Trump Defense Secretary To Testify About Insurrection In Blow To GOP

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Uh, oh. It looks as if Donald Trump is about to step into the deep end of his swamp. He still claims he won the election, convinced untold numbers of his followers of that, and maybe even believes the Big Lie himself by now. But Congress keeps drilling down, and Trump may find that deep end too shallow for a loud belly flop.

There is still one nagging question about the day our ex sicced his enraged followers upon the Capitol Building, January 6. It was an insurrection, a failed coup. Hundreds of them have been arrested. Vice President Mike Pence, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and others called begging their president to send help. He ignored their pleas for hours.

Trump’s acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller will testify on Wednesday to answer Congress’s House Oversight Committee’s questions, according to The Axios. They want to know more about the January 6 attack.

Our ex-president appointed Miller right after he fired Secretary Mark Esper. Trump did not like how the election went and blamed Esper. So, Secretary Miller stepped in for a brief period of time. He admitted that he thought the former POTUS “incited the mob” before letting them loose.

Miller is on the committee’s schedule along with “Trump’s former Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen.” In addition, the committee hearing will deal with setting up a “9/11-style” commission. Its purpose would be to objectively investigate the January 6 event and surrounding issues.

Trump’s speech revved thousands of his followers to a fevered pitch, and a mob seethed toward the symbol of American democracy. Co-chair of Facebook’s Independent Oversight Board Michael McConnell told Fox News on Sunday that the then-president was responsible for ginning up the rioters’ bloodlust. Although Trump told the crowd he would be at the Capitol, he rushed back to the White House to watch it on television. Afterward, the former president did not understand why his staffers did not enjoy the action. They were horrified.

McConnell said that Trump’s social media posts were a primary reason for the board continuing the suspension of his Facebook account. At one point hours into the insurrection, 45 finally told the mob to go home, even though he held tight to the Big Lie, that he really did win the election:

‘On Jan. 6, President Trump issued those statements as a mob was rampaging through the Capitol, as members of Congress were cowering in fear, as the rioters were threatening Vice President Pence’s life, and at that time, he issued these statements which were just egging [them] on — with perfunctory asking for peace, but mostly he was just egging them on — to continue.’

‘This is a plain violation of Facebook’s rules against praising dangerous individuals and organizations at a time of violence. Mr. Trump is subject to the same rules on Facebook as everyone else.’

Co-chair McConnell indicated that the board found Facebook’s suspension was justifiable, just not indefinitely:

‘They did not provide any reasons for that, that is not a provision in their rules, that was wrong. And we gave them a certain amount of time to get their house in order.’

‘They needed some time because their rules are in shambles. They are not transparent, they are unclear, they are internally inconsistent. So we made a series of recommendations about how to make their rules clearer and more consistent.’

The board “insisted,” because it has no real teeth, that Facebook find a “proportionate response” in the next six months.

President Biden appointed Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III to head the Pentagon.

The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.