January 19, 2021
On Saturday, January 9, Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) was interviewed on CNN by Wolf Blitzer. When the January 6 attack came, she had been in the gallery of the House Chamber, as had many members in an effort to maintain social distancing during the House proceeding. One of the Capitol policemen placed benches against the door. She could hear considerable noise on the other side of the door—shouts and epithets. There was heavy banging on the door. The members on the floor were evacuated first to a secure location. Those in the gallery had to crawl to a door on their hands and knees—for fear of gunfire—so that they could be evacuated as well. Spanberger was a CIA veteran, but she had never experienced anything like this. Throughout the short interview with Blitzer, she had a very sober look on her face.
The Trump insurrection or coup had been in the works for four years and more. Trump began his career of political lies and deception as a prominent mouthpiece for the so-called Birther movement during the Obama administration. The idea was that Obama wasn’t really born in the United States and, therefore, was an illegitimate president. His mother’s having spent a lot of time in Indonesia when he was very young was also seen as problematic. Trump eventually forced Obama to produce his Hawaiian birth certificate.
During the 2016 campaign Trump appeared on Alex Jones’ Info Wars—a show constantly warning, according to Mogelson, “that the deep state—a nefarious shadow authority manipulating U.S. policy for the profit of élites—opposed Trump because he threatened its power. Jones has asserted that the Bush Administration was responsible for 9/11 and that the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre never happened.”[1] When in 2018 Jones accused the bereaved parents of the children murdered at Sandy Hook of being paid actors, he was promptly expelled by Facebook, Twitter, Apple, Spotify and YouTube. For a time his presence faded, but the pandemic brought him back on proprietary websites. The deep state, the evil elite world order, “tyrannical” COVID-19 restrictions . . . Trump’s supposedly stolen election fit right in. Roger Stone, a Trump aide later convicted of seven felonies in connection with the Mueller investigation of Trump’s links to Russia, arranged for Trump’s appearance on the show. On the show Trump promised Jones, “I will not let you down.”[2]
Thus, there was a compact with the conspiracists early on that strengthened over the next four years. From Trump came perhaps upwards of 25,000 lies to the public in the last four years, of which 16,000 plus have been verified[3] from his first three years with the number escalating in 2020. “The claim of a plot to steal the election makes sense to people who see Trump as a warrior against deep-state chicanery.”[4] These are people who, having been, taken in by Trump’s vision of an alternate universe, found it strengthened by thousands of Trump lies alleging fake news, fraud, and malevolent conspiracy to the point that they were conditioned to believe whatever Trump said.
From the beginning Trump was a right-wing conspiracy theorist—a racist—who never intended to be the president of all the people. After the November 3 election, he created an opening for the extremist, racist right by his attack on the validity of the election, claiming that the election had been stolen from him (as some were conditioned to understand, by the deep state). This has created a cause that could fuel the extreme right for years. The violence of January 6 was not a chance insurrection; it had been carefully planned. Many came in full tactical combat gear with weapons despite the fact everyone was supposed to be unarmed. A significant percentage of the white-supremacy domestic terrorists that the FBI had been following were present at the assault on the Capitol. A number of them have now been arrested by the FBI.
The attack on the Capitol was a predictable apotheosis of a months-long ferment. Throughout the pandemic (aided and abetted by Trump) right-wing protesters had been gathering at statehouses, demanding entry. In April, an armed mob had filled the Michigan state capitol, chanting “Treason!” and “Let us in!” In December, conservatives had broken the glass doors of the Oregon state capitol, overrunning officers and spraying them with chemical agents.[5]
Two weeks before the Michigan event, Trump had Tweeted, “Liberate Michigan!”
The attack on the Capitol appeared far more sinister. There were some whose mission appeared to be to kill Nancy Pelosi or Vice President Pence. Mogelson reports one man taunting “Nancy, I’m Ho-ome!” and others yelling, “Hang Mike Pence!” A gallows had been set up on the Mall.[6] Pence was definitely target number one, designated so by Trump himself. The mob missed him by the narrowest of margins. The prime objective of the attack—halting the vote count—succeeded for perhaps six hours. The Capitol was temporarily filled with dangerous barbarians.
