White House counsel told staffers to 'stay away from Trump' or risk committing treason
This is one of the weirdest days of my life—just slightly behind that time I astral projected to another timeline where Trump was a middling car salesman in Des Moines and Fred “Rerun” Berry was president. (Rerun is a revered and beloved leader, by the way—with or without the beret.)
And the more I read, the weirder it focking gets.
The redoubtable Gabriel Sherman has another dispatch from Daftsville, and it’s yet another doozy.
As the violent mob incited by President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, some West Wing staffers panicked that they were possibly becoming participants in a coup to overthrow the government. “What do I do? Resign?” one nervous White House staffer asked a friend on Wednesday afternoon, shortly after news broke that a woman had been shot and killed inside the Capitol. The West Wing staffer told the friend that White House Counsel Pat Cipollone was urging White House officials not to speak to Trump or enable his coup attempt in any way, so they could reduce the chance they could be prosecuted for treason under the Sedition Act. “They’re being told to stay away from Trump,” the friend said. The White House declined to comment.
If only that were the weirdest excerpt. Oh, no, Sally Draper. Not even close.
In recent days, as Trump’s bid to overturn the election became increasingly desperate, he expressed anarchist comments in private, a second Republican close to the White House told me. The Republican said Trump told people that he wanted David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler to lose the Georgia Senate runoff election as a way of punishing them and Mitch McConnell. “Trump told people he is really angry that the senators and McConnell hadn’t stood up for him to challenge the election. He’s happy they lost.” According to the Republican, Trump has said he’ll be the most dominant force in Republican politics if there’s no party leadership.
Trump doesn’t give a shit about members of his own party? Noooooooo! You don’t say.
Tonight, there was a sense that the ground had shifted. Even Stephen Miller told one Republican that it was a terrible day.
He lost Stephen Miller? That’s like your own vestigial twin knifing you in the back.
And the immediate question facing Republicans became whether the violent scene today merits them invoking the 25th Amendment and removing Trump from office. … According to a D.C. strategist close to the White House, some prominent Republicans are lobbying Mike Pence to greenlight the process. “Pence has to initiate it,” the strategist said. Republicans I spoke to were doubtful Pence would take the extraordinary step given his longtime fealty to Trump––even in the face of being humiliated. “Maybe if Trump calls for another protest, then it’s possible,” the former West Wing official said.
Good lord. Make it stop.
This guy is a natural. Sometimes I laugh so hard I cry.” — Bette Midler on Aldous J. Pennyfarthing, via Twitter. The first history of the Trump Error is complete! Goodbye, Asshat: 101 Farewell Letters to Donald Trump is hot off the presses! Along with Dear Fcking Lunatic: 101 Obscenely Rude Letters to Donald Trump, Dear Prsident A**clown: 101 More Rude Letters to Donald Trump and Dear F*cking Moron: 101 More Letters to Donald Trump, you’ll see the Trump years from a hilarious new perspective. Click those links, yo!
