)

There was zero support for such views during Monday’s televised sign-off. It would be fun to know whether Mr. T was watching.

Perhaps a fitting ending to this chapter of the tale of Trump’s ego — and, perhaps, his ability at self-delusion, maybe his inability to ever level with his admirers — is to quote the tweet in which he finally called off the mob, which whined: 

“These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!”

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67 Comments

  1. Banana Republic stuff. Another in a very, very long line of supposedly silver bullets, last nail in the coffin, anything goes and nothing matters when it comes to taking down Trump.

    This is just more of the Democrats raving maniacally about saving democracy while being fundamentally authoritarian and undemocratic.

    1. Meanwhile, if we are talking about an actual coup, the Twitter Files are revealing the FBI, CIA,NSA, DHS and DoD have effectively taken over social media and likely all high tech platforms, and are managing what Americans are allowed to discuss. That is by definition authoritarian. Which Eric Black, Minnpost and Democrats are mostly silent about.

      1. And yet you feel the irresistible urge to continue to read MinnPost and see what Mr. Black is writing about. Maybe you appreciate the refreshing reorientation that the truth – even the left-leaning truth – offers. Welcome, aboard.

        1. Truth on the left seems to be relative, whatever one says it is and absolute.

      2. If our enemies are using those platforms to infiltrate, push false dialogue, propaganda, cause insurrection and destroy our country it appears you are A-OK with it? Suspect mailing bombs, poisons etc. or illegal gun sales around the country via the mail, FEDEX etc. etc. etc. is A-OK as well, wouldn’t want the FBI, CIA etc. investigating and stopping that either now would we?

          1. Well there is no guy at the end of that link that got censored by the FBI!

            Quote un-quote from your link:

            “the intelligence community is the eyes and ears of government.
            they determine what it “sees” and what it “knows.”
            but what if it has an agenda other than honesty?
            what if it seeks instead to rule?
            the threats are not even veiled.
            watch “chuckles” schumer here. this is not a subtle statement, especially from a senate majority leader to a sitting president.
            and watch his body language. it looks like he’s positively dying to make good on this threat. pavlov’s dogs did not salivate like that.
            it’s enough to make you wonder precisely who he really works for.”

            And “what if” the FBI, CIA, etc. etc. really are working for the betterment of America and its citizens? Sun Tzu 101 you must have intelligence, evidently you disagree? Last check, other than gun violence this is one of the best places on the planet to live!

            1. Maybe you should read the Twitter Files and make an informed judgement as to whether or not that is the point of the Intelligence Community seamlessly intertwined with social media.

              1. So you sent me to a dead end nothing as the smoking gun, and now I should believe you to go to another? Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. What next the Flat Earth Society? Here is a conspiracy theory for you, has FOX ever had a positive thing to say about anything the left has done or proposed? I have never read or heard a positive note, all news is spun as bad, i.e. they are censoring the views and news of the left are they not? And I don’t need any “Twitter files” to tell me that!

      3. “The Twitter Files”?

        I’m retired – for a long time – and have plenty of opportunity to read, as well as comment on pieces I see on MinnPost, but you have WAY too much time on your hands if you’re devoting any of it to “The Twitter Files.” What is that entity, and who’s supporting it financially? What makes it a credible source of information about… anything? Plenty of reputable news organizations make use of Twitter, and quote tweets from people they think are newsworthy, but this is the first I’ve heard of “The Twitter Files.” To my knowledge, it’s not a credible source of information. Please enlighten me.

        1. The Twitter files are a doc dump of internal Twitter deliberations on how to deal with misinformation on the site. The journalists to whom these files were given are promoting them as some kind of smoking gun proving nefarious intent by Twitter, which was allegedly influenced by parts of the US Gov’t. To reach this conclusion seems to require significant reading into what’s between the lines & perhaps having an overactive imagination. Or just a propensity towards believing conspiracy theories.

          I’m summarizing what I’ve read at cbs news and the Atlantic. I haven’t read the source material (apparently Musk, who released it, hasn’t either).

