Trump Indicted AGAIN, Democracy v. Republic, and Rand Paul's Coup In Niger
Please actually READ the indictment
Before we discuss anything, you should actually read the latest Trump indictment. Don’t just take my word for it, or anyone else’s word. Especially if that channel begins with Fox, ends with News, and has paid almost $1 billion for lying about the news.
When you read the indictment, pay attention to what Trump actually did. Pay less attention to what he says. His actions will be his downfall.
Coordinating fake electors. Planning for their fake electoral certifications to override the legitimate votes of millions. Intimidating Vice President Mike Pence and refusing to call the dogs off after it was apparent Trump supporters were threatening the safety of not only Pence, but many elected officials (not to mention delaying the election certification).
Despite the wealth of evidence in the latest indictment to support the four counts Trump is charged with, I predict Trump won’t see any jail time. Here’s a piece I wrote this past week explaining why:
It’s challenging to keep track of every case against Donald Trump. More are coming too. As I write this, Fani Willis in Georgia is loading her own grand jury-powered indictment cannon aimed at the 45th President.
None of these cases look good for the Teflon Don. If I were Trump’s lawyer — and thank God I am not — I would strongly advise him to make a deal. He’s supposed to be good at that, right?
Even the weakest and least severe case against him — the alleged political hush money payments to Stormy Daniels in New York — is pretty ironclad. Michael Cohen may not be the most credible government witness in the world, but he was Trump’s loyal fixer for years. Few could directly incriminate him better than Cohen.
Back at Mar-a-Lago, where Trump apparently played musical bathrooms with classified documents, they forgot the number one rule of criminality: it’s not the crime that ruins you, it’s the cover-up.
Did nobody learn anything from Watergate?
Wouldn’t it be something if all of Trump’s accusations against Hillary and her emails actually boomerang back at Trump?
At a minimum, his accusations from 2016 establish he had knowledge that possessing and retaining classified docs was wrong. Yet when asked to return them, not only did he fail to comply, there’s new evidence he actively evaded government requests for the documents by moving them (all caught on his own video tapes) and then attempting to delete the security footage.
We haven’t even gotten to the latest indictment. This one is related to January 6th and the 2020 election aftermath, and it appears to be the strongest yet.
There are four counts, with detailed evidence to substantiate each one: (i) a conspiracy to defraud the United States of lawful election results (e.g., installing fake electors); (ii) a conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding (i.e., the certification of the electoral vote); (iii) actual obstruction of an official proceeding; and (iv) conspiracy against rights (i.e., all Americans’ right to vote).
Despite these cases, I’m confident that Trump won’t do a second of jail time. Let’s go through the three reasons why.
Democracy v. Republic
A common retort I often hear from Trump supporters these days is that “X” can’t happen because we live in a republic, not a democracy. What “X” stands for is usually some type of right they’re trying to restrict and they use this explanation to justify it.
The only problem is they fundamentally misunderstand a basic concept in American civics. Something that many 6th graders even understand.
So in case you come across this flawed justification, use the explanation I give here. Or let me know if you have any better thoughts!
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Rand Paul’s Coup In Niger
If you hadn’t heard, there’s a coup ongoing in Niger. What you may not have heard is that Senator Rand Paul from Kentucky is largely responsible for it.
America was caught flat-footed. We were inadequately prepared to anticipate and respond to the coup because America does not even have an Ambassador appointed and assigned to Niger.
Why?
Ask Rand Paul.
For months, Senator Paul has refused to proceed with any further State Department appointments because he thinks the Biden Administration is holding back information on the origins of COVID-19. He has no evidence of that, but he has many theories!
Seems like a common theme with the modern Republican Party.
Anyways, Paul thinks it’s fine to put the United States’ national security at risk in order to pressure the Biden administration to supply information it may not (and likely doesn’t) have.
Perhaps Paul should ask China?
Here’s a short video I did on the issue:
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Trump may soon be gone, but his GOP will live on
If there are any truths to the post-Trump Republican world, there’s this certainty: they will never be a normal political party again. People like Rand Paul feel justified and empowered now to misbehave, act recklessly with America’s national security, and engage in juvenile antics to get attention on social media.
Paul is not alone. There are a whole host of crazy MAGA nutjobs that will be around long after Trump is gone. They may not all reach the levels of power wielded by Trump, but they will be pulling at least a few strings in the background.
This is why we’re doing a full series on crazy MAGA people you may not have heard of, but who you should be aware of. Why? Because they have power.
First up was Kristina Koramo. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel so you don’t miss this series.
Have a good week. Stay critical.