In its lead editorial of January 6, The Post editorialized:
President Trump’s refusal to accept his election defeat and his relentless incitement of his supporters led Wednesday to the unthinkable: an assault on the U.S. Capitol by a violent mob that overwhelmed police and drove Congress from its chambers as it was debating the counting of electoral votes. Responsibility for this act of sedition lies squarely with the president, who has shown that his continued tenure in office poses a grave threat to U.S. democracy. He should be removed.”[7]
Pence upheld his Constitutional oath (as set forth in the Constitution), counted the votes and declared the winner, Joseph Biden. He did not illegally declare Trump the victor by announcing him so from the podium as Vice President—something which could only have been done without Constitutional authority. That was what Trump was pressuring him to do and that is why his refusal, made clear to Trump in advance, made him an assassination target during the insurrection. Once Pence had spoken and this last fantastical hope for overturning the election disappeared, it is difficult to understand what the goals of the would-be coup could be. A display of apparent power? A signal that Trump will continue to contend until the date when, he, Trump would return? Whatever its fuzzy objectives, the siege was a direct assault on democracy and constitutional order. As former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said, “If inciting to insurrection isn’t [an impeachable offense], then I don’t really know what is.”[8]
The next day the National Association of Manufacturers called for Trump’s immediate removal. Nancy Pelosi said impeachment was under consideration. Some called for Trump to resign, which he said he would never do. Some called for Vice President Pence to lead the effort to removal him under Article 25 of the Constitution, which addresses the need to remove a president when he can no longer carry out the duties of president. 190 cosponsors introduced a bill of impeachment in the House. Pelosi said on Monday, January 11, that she would support impeachment if Vice President Pence would not initiate the Article 25 process. The House formally asked Mr. Pence to do that on Tuesday. He promptly refused.
The Vice President made clear he would not endorse the Article 25 process. He was an assassination target on Capitol Hill for refusing to illegally and extra-constitutionally throw the election to Trump after the votes were counted. If he then led an effort to remove President Trump from office, he would have many more guns trained on him. Elaine Chao, the Transportation Secretary, and Betsy DeVos, the Education Secretary, resigned saying they could not stay in a government that would carry out such a coup attempt by attacking Their resignation also meant that they could not now be pressured to signing an Article 25 petition, which would have made them targets.
Meanwhile support for impeachment increased in the House; all the Democrats favored it together with a small number of Republicans. Some additional Republican members also wished to vote for impeachment but were deterred from that by death threats. Other Republicans who opposed impeachment and who spoke on the floor against it, sounded (for the most part) like mini-Trumps. House minority leader Kevin McCarthy—a strong supporter of the stolen-election lie but also opposed the attack on the Capitol—refused to support impeachment saying it would divide the country even more, but he said he would support censure.
Some Republicans, however, were open about their support for impeachment—notably Liz Cheney (R.-Wyo.), the number three Republican in the House. She said,
The president of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack…. There has never been a greater betrayal by a president of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.[9]
Representative John Katko (R.-NY), the ranking Republican on the Homeland Security Committee, Representative Adam Kinzinger (R.-Ill.) and Representative Fred Upton (R.-Mich.) also announced their support for impeachment. Katko said, “To allow the president of the United States to incite this attack without consequences is a direct threat to the future of our democracy. If these actions…are not worthy of impeachment, then what is an impeachable offense?”[10]
According to Michael Kranish, “Rep. Liz Cheney’s historic decision Tuesday [January 12] to vote to impeach President Trump had its roots in a dramatic phone call from her father, former vice president Richard B. Cheney.” Kranish reports that Dick Chaney warned her in his call the morning of January 6 that she was being attacked by the president in his speech to the crowd that would soon become rioters and terrorists. Trump had told them, “We got to get rid of the weak congresspeople, the ones that aren’t any good, the Liz Cheneys of the world.” After the call from her father, she walked back on the House floor to continue her efforts to stop the House from questioning the Electoral College vote. Then she heard banging on the chamber’s door by an angry mob and a shot fired. She then realized that an attempted coup or insurrection was underway. “The president could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence…. He did not,” she said in her statement. Her conclusion was “I will vote to impeach the president.”[11]
Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) had said for the first time on Sunday, January 10 that the House would proceed with bringing impeachment legislation to the floor if Vice President Pence declined to proceed under the 25th Amendment. She said, “As the days go by, the horror of the ongoing assault on our democracy perpetrated by this President is intensified and so is the immediate need for action.”[12] Rep. Dean Phillips (D.-Minn.) noted, “There has to be consequences…”[13]
On the day of the impeachment vote in the House, the Post editorialized, “[Some Republicans and] right-wing commentators have argued that there is little difference between what the Republicans have done since last November and what Democrats did following Mr. Trump’s 2016 victory….This is unhinged. Democrats immediately acknowledged Mr. Trump’s win.”[14] Notably, Robert Harrow writing for the Washington Post revealed on January 17 that—
The fiery rallies that preceded the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 were organized and promoted by an array of established conservative insiders and activists.… The Republican Attorneys General Association was involved, as were the activist groups Turning Point Action and Tea Party Patriots. At least six current or former members of the Council for National Policy (CNP), an influential group that for decades has served as a hub for conservative and Christian activists, also played roles in promoting the rallies. The two days of rallies were staged not by white nationalists and other extremists, but by well-funded nonprofit groups and individuals that figure prominently in the machinery of conservative activism in Washington.[15]
Harrow cites Ali Alexander as an example of those mobilizing. According to Harrow, Ali Alexander, a former CNP fellow who organized the “Stop the Steal” movement, on January 5 led protesters at Freedom Plaza in D.C. in a chant of “Victory or death.” Earlier he had tweeted that unless Congress responds to the protests, “everyone can guess what me and 500,000 others will do to that building…1776 is *always* an option.”[16]
Another January 6 recruiter Harrow mentions was “the attorneys general group…[that] used an affiliated nonprofit called the Rule of Law Defense Fund to pay for a robocall that urged supporters to march on the Capitol at 1 p.m. on Jan. 6 to ‘call on Congress to stop the steal.’ [The robocall recording said] ‘We are hoping patriots like you will join us to continue the fight.’”[17] In addition, the FBI is looking closely at three extremist groups: “the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and Three Percenters. Some of the videos [that the FBI has reviewed] appear to include members who discussed storming the Capitol about an hour ahead of the riot.”[18]
In response to violence of January 6, U.S. industry opted to largely silence Mr. Trump in a display of patriotism widely noticed and appreciated. Twitter and Facebook banned Trump from using their platforms. According to an opinion piece in The New York Times,
Twitter’s decision to permanently suspend Mr. Trump’s account on Friday [January 8] “due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” after a decision a day earlier by Facebook to ban the president at least through the end of his term, was a watershed moment in the history of social media.[19]
In his article on sedition, the day before the impeachment vote, Michael Gerson noted that from a distance the Trump insurrection seemed like a protest that grew out of hand, but up close it looked very different. Many of the participants came with tactical gear and communications equipment. They were hunting for Pence and Congressional leaders. They built a gallows and chanted death threats. They savagely beat police officers who resisted them, killing one. He further noted that Kevin McCarthy, the Republican House Minority Leader, one of the leaders of the “election denialism at the heart of the violent revolt,” opposed impeachment because it would “only divide our country more.” McCarthy, Gerson suggested, had “a vested interest in ignoring sedition. So he is not, perhaps, the best source of advice on events moving forward.”[20]
Gerson continues, referencing the rallying cry of Rep. Lauren Boebert, who in the past had praised QAnon and promised to bring her Glock to the Capitol:[21]
The problem with McCarthy’s approach is that it assumes the threat has passed. On the morning of the Capitol attack, newly seated Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) tweeted, “Today is 1776”—comparing a revolt of treasonous misfits and conspiracy theorists to the conduct of a justified revolution…. Violent insurrectionists are still being fed the lie that their cause is equivalent to the American founding.… This conspiracy against the constitutional order has grown strong in an atmosphere of Republican appeasement. Those who want to continue that appeasement are inviting further disorder and violence. Stopping this rot in the political order will require accountability. That begins with the president, who deserves every legal and constitutional consequence our system offers. He should be impeached for sedition. He should be prevented from holding any further elective office. He should be stripped of all the perks of the post-presidency. He should be prosecuted for insurrection against the U.S. government. [22]
And then there are the many would-be Trumps and mini-Trumps. Their roles in the insurrection, must be addressed, however difficult it is to do so. Those most responsible for the post-election, traitorous behavior by some leaders of the Republican party—actions stoking insurrection—must be called to account. According to Gerson, that means (as a beginning) “ethics investigations Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and McCarthy, leading to their possible expulsion” from Congress. “These legislators urged surrender to the pernicious lies and seditious demands of violent insurrectionists who had just left the building. That is the betrayal of the oath they took to defend the Constitution.”[23]
