Updated December 17, 2021: December 13 the House Select Committee probing the events around the January 6 attack on the Capitol release some telling information gleaned from Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows' document dump earlier. In it were transcripts of Meadows' cell phone texts and a very interesting PowerPoint presentation generated by a cohort. Coupled with the infamous Eastman legal memo to give cover to any coup attempts, it is clear that the conspiracy to stage a coup to overturn the election was no theory advanced by the left and there was an attempt to put into practice elements of these plans was executed by those around Trump. The goal of both of these plans was to get states that voted for Biden but were close calls and had been counted before the election as Trump states to overturn the elections. These states had GOP-dominated legislatures and/or GOP governors, to claim charges of election fraud and to provide an alternative list of pro-Trump electors.
Busted were some conspiracy theories advanced by the right. This was no spontaneous uprising of angry activists on January 6 who rioted. These rioters were not Antifa members in disguise as White people as Trump supporters tried to twist the event. (719 participants have been charged with the violence, none Antifa, and many had affiliations of extreme white nationalist groups.). These were no looky-loo tourists, either. January 6 was not just another day.
Trump's role in all of this is still yet to be seen in its totality, other than his inciteful rhetoric at the rally, his delay in calling off the rioters until after the Capitol was trashed, and was caught on tape trying the pressure wi the Georgia secretary to state with threats to "find the missing 10,000 plus Trump votes". There is still much to be learned. The greatest question left on the table is what went on between Meadows and Trump. Was Meadows acting on his own or, as chief of staff, or was he carrying out orders from Trump himself? Why did so many choose to take the 5th because they feared they would be incriminated in a crime and even risk imprisonment for ignoring subpoenas to keep their mouths shut? Over 250 have already testified to the committee. More are scheduled so even if some key players do not testify, they may be fingered anyway. Stay tuned.
For now, the role played by Trump's staff, his unofficial and official advisors, his hand-picked loyalists placed in the Pentagon and the Department of Justice, are coming into focus From evidence gleaned by the committee so far, we are learning the National Guard action to stop the riot was delayed by Trump appointees in the Pentagon as members of Congress were in hiding and feared for their lives. We are learning the identities of those in Congress who were involved and coordinating with the coup's White House conspirators, Meadows documents indicate there were those doing so. Investigative reporters and some leaks from the Committee finger them. The rioters were only one part of the coup plans. They had the purpose to give Pence a backbone and some sort of rationale to delay or decertify the election. The 719 rioters in legal trouble now, and some in jail, were the pawns in the plan, They were willing pawns who believed the election was stolen and they ignored any evidence to the contrary, but by their violent acts they opened the door through which others could see the coup plans.
So far, what we know is that the coup failed because 1) the hoped-for presumed Trump loyal state actors had certified their elections and the alternative elector slate strategy failed; 2) 60 federal court judges had found no evidence of enough fraud to justify the claim the election was stolen;3} VP Mike Pence refused to go along with the plot to throw the certification into chaos with either delay or sent to Congress. Pence was key to the coup plans that went awry. The certification of the election took place later that night 4] The rioters got out of control, people were killed, and the "visuals" were awful. Fascinating were the pleas to Mark Meadows via text from FOX media personalities, Don Jr. and so many others trying to call off the rioters once they were already in full swing.
Read the texts Mark Meadows received during the Jan. 6 siege : NPR
Jan. 6 PowerPoint reveals many more Republicans were in on Trump's coup plot | Salon.com
One wonders if the riot did not happen if we would ever have known so much about the conspiracy behind an attempted coup. If Pence had not stood his ground, would we have just had an epic Constitutional crisis ultimately decided by the Supreme Court, or just a bitter taste left in our mouths by reporters and their investigative reporting?
Eastman took the 5th before the committee. Major players in the coup attempt, fearing vulnerability for what was criminal, are defying committee subpoenas, and have been referred to the Department of Justice for criminal contempt of Congress. Bannon has actually been charged.
Busting the "election was stolen" theory: The granddaddy of the "stolen election" motivation of the January 6 rioters and the conspiracy rationale for the coup was that all were justified because of widespread fraud. It is also the rationale of attempts throughout the swing states to replace all non-Trump loyal election officials with loyalists so that if they are asked to "find" x votes or to lie about figures or to muck with the talley machines, elections lost may be reversed. The Associated Press conducted a study of swing states in 2020 and found there were 475 cases of verified fraud, not anywhere close to changing the outcome of those states and were committed by individuals mostly voting twice and who were mostly Trump supporters.
One more myth gets a nail in its coffin. The big lie that thousands of dead people voted in Georgia in 2020 is just that, a big lie: 4 dead bodies were voted; the other suspected thousands are quite alive.Election investigators find just 4 dead voters in Georgia (ajc.com)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/28/donald-trump-georgia-2020-election-dead-people
https://apnews.com/article/voter-fraud-election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-7fcb6f134e528fee8237c7601db3328f
https://thehill.com/regulation/cybersecurity/588703-cyber-ninjas-shutting-down-after-judges-fines-arizona-audit-company
After nearly a year of trying to find the "missing Trump votes" and enough fraud to make the difference, and an any proof of the abundant conspiracy theories, what has emerged is that Biden got a few more votes than originally reported...not enough to make a difference. Theories remain just that: theories" and there were no conspiracies, either. The conspiracy that did happen was, it is beginning to appear, to upend the election with a coup plan that came and was executed from theWhite House and a few in Congress,
How could over half of those who identify as Republicans believe that there was enough fraud to show the election was stolen? Because, my theory, they get their news from one or two sources who perpetuated the conspiracy theories and all of their friends and neighbors get their news from the same sources. It becomes hard to believe that when everyone they know agrees with you, there are others out there who look at the data and facts. As propagandists know: if you repeat an untruth enough times, it becomes the accepted truth. That theory works in both the marketing of consumer products and in marketing political ideas. There is also that even those who know the election was not stolen still vocally say it was because it comes in handy in avoiding the wrath of Trump, gives them the rationale to turn the vote into one administered by their partisans instead of separately elected officials, and justifies the coup attempt.
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