As an intro to an hour-long chat with Jamie Raskin, Vanity Fair wanted to be sure its readers knew Raskin sees Trump as a one man crime wave and that that will become clear to everyone who watches the prime time televised hearings. Just as interesting is that Raskin is practically a one-man investigational powerhouse, who, along with Liz Cheney and Adam Schiff, is dragging along a bunch of dullard Pelosi nominees who were picked for balanced identity politics and political favors rather than for what they could offer an historically crucial investigation of what Raskin calls a "premeditated conspiracy." Thank God we wound up with those 3 on the committee, which includes utterly useless feather-weights like Blue Dog Stephanie Murphy, New Dem Elaine Luria, and ridiculous coke freak Pete Aguilar.
Emily Fox and Joe Hagan reported that "After nearly a year of investigating the insurrection, Raskin says the most surprising discovery has been 'the role that money played, and the role of a financial motive behind all these events to keep the money pouring in.' The committee, he promises, will also draw direct and indirect lines between 'the top of the Republican hierarchy' and the 'violent hooligans and street fascists' who overran the Capitol... Raskin has said the former president will get his 'comeuppance,' but whether he’ll face direct criminal justice for his 'premeditated' role in an attempted coup remains an open question. Tantalizingly, Raskin deflects on the question of whether former vice president Mike Pence has spoken to the committee or might testify against Trump. 'I can’t get into it,' he says." The podcast "offers a powerful message and emotional plea to Democrats demoralized by the political landscape facing the party going into the midterms."
When Liz Cheney talked with Robert Costa last Sunday she made the point that there is "absolutely a cult of personality around Donald Trump." That fits well with Raskin's assertion about the coup being a premeditated conspiracy. "We have too many people now in the Republican Party who are not taking their responsibilities seriously, and who have pledged their allegiance and loyalty to Donald Trump. I mean, it is fundamentally antithetical, it is contrary to everything conservatives believe, to embrace a personality cult. And yet, that is what so many in my party are doing today."
Earlier this evening we looked briefly at Buffalo-area Republican Chris Jacobs' decision to not run for reelection. Except it wasn't really Jacobs' decision; it was the cult-leader's orders. Trump told him he's out and he said, 'yes, your majesty.' The NY Times may have portrayed Jacobs as somehow heroic for standing up for what he believes in but if he had any real courage he wouldn’t have voted for insurrection and right now he'd be standing by his words and fighting for what he believes in. Instead he’s quitting taking the easy way out, because he doesn’t want to face the consequences inside the cult for standing up for his beliefs.