          1. The twitter files show us that the FBI, CIA, NSA and DHS had moles (strike that) ex-employees working for Twitter, and daily contact from outside, with Twitter censors about what to censor. Because obviously you want Intelligence dictating what is said in the “public square.” Most of what was being censored were American citizens often merely for disagreeing with government policy particularly around covid, Ukraine the Hunter Biden laptop, etc. This is what totalitarians do, dictate the narrative.

            1. The files show that NIH asked Twitter to not emphasize vaccine / covid disinformation & misinformation; and that Twitter often chose not to do as asked.

        2. There are credible sources of information which are credible because they have some connection with the truth.

          And there are sources of information whose only attribute is conforming to a preconceived notion of what truth is desired to be. And that is the essence of the “Twitter Files”.

          Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s quote:

          “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts. ”

          Not so much anymore…

          1. That was a nice try, but when you use the “rule of three” to make a joke, the funny one should be the last one. Each of the three names you’ve mentioned are good punchlines, but you only needed one to get a laugh.

            Do you want to try again?

          2. Captain Queeq: “And then there were the strawberries, that’s where I had them. I proved, using geometric logic, that there had to be a duplicate key to the store room….but ask me your questions, gentlemen, and I will do my best to answer them…”

            Naval JAG: “There will be no further questions, Captain, thank you.”

            1. It seems clear to me, having read the Twitter Files, that neither you nor RB have, despite your very condescending and dismissive opinion about them.

        4. “The Twitter files” is a reference to another overblown rightwing conspiracy arising out of neoreactionary plutocrat Elon Musk’s selective revealing of some emails in the “files” of ex-Twitter employees and officers. They removed content that was false or personal from the platform, as Twitter did all the time.

          Totally meaningless and inconsequential, except to the far right universe.

          1. Because that is what democracy does, make seamless media and the Intelligence community, in the name of dictating the narrative, obviously.

            Oh wait, that is what totalitarians do.

            1. Exactly what (nationally critical) “narrative” (on Twitter, lol) was “dictated” by the Deep State again? Please elaborate…

              1. “Safe and effective,” full stop, you shall not question! “The safest elections in history,” full stop, you shall not question! “The Hunter Biden laptop is Russian disinformation,” full stop, you shall not see it! “Ukraine is fighting for democracy,” we shall escalate, you shall not question. So on and so forth. Whatever NYT, Wapo, MSNBC, CNN, NPR are all repeating ad nauseum, dissent is what the intelligence community is censoring on social media. Dictating the official narrative.

                1. Three of your (very short) list are entirely factual, and lies about them are easily disprovable, so a private concern is entirely justified in removing false, dangerous and inflammatory nonsense from its information site. That you virulently oppose such sensible action speaks volumes. Your concern about “censoring” views about the propriety of the war in Ukraine is simply nonsense.

                  Leave aside the idea that what happens on Twitter “dictates” the national conversation on anything.

                2. And now your argument has morphed from the “Twitter files” to magically include “whatever” is “repeated” on every major media enterprise in America. Very convenient extrapolation, but only persuasive to the already committed, sorry to say.

                  Do you understand the government actually has no power to tell private news organizations what to “repeat”? And nothing you have cited says otherwise?

          2. Why does it always come down to blaming the cops?

            Or just call the press flaks for the richest man in the world?

            1. The Intelligence Community is not “the cops.” A free society depends on not being controlled by the Intelligence community. That should be obvious.

      5. The “Twitter files” aren’t revealing anything remotely like that, at least outside Greenwald World. And it also appears that you don’t know what the word “coup” means…

      6. The Twitter Files only reveal what Musk provides Taibbi, Weiss, et al, and that’s it. There’s no actual journalism to be had here, no actual reporting. To say there’s some big smoking gun here or that it influenced the election, or is censorship or some other nonsense is…nonsense. The irony is that Musk is engaging in exactly what the right is railing against, starting with what he provides Taibbi, and, how they spin it. They’re essentially propagandists for Musk.

        1. That is just about word for word the argument of official media and the Intelligence community.

          1. Unfortunately for you, that doesn’t immediately make the argument incorrect!

            And who exactly is “official media”, btw? I’m sure they’d like to know!

      7. Go FBI, NSA, CIA, DHS, DoD! Control the narrative! Democracy! Democracy! Democracy!

        1. And with this response to Ian we can see just how quickly your “argument” devolves into baseless slogans and chanting, WHD.

