The Stupid Coup, part infinity
Lucky #4 Mark Meadows
It is not much of a surprise and rather more of a confirmation that those thinly veiled threats that Cassidy Hutchinson received were coming from inside the house (so to speak): from an associate of Mark Meadows (who no doubt got it from Lucky #4 hisself, who no doubt got it from Hair Füror):
Tiger Beat on the Potomac (thanks Charlie!) morning email thingie:
On those messages: “Both of the two slides that the panel revealed at the end of its live hearing with Hutchinson reflected conversations she described to the committee in her final closed-door deposition,” Betsy Woodruff Swan and Kyle Cheney report. “Hutchinson told the committee at the time that, on the eve of her earlier March 7 deposition, an intermediary for former White House chief of staff MARK MEADOWS contacted her to say that her former boss valued her loyalty.”
They continue:
One Trumpworld tactic: NYT’s Luke Broadwater, Maggie Haberman, Annie Karni and Alan Feuer report that Trump’s “political organization and his allies have paid for or promised to finance the legal fees of more than a dozen witnesses called in the congressional investigation into the Jan. 6 attack, raising legal and ethical questions about whether the former president may be influencing testimony with a direct bearing on him.”
Even so: “Unlike witness tampering, which is a crime, there is nothing illegal about a third party covering legal fees for a witness. … Still, given Mr. Trump’s potential criminal exposure and interest in the inquiry’s outcome, the practice has come under added scrutiny.”
… and another Trumpworld tactic: WaPo’s Rosalind Helderman, Josh Dawsey and Jacqueline Alemany have a good read into the playbook that Trumpworld uses to butter up witnesses: “Evidence across multiple state, federal and congressional investigations points to a similar pattern: Trump and his close allies privately shower potential witnesses with flattery and attention, extending vague assurances that staying loyal to Trump would be better than crossing him. Meanwhile, Trump publicly blasts those who offer testimony against him in bluntly personal terms, offering a clear example to others of the consequences of stepping out of line.”
Trump is —of course— trying to lie his way out of it. On the ironically named TRUTH Social Hair Füror used his signature move: denying he knows Cassidy Hutchinson and called her “a total phony” (another golden oldie).
Grabby McGrabber tried to discredit Hutchinson’s second-hand account that he grabbed the wheel to redirect his motorcade to the Capitol on January 6, so he could lead the mob in person, and of course he denies that he lunged at his Secret Service driver when thwarted. Tiger Beat again:
— Despite an effort by some former Trump officials and Secret Service agents to dispute and discredit Hutchinson’s testimony, the committee isn’t having it. Instead, the panel is “raising sharp doubts about the credibility” of TONY ORNATO, a former Trump aide who has critiqued Hutchinson’s recountings, Kyle reports. “He has interviewed twice with the select committee — once in January, and once in March, according to two people familiar with his appearances. In his January interview, according to a person who described the exchanges, Ornato recounted various recollections of Jan. 6, including several that drew skepticism from the committee.”
This is one of Lord Damp Nut’s typical deflection tactics, now used by Republicans: dispute [insert a tiny detail of an accusation here] as a way to invalidate the accuser and the entirety of their accusations.
Of course, Tony Ornato & Don will NOT testify under oath, as Hutchinson did:
We fully expect our Failed Political Press ™ to echo in non-stop in a but her emails and Both Sides fashion about the limousine ride.
Mock Paper Scissors 
Trump’s “political organization and his allies have paid for or promised to finance the legal fees of more than a dozen witnesses
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Oh, wait. I just read that again.
TFG has promised to Finance his patsy’s legal fees. I wonder what the interest rate is?
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As if he’ll actually pay …
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It’s not illegal, but it sure is a disbarrable offense if it comes out that you advised your client to take actions adverse to their interests, but beneficial to the person paying you.
It is not a fucking coincidence that her public testimony was suddenly scheduled out of the blue after she fired her trumpland lawyers and hired her own…
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Trying to step back a bit, I marvel at what an emotional train-wreck, miserable fuck, traitorous POS, and criminal the former head of the “Freedom Caucus” was, and is. You will recall that at the beginning of his tenure as WH Chief of Staff there were reports of his crying jags at being in the nest of vipers he signed up for. And yet, the allure of power fixed him in place like a fat, bluebottle fly stuck to flypaper.
I pray he is indicted, tried, and convicted. I am unmoved by his tears and (feigned?) paralysis. The punishment meted out to him should be the equivalent of detaching the flypaper from on high, placing it on cement, and giving him a Bambi meets Godzilla conclusion.
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Maybe he’ll be elected as the leader of the Prison Caucus.
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It doesn’t say much for our democracy that this lunatic piece of shit got as high in government as he did, in both the Congress and Executive branches. A weak-minded, but fascistic tool, and fool.
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This rant ❤
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Lie is such an ugly word. Maybe Ornato is actually a time lord and can travel the multiverse to different realities.
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This quote should be revisited in about a year to see how well that worked out for them.
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It’s in my calendar with hyperlinks intact.
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… as long as they get to choose the lawyer.
… allegedly.
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We know it’s not the orange Golem itself. Supposedly they are quoted as saying, “… he’s reading the transcripts …,” and we all know that the Golem doesn’t read.
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