Donald Trump strikes out
So much for Donald Trump’s attempts to keep documents away from the House Select Committee. Talking Points Memo (“TPM”) reported late Tuesday that Judge Tanya Chutkan kept her word of “ruling expeditiously,” though this ruling was not on the full merits of the case. Late Monday, Trump’s attorneys filed an emergency request for an “administrative stay,” which they hoped would prevent the National Archives from releasing records on Friday, November 12. In less than 24 hours, Judge Chutkan issued a “hard no” on that request. That is about as expeditious as you can get. As she quickly ruled on that emergency request, she informed the parties that she plans to “rule expeditiously” on the full case. Trump’s attorneys seemingly already know this is a war they will not win, as they are concerned about appeal time.
Trump’s attorneys had no luck with Judge Chutkan, and the National Archives is planning to release documents by Friday. What’s next? The House Select Committee is subpoenaing everybody but God. The committee is obviously looking beyond the Capitol attack to Trump’s full conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election and overthrow our government. Speaking with TPM, chairman Bennie Thompson detailed that the committee plans to look at every effort taken to stop certification of President Biden’s win. The committee is especially eager to find out who all was involved and, most importantly, who paid for everything. Follow the money; it always leads in the right direction. The committee seems to be digging deeper than originally planned, but that is sometimes the only way to get to the bottom of this type of mess.
This week, the committee subpoenaed Trump’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien, his shady friend Michael Flynn, and Bernie Kerik, who was involved in the planning of the rally that precipitated the attack on the Capitol. Also predicted to be subpoenaed are Kayleigh McEnany and Stephen Miller. McEnany participated in many lies during her tenure in the White House, including parroting the “fraud” lie, and Stephen Miller is so evil that the committee is correct in believing that he had some involvement. Besides, Miller was very much involved in spreading the big lie, while Stepien is reportedly the person who converted the Trump campaign to “stop the steal” messaging. They are all deeply involved, and they need to come forward.
We are still waiting for an indictment for Steve Bannon, who has been referred to prosecution, and TPM reported that Jeff Clark, who tried to get the DOJ involved in Trump’s nonsense, successfully stonewalled the committee last week. If the DOJ is not going to prosecute people who defy subpoenas, they will just continue to stonewall. Bannon needs to be made the example so that the rest of them will fall in line and do the right thing. They have never done right by the American people, and nothing short of prosecution will induce them to do so now. It is time for the DOJ to move. Until they do, we will never get to the bottom of this attempted coup and stain on our democracy. The time to act is now.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years