          1. I have stated my argument many different ways. A democracy is not controlled from the top down. A democracy is not the Intelligence Community or Dept of Defense dictating the official narrative. If you are excusing the social media companies and high tech generally doing the will of Intelligence censoring Americans for questioning or making fun of the official narrative, that is by definition authoritarian. I will keep repeating it.

  2. Where the committee members reading off a teleprompter again?

    Did that Hollywood producer write the script?

    I think they should be nominated by for an academy award for best prime-time and day-time drama.

    1. You mean an Emmy Award. Academy Awards are for movies, the Emmy is for TV.

      Since Trump owes his political importance to his turn as the star of a “reality” TV show, it seems only appropriate that the proceedings against him should involve a “Hollywood” producer.

      1. Yes! With the democrats’ friends in “big Media” and the mail in ballots – they could really influence the Emmy vote and get the desired outcome.

        I have never seen a committee hearing without a “point of order”, “question for the chairman”. “I reserve the balance of my time”, “parliamentary inquiry”, mentions.

        I guess that is the way democracy functions. They just follow the script.

        1. “I have never seen a committee hearing . . .”

          I guess you haven’t been to very many committee hearings, have you?

          Just because the testimony was not taken in public in front of a swarm of screaming dimwits in red caps doesn’t mean proper procedures were not followed.

  3. The J6 Committee did its job, now it’s up to the DOJ to do its own job. My stepfather, a physician, went to his grave believing Richard Nixon was a kind and decent man who was railroaded out of office. I’m pretty sure there are Trump supporters who fit the same category, just switching the names of the disgraced Presidents.

    “Sincerity of belief bears no relation to truth” is a line I picked up years ago from a source I can no longer remember, but it still resonates. Mr. Trump looks more and more… “pathetic” is the closest word I can come up with at the moment… with each passing day. Even ignoring the cynicism behind their creation, the Trump trading cards are laughably amateurish, the fund-raising emails continue, and likely still work with some people who are especially gullible.

    Without sharing it, I nonetheless can understand Mr. Trump’s regret for taking on Mike Pence as Vice-President. After all, Pence is a man who admits he’s afraid to be in the company of any woman but his wife, and Trump is “Mr. p****-grabber.” It would be hard to come up with an odder couple. Be that as it may, on January 6, 2021, Pence displayed more political courage and principle in one day than Trump has displayed his whole public life.

    Now it’s up to DOJ to complete the task, and when they do, I won’t be surprised if A) the result is less than we expect, given the length and detail of the J6 Committee’s investigation; and B) measures outside the courtroom (i.e., censure from the House or the Senate for those members who supported, or at least knew, and were willing to tolerate, the attempted coup) go nowhere once Republicans regain control of the House. As a few demonstrated in the midterm election just concluded, taking part in the coup has proved to be, in some parts of the country, no hindrance to reelection. The Founders would be appalled. Given the numbers of people involved, and with documentation to prove it, I’d say a sizable segment of the Republican Party can safely and accurately be referred to as “fascist.”

  4. I watched all the hearings, including the one from yesterday. I just hope and pray that something will come from all of this, preferably Trump being indicted for the part he played in what transpired on Jan. 6th, 2021, at the U. S. Capitol, and the lives that were lost that day, and the lives that were forever altered all because he cannot accept defeat. What really hurts me is how many voters out there STILL support this man and would still vote for him no matter what – those who identify with the Christian faith, no less. Trump is unworthy of holding any political office, especially that of the president of the United States of America, and after launching those pathetic, laughable digital trading cards last week – he is more of a laughingstock and grifter than ever before – no matter how many he managed to sell. All those sales prove is how gullible and pathetic his supporters really are.

    1. The trading cards – which are charitably described as “laughable – are very likely part of a money laundering scheme. There was a limit of 100 cards per buyer, at $99 each. The only reason to care about the number of cards bought by any one rube, I mean, buyer, is that the $9,900 maximum ponied up to the former goniff-in-chief is just under the $10,000 per transaction that must be reported under the Bank Secrecy Act. No one but Trump will know where the money came from.