This is good advice, it will be supported by the American people and it will be the beginning of our country’s return to a place where all men truly are believed to be created equal and have an inherent right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. There are three other individuals from the House of Representatives who should be included in Gerson’s list. They are Congressman Andy Biggs (R.-Ariz.), Mo Brooks (R.-Ala.) and Paul A. Gosar (R.-Ariz.). The three Congressmen, according to Alexander, worked with him on a plan to disrupt the electoral count at the Capitol. “We four schemed up of putting [sic] maximum pressure on Congress while they were voting,” Alexander said in a video.[24] In a podcast interview last month Brooks said, “The question is really simple. Are you as an American citizen going to surrender in the face of unparalleled, massive voter fraud and election theft?… Or are you going to do what your ancestors did and fight for your country, your republic?”[25] And speaking shortly before Trump to the crowd of domestic terrorists and enablers that Trump sent off to attack the Capitol, Brooks said to “stop at the Capitol” and begin kicking ass.” [26]
On Wednesday, January 13, the Bill of Impeachment (the second one for Mr. Trump) was placed before the House. It passed by a vote of 232-197, with 222 Democrats and ten Republicans voting in favor. The Senate was informed on Friday, January 15, that the Bill of Impeachment would be sent over to the Senate early in the next week. Majority Leader McConnell made clear that he would not call the Senate back before January 19, to attend President Biden’s Inauguration the following day.
The Washington Post editorialized on January 13 that “If Mr. McConnell refuses to convene the Senate this week, senators must move with dispatch once they have convened, and split their time between trying Mr. Trump and enabling the launch of the Biden administration. But the nation would be better served by a prompt trial ending in the guilty verdict Mr. Trump deserves.”[27]
Domestic terrorism, white supremist organizations antedated Trump and will continue after he has left. Before he was elected, he promised to make them more powerful. And he did so, giving them opportunities. He thought that they would help him stay in office forever but they could not. These movements and organizations have grown far stronger under Trump. They represent a threat to the nation and likely we will have to deal with them for many years. What course of action should we follow? There are perhaps two broad approaches that we might follow—that of Ulysses S. Grant in 1861: “There are but two parties now, traitors and patriots…” or that of Abraham Lincoln, who in his second Inaugural Address in 1865 wrote, “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to…bind up the nation’s wounds…to do all which may achieve…a lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”
Our Founders had much to say on this subject. Below are a few examples.
“Government is frequently and aptly classed under two descriptions, a government of FORCE, and a government of LAWS; the first is the definition of despotism—the last, of liberty.” — Alexander Hamilton, 1794
“If it be asked, What is the most sacred duty and the greatest source of our security in a Republic? the answer would be, An inviolable respect for the Constitution and Laws—the first growing out of the last. . . . A sacred respect for the constitutional law is the vital principle, the sustaining energy of a free government.” — Alexander Hamilton, 1794
“I feel anxious for the fate of our monarchy, or democracy, or whatever is to take place. I soon get lost in a labyrinth of perplexities; but, whatever occurs, may justice and righteousness be the stability of our times, and order arise out of confusion. Great difficulties may be surmounted by patience and perseverance.” — Abigail Adams, 1775
“It is a very great mistake to imagine that the object of loyalty is the authority and interest of one individual man, however dignified by the applause or enriched by the success of popular actions.” — Samuel Adams, 1748
“Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.” — Benjamin Franklin, 1776
“I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” — Thomas Jefferson, 1800
“…America is open to receive not only the opulent and respectable stranger, but the oppressed and persecuted of all nations and religions; whom we shall welcome to a participation of all our rights and privileges — George Washington, 1783
“The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks.” — Samuel Adams, 1771
“A government of laws, and not of men.” — John Adams, 1780
John Jay
[1] Luke Mogelson, “Among the Insurrectionists,” New Yorker, January 25, 2021, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/01/25/among-the-insurrectionists.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Glenn Kessler, Salvador Rizzo and Meg Kelly, Donald Trump and His Assault on Truth: The President’s Falsehoods, Misleading Claims and Flat-Out Lies (New York: Scribner, 2020), pp. X-XI, https://www.amazon.com/Donald-Trump-His-Assault-Truth/dp/1982151072/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=.
