During a recent appearance on MSNBC, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) — a member of the House committee investigating the violence of January 6 — exposed former President Donald Trump for his direct responsibility for what went on that day. Besides the lingering threats from Trump’s lackeys in positions of power, there’s also the dangerous possibility that Trump could run for president again — and who knows what could happen if he takes that move.
The riot committee will soon be holding a selection of additional public hearings. The Guardian recently reported on early details of the tentative schedule for those hearings, including two primetime events, although that report didn’t include the names of who might testify. But in the meantime, Schiff commented as follows:
‘In my point of view, [Trump is] the author and the architect of this plan to overturn the election — of this coup attempt masquerading as a legal strategy. After all, he’s the chief promulgator of the “Big Lie,” and that big lie is used around the country to try to get states to send bogus slates of electors, fake certificates of electors. He’s involved in this; he’s calling state legislators, he’s calling local elections officials. He is strategizing with [John] Eastman and others. He’s the instigator of, the author of, the architect of this effort to overturn our election, culminating in this violence on January 6. So, you can’t ignore the principal player here.’
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) JFK Profiles in Courage award speech: "President Kennedy said, 'In the long history of freedom, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger.' Today, that role is ours … (1/3)
— John Kruzel (@johnkruzel) May 23, 2022
It’s true, of course — Trump didn’t just sit back while supporters of his ran wild with the lies about the integrity of the election, which the former president still falsely claims to have won. He pushed for Justice Department officials to take his argument to the courts. His campaign was involved in wide-ranging litigation (almost all of which outright failed and none of which ever proved their systematic fraud claims). Trump personally contacted officials in Georgia, trying to cajole them into undercutting Biden’s surprise win there. Trump is infamously known to have conducted such a conversation with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R), who runs the state’s elections, but he also exerted pressure on Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp — who Trump is now hoping to see unseated. Trump is supporting former Georgia Republican Senator David Perdue in a primary bid against Kemp.
The House GOP leadership has enabled white nationalism, white supremacy, and anti-semitism. History has taught us that what begins with words ends in far worse. @GOP leaders must renounce and reject these views and those who hold them.
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) May 16, 2022
“There are a lot of other players too,” Schiff added on MSNBC. “Our goal is to expose the role of all who were involved, the fragility of our democracy. But the reason it was so fragile and the main reason it remains so fragile is because of the active participation of the head of today’s Republican Party, Donald Trump.” The riot committee has previously directly alleged Trump to be guilty of criminal offenses because of actions he took in connection with his attempts to stay in power. A federal judge concluded Trump likely — although not certainly — committed those crimes. Check out Schiff’s comments below:
"[Trump's] the author and the architect of this plan to overturn the election, of this coup attempt masquerading as a legal strategy. After all, he's the chief promulgator of the Big Lie… he's involved in this" – @RepAdamSchiff w/ @NicolleDWallace pic.twitter.com/370i8udF46
— Deadline White House (@DeadlineWH) May 20, 2022