      We do know, however, that the money is not going to his campaign. It is going to him personally; or, rather, to a mysterious Delaware LLC that just happens to have as its mailing address Trump’s golf club in West Palm Beach.

      It’s not just tacky and tasteless: it’s a scam. The Trump administration summed up in nine words.

  5. “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.” – Donald Trump 1/6/21. I heard it live as it was spoken.

    It’s instructive that the CNN, MPR, and other MSM websites have deleted that line from their version of his speech. Why would they do that? Think of the journalistic malpractice that it represents and realize why the general public doesn’t trust the press.

    The DOJ is not interested in partisan accusations, the DOJ is only interested in evidence.

    1. And that’s why, as he sat in the White House watching the riot on television, he immediately called for everyone to stop the violence and leave!

      Except he didn’t do that, did he? After he told the crowd to “fight like hell,” because if they didn’t “fight like hell,” they were “not going to have a country anymore.” He watched the riot happen on television, unconcerned about what would go on.

      Sorry, but the man you want to think is irrelevant wanted and enjoyed the violence.

      1. The rioters weren’t watching TV, were they. Going on television wouldn’t have reached any of those who had entered the building. That seems to escape the pearl clutchers.

        1. What escapes me is the relevance of that point. He texted them, and they eventually got the word to leave after doing plenty of damage and generally menacing the Constitution.

          1. Leave aside that there were many other actions a sitting president could (immediately) undertake when the US Congress is being attacked by a violent mob. Other than sitting around watching it unfold on TV…

        2. Welcome to the 21st century. You can watch TV on a cell phone. Not saying that any of the rioters did, but it would certainly have been easy enough.

  6. Is this the same President Trump that was impeached… twice by the same gang of Lefties? This “referral” will hold as much weight as two “impeachments”. As far as Twitter goes, all Musk is doing is releasing dialogue between Twitter and Government officials/media. Hard to dispute notes written from DNC, FBI and CIA to Twitter employees. Hell, the FBI paid 3.4 million dollars for Twitter’s time. That would be tax dollars of course.

    1. Golly Joe, you do know why he wasn’t convicted on those impeachments, basically 1/2 the jury was more worried about their party, job, and getting called out by the X then they were about their oath to the country. The only thing rigged in this country is the R party against common sense and law and order.

  7. A lot of people here have a very dismissive opinion about the Twitter Files, but it’s also clear hardly anybody here has actually read them.

    1. Geez, neoreactionary plutocrat Musk is now going to allow his Twitter machine to spread a tsunami of rightwing lies and nonsense, misleading millions 24/7, and you still aren’t happy!

      1. BK, showing actual correspondence between Twitter and Government agencies plus media outlets is spreading lies? Please explain.

        1. I’m talking about all the garbage tweets and misinformation that will now be forthcoming from rightwing extremists returning to the “platform”, Joe. That’s why I wrote “now going to allow”.

          Clear now?

        3. Can’t wait for at least one charge to be brought against the former President. At a trial, there will be a defense and cross examination and defense witnesses, and hopefully almost two years of evidence from the other side of the charge.

    2. Many years ago, my friends and I stopped by a booth at the State Fair whose occupants also knew the Real Truth. If I would only take the time to read None Dare Call it Treason (or was it None Dare Call it Conspiracy? It’s been a few years), I would learn how They control the world, unto the point of infiltrating classics departments so students wouldn’t know the real meaning of “Novus Ordo Seclorum” or “Annuit Coeptis.” Also, I would learn how 1776 was actually the founding date of the Illuminati, the precursor to the Trilateral Commission.

      As the French would say, “plus ça change . . .”

  8. Yep here we go with some more fake news from Bloomberg, about fake “persistent intrusions by hackers tied to foreign adversaries” and of course no one has any reason to possibly believe that they would try similar/same through “Twitter” !

    “Inglis has worked as one of President Joe Biden’s top cybersecurity advisers at a time when the US was struggling to staunch a steady stream of ransomware attacks, on both businesses and government agencies, and persistent intrusions by hackers tied to foreign adversaries such as China and Russia.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/top-white-house-cybersecurity-official-plans-to-step-down/ar-AA15xrYg?cvid=d9c94532fc9646f68a2d64f889e72b08

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