Day 7 of the January 6 Committee Hearings

 

 So, with (what might be) the grand finale of the January 6 hearings coming up, what about day 7?  We finally heard from Pat Cipollone.  His testimony (so far) was not as explosive as Cassidy Hutchinson's, but it was, nonetheless, revealing.

There had been rumors before of Michael Flynn and Rudy Giuliani urging Trump to use the Pentagon or the Department of Homeland Security to overturn the election, but (so far as I can tell) this is the first detailed, publicly available account of the meeting.  It appears that the meeting took place on December 18, 2020.  Michael Flynn, Sidney Powell (lawyer representing Trump in his suits to overturn the election), and Patrick Bryrne, former CEO of Overstock.com showed up at the Oval Office unannounced.  Rudy Giuliani showed up somewhat later.  This was highly irregular behavior.  Pat Cipollone, Eric Herschman and perhaps others hurried to the Oval Office, presumably fearing what craziness these manifestly crazy people would be introducing.  "They must have set a land speed record," Sidney Powell commented. The proposal was apparently to have the Justice Department seize voting machines and appoint Powell as special counsel to investigate voting fraud. Given that (a) federal officials interfering in an election is illegal and (b) Powell was completely nuts, this proposal generated serious pushback.  Cipollone said that using federal authority to seize ballots was "a terrible idea" with "no legal basis."  I think that is fedspeak for saying it was illegal, but the Committee could not actually get him to use the "i" word. Naturally, Trump's only thought was that at least Flynn, Powell, and the others were proposing some alternative for him to stay in power.  The others were advising him to concede the election, which Trump saw as a non-option.

I was not entirely clear who all the participants were, especially on the White House side.  Certainly Pat Cipollone and Eric Hershman testified. Michael Flynn took the fifth, no doubt wisely.  Powell and Giuliani, neither of whom has the sense to come in out of the rain, both testified. We never heard anything about Patrick Byrne, not even whether he was subpoenaed.

Not revealed before -- the meeting went on for six hours and turned into a shouting and cussing match. (Presumably there were some calm intervals.  I don't see how anyone can sustain a shouting and cussing match for six hours).  Sidney Powell commented on how "disrespectful" Cipollone and the others were to the President and let us concede her a point.  It is hard to be respectful while engaged in a shouting and cussing match. The parties yelled loud enough that White House staffers (including Hutchinson) could overhear them. The meeting eventually migrated into the public reception areas of the residential wing.  It continued until eleven minutes after midnight, at which point the visitors were escorted off the premises, the plan defeated.

At 1:40 a.m., i.e., an hour and a half after the meeting ended with the proposal to seize voting machines, Donald Trump sent out his infamous tweet, "Big protest in D.C. on January 6th.  Be there, will be wild."  That does appear to have been Trump's last ditch attempt to sway the outcome.  The Committee demonstrated in detail how militias such as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers took this as a literal call to arms and started planning an insurrection. The Committee did not present any evidence that Trump anticipated that his tweet would have this effect, much less intended it. 

I also found one part of the testimony quite disturbing.  Numerous witnesses testified that they told Trump that after the Electoral College voted on December 14, the game was up and he had to concede.  Other Republicans, including Mitch McConnell, were quote as saying much the same.  On the one hand, it is good to hear that they believed it was eventually necessary to acknowledge the election result.  And I understand why it was important for Republicans like McConnell to say, "The Electoral College has spoken," rather than "The people have spoken."  It is a firm principle on the part of Republicans these days that we are a republic, not a democracy, and that the Electoral College, not the popular vote, chooses a president.  Otherwise, how would Republican presidents who won the Electoral College but not the popular vote be legitimate?  

On the other hand, apparently none of them saw the need to concede the election when the vote outcomes became known, only after the Electoral College actually held its vote. In other words, it is apparently the "sane" and "rational" Republican view that if they lose the popular vote in key swing states, it is perfectly acceptable to ask state legislatures to overturn the result and appoint an alternate slate of electors.  Only if the attempt fails does the candidate have to concede defeat.

Prepare for rough seas ahead for US democracy.