What’s it going to take?
Donald J. Trump incited violence. On Monday evening, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told the GOP that Trump “bears some blame for last week’s deadly Capitol riots and has accepted some responsibility.” McCarthy is as much a traitor to this nation as his senatorial namesake who had no sense of decency, lying about Trump taking responsibility.
Others, such as Sarah Huckabee Sanders, are crying that their Twitter followers have lost thousands of QAnon agitators. Ivanka Trump delusionally believes that she should attend Joe Biden’s inauguration to keep her political future alive. (Punchline – she never had a future, and now for sure, she’ll be lucky if she is not indicted and imprisoned.)
But what is astounding is that, while so many feckless, complicit GOP Congressmen say that they are mad, that Trump is responsible, not one has gone on record to mandate that Trump go out and tell his followers to “stand down.” According to CNN, they obtained an internal memo from the FBI warning of the following: “Armed protests are being planned at all 50 state capitols from 16 January through at least 20 January, and at the US Capitol from 17 January through 20 January.”
Chad Wolf resigned. The Atlanta United States Attorney was forced out. William Barr disappeared. The armed protests bulletin should concern everyone, yet those who have been complicit stand by and do nothing. Even Mike Pence is pussyfooting. What will it take for someone on the Republican side to intervene?
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.