With the story of why the texts haven't materialized changing several times, it appears that now the texts have been recovered? Why, how fascinating! Is it possible the stories were a stall tactic that wasn't going to work if a whole lot of scrutiny fell on an agency that should also, being law enforcement recognize both their responsibility to hold on to data for record keeping purposes as a federal agency and also the ability of cyber forensics to recover data that isn't really gone?
Yeah. Probably something like that. Should we feel weird about what those texts will say--like, knowing Mike Pence has a good instinct about the threat kind of weird?
But it's a really necessary question--did certain parties in the Secret Service get a little too dedicated to the personal Trump cult? Did some of them start to think of themselves as Trump's own Praetorian guard? (Praetorian guards, crossing the Rubicon--there is some real death of a republic shit lurking in the metaphors history folks are getting stuck with). Huh. Anyway, Trump had some other Praetorians lurking in the mix 1/6--just ask Mike Flynn, if he feels like not taking the fifth for a minute. They might have done the odd bit of witness-tampering in the aftermath.
Yeah, about the witness-tampering--that's some mob stuff, isn't it? Rep. Liz Cheney talked about it at the last hearing. It isn't out of character with TrumpWorld tactics, though--vide the first impeachment. Power corrupts, and power doesn't yield unless greater power displays itself. Non-snitching culture is enforced by power, and greater power has to be displayed to get that nut to crack.
You take a look at Bannon finally wearing his three best shirts to his contempt trial today and smirking through the voir dire process where dozens of potential jurors admit they know of and don't approve of his ass and are getting dismissed. The case could not be more simple--did you know when you were supposed to turn over documents? What's his defense--"Oh, snap! You meant Gregorian calendar?" But Bannon feels cocky, like he can turn the world on with a smile. Why is this how he is? Being that close to power. Getting pardoned for defrauding people of millions already. A whole load of shit needs to drop on this guy before he connects his actions with any sense of responsibility.
Ditto a guy like Pete Navarro. He just turned down a nice plea deal over his contempt charge. He's actually the definition of contempt. How dare he be treated like a criminal for actual crimes! He wouldn't understand anything but the full extent of the law smacking him full in his ever-running mouth.
This is why I feel like Merrick Garland needs to understand street rules. You don't bring a white paper or an OLC memo to a fight for our whole democracy. If you have the goods on a MF, indict his ass. Fani Willis and Leticia James get it--you have to be zealous in pursuit of the law. Because if you don't believe in it, you buy into their non-belief. You let the bedevilers win.
Trump co-opted the levers of state power via graft and violence and peer pressure and who knows what. It has to stop somewhere, and his select service of people willing to keep his secrets needs to crumble to get to the accountability stage of this reckoning. But you have to display the kind of leverage Trump doesn't have anymore, and not be afraid of his street thugs. They all can get their own day in court for all we care. But the law applies to Trump and his crew or it isn't the law.
That's all any of these folks will take away from this. It's all the next guy will need to know from.
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