Donald Trump’s dead-enders are playing a dangerous game
After Donald Trump lost the election, he began installing a handful of corrupt partisan loyalists in key civilian positions at places like the Department of Defense. These people were never going to have the power to undo the election result or start a war. But they have managed to slow down the transition to President Biden in small and petty yet significant ways.
Here’s the thing, though. They run the risk of this blowing up in their faces. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Bromwich explained it this way:
Trump dead-enders at DOD and OMB are playing a dangerous game–for the country and themselves. It wouldn't take a particularly creative prosecutor to charge them with conspiracy to defraud the US by obstructing the orderly functions of government — i.e., the transition. https://t.co/zkjhcNwEbh
— Michael R. Bromwich (@mrbromwich) December 28, 2020
What’s particularly odd is these people will automatically lose these jobs the minute Trump is gone, so there’s no real gain for them career-wise. Perhaps these goons are counting on federal pardons from Trump. But preemptive pardons are constitutionally flimsy and can be challenged in court – particularly when they’re granted to co-conspirators.
So why did these “dead enders” even take these positions? Even they probably don’t know. They were just the last true believers that Donald Trump had left in his orbit, and so they were willing to go along with Trump’s dumbest and most pointless of petty stunts. Now they could end up in prison for it.
