Last updated on January 9, 2021
Trump is at the end of the path to the bunker. The argument for the resignation of Trump and Pence’s pardon of Trump like Gerald Ford’s of Nixon remains still viable.
Invoking the 25th Amendment seems more difficult if only because the GOP still wants to avoid the Watergate comparisons, and forcing a second impeachment is a cost the GOP wants the Democrats to bear. Getting the Congress to 2/3s votes in both houses on POTUS’s refusal to leave is a tough lift for the 25th, as would even be another impeachment.
OTOH two pipebombs were placed at RNC and DNC HQs in DC.
“After Trump incited protesters to storm the Capitol on Wednesday, there’s a near universal view among top officials that he is unfit and unhinged, these sources said.”
What we’re hearing: While several senior officials have already resigned in disgust since the riots, including Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Deputy National Security adviser Matt Pottinger, there has been a heavy behind-the-scenes push to urge other top national security officials to stay on as a bulwark against emboldened U.S. enemies.
- Multiple Cabinet officials and senators from both parties, including senior Senate Republicans, have privately urged National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone to stay in their jobs for the sake of the nation’s security and continuity of government.
- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also intends to stay on, according to a source briefed on his thinking.
- Two senior national security officials told Axios that they and their colleagues at the top level of government have decided to defy any requests they believe would put the nation at risk or break the law. They plan to force Trump to fire them.
Between the lines: Some senior officials at the State Department and other agencies privately discussed the need to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office. That idea is going nowhere.
- Many view it as bad for the country and technically unworkable in such a short period of time.
What’s next: Both Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi have publicly signaled that Congress may push to impeach Trump a second time if his Cabinet does not invoke the 25th Amendment.
Senior officials have discussed removing Trump under the 25th Amendment. Here’s how that could work. https://t.co/ZuefKLCbcl
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 7, 2021
I'll take it, a pretty good statement even, since removing Trump from office is an emergency. But the ability to disqualify Trump from holding future office is housed only in impeachment power. It would be a huge mistake to omit that step.
— Brian Beutler (@brianbeutler) January 7, 2021
The Trump cabinet mommy and daddy will not be walking through the door to save the day. There is no deus ex machina. And the need to remove is urgent. https://t.co/DitCLbBALq
— David Dayen (@ddayen) January 7, 2021
The Capitol Police leadership turned down backup. My blood is boiling.
— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) January 7, 2021
Larry Hogan wasn't permitted to send National Guard either.
This was a deliberate attempt to leave the capital unguarded. https://t.co/5Rs0LBjmr6 pic.twitter.com/4pamgTpoAc
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) January 7, 2021
Rep. Eric Swalwell on pursuing an investigation into how rioters breached U.S. Capitol: "We owe it to the American people to understand whether members of our own houses were working with these protestors." pic.twitter.com/imKJmYrgxj
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 7, 2021
"Compiling the Criminal Charges Following the Capitol Riot," the latest from @bryceklehm and @rohini_kurup: https://t.co/WoAMnGCcu9
— Lawfare (@lawfareblog) January 7, 2021
16 Blocks and a Bums’ Rush
Has @RepMaxineWaters gotten the credit she deserves for recognizing the coup threat and warning the chief of @CapitolPolice ahead of time?https://t.co/poinHBAukp pic.twitter.com/EnaT4r3WkW
— Brad Johnson (@climatebrad) January 7, 2021
It began with the president’s false promise: “After this, we’re going to walk down and I’ll be there with you,” Trump said. He wasn’t going anywhere but back to the White House, where he had 14 days remaining in his term.
“You’ll never take back our country with weakness,” he told his followers. “You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.”
They did as they were told. By the thousands, they walked 16 blocks down Pennsylvania Avenue NW and surrounded the U.S. Capitol.
By the hundreds, they climbed the grand marble staircase and breached police gates and smashed windows and shoved police officers and broke through doorways and forced their way in. They burst into the offices and chambers of the Capitol, taking over the place as though it were their own, lounging in members’ offices, strolling through the statuaries, halting the constitutional process of completing Joe Biden’s election to the presidency and raising the specter of a coup against this 232-year-old democracy.
Make coups easier:
SCOOP: The American Legislative Exchange Council has launched an Emergency Management Policy Reform Working Group to shift power away from Governors to the Legislature during emergencies, an email obtained by CMD shows.#ALECExposed https://t.co/Ym6LeARcPC
— David Armiak (@duboo) January 7, 2021
This Is What Trumpism Without Trump Looks Like || By Sarah Jones https://t.co/D0kn1fscLF
— SafetyPin-Daily (@SafetyPinDaily) January 7, 2021
Building a movement to fight the far right requires recognizing not only that far-right politics can flourish here, but that they already have — in the United States’ long history of racial oppression, genocide, and brutal repression of the Left. https://t.co/n8iQmSPEwH
— Jacobin (@jacobinmag) January 7, 2021
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