[4] Mogelson, “Among the Insurrectionists.”
[5] Ibid. Words in italics added.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Editorial Board, “Trump Caused the Assault on the Capitol. He Must Be Removed,” Washington Post, January 6, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/remove-trump-incitement-sedition-25th-amendment/2021/01/06/b22c6ad4-506d-11eb-b96e-0e54447b23a1_story.html.
[8] Felicia Sonmez, Mike DeBonis and Juliet Eilperin, “Pelosi Moves Ahead with Efforts for Trump’s Removal as Democrats Split on How Hard to Push for Impeachment,” Washington Post, January 10, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/clybrn-impeachment-trump/2021/01/10/fd10fa88-5356-11eb-a08b-f1381ef3d207_story.html.
[9] Mike DeBonis, Josh Dawsey and Seung Min Kim, “Several Senior Republicans Join Impeachment Push,” Washington Post, January 13, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/house-trump-impeach/2021/01/12/5e873dd0-54ed-11eb-a08b-f1381ef3d207_story.html.
[10] Ibid..
[11] Michael Kranish, “Before Riot, Trump Said ‘We Got to Get Rid’ of Rep. Liz Cheney. Now She Supports Impeaching Him,” Washington Post, January 12, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/cheney-trump-house-impeach/2021/01/12/648c677a-54d2-11eb-a08b-f1381ef3d207_story.html.
[12] Sonmez, DeBonis and Eilperin, “Pelosi Moves Ahead.”
[13] Ibid.
[14] Editorial Board, “Republicans Want Reconciliation. Here’s What They Need to Do First,” Washington Post, January 12, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/republicans-want-reconciliation-heres-what-they-need-to-do-first/2021/01/12/a0db0dfa-5520-11eb-a817-e5e7f8a406d6_story.html.
[15] Robert O’Harrow Jr., “Rallies Ahead of Capitol Riot Were Planned by Established Washington Insiders,” Washington Post, January 17, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/capitol-rally-organizers-before-riots/2021/01/16/c5b40250-552d-11eb-a931-5b162d0d033d_story.html.
[16] Ibid.
[17] Ibid.
[18] Devlin Barrett and Spencer S. Hsu, “FBI Probes Possible Connections between Extremist Groups at Heart of Capitol Violence,” Washington Post, January 18, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/oath-keeper-three-percenter-arrests/2021/01/17/27e726f2-5847-11eb-a08b-f1381ef3d207_story.html.
[19] Kevin Roose, “In Pulling Trump’s Megaphone, Twitter Shows Where Power Now Lies,” New York Times, January 9, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/09/technology/trump-twitter-ban.html.
[20] Michael Gerson, “The U.S. Must Punish Sedition—or Risk More of It,” Washington Post, January 11, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-us-must-punish-sedition–or-risk-more-of-it/2021/01/11/97907746-5438-11eb-a931-5b162d0d033d_story.html.
[21] Mogelson, “Among the Insurrectionists.”
[22] Michael Gerson, “The U.S. Must Punish Sedition.”
[23] Ibid.
[24] Ibid.
[25] Robert O’Harrow Jr., “Rallies Ahead of Capitol Riot.”
[26] Amy Davidson Sorkin, “Why Trump Must Go on Trial,” New Yorker, January 256, 2021, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/01/25/why-trump-must-go-on-trial. Teri Kanefield and Mark Reichel, “‘Trump Said I Could’: One Possible Legal Defense for Accused Rioters,” Washington Post, January 11, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/01/11/public-authority-trump-mob-capitol/.
[27] Editorial Board, “President Trump Deserved Impeachment. The Senate Must Convict Him Quickly,” Washington Post, January 13, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/president-trump-deserved-impeachment-the-senate-must-convict-him-quickly/2021/01/13/746e3b2c-55cd-11eb-a931-5b162d0d033d_